The PNY Pro Elite V3 external SSD holds terabytes of files, and can transfer data at up to 1,000MB/s. Another standout feature is cost, with the 2TB variant coming in at just $145 — well below many rival SSDs.
I tested the speed, build and other aspects of the drive with a range of computers to be sure it lives up to expections.
PNY Pro Elite V3 external SSD review
Some people call this a flash drive. Others say it’s an SSD. Both are correct because the two categories have merged. A flash drive is small and portable… like the PNY Pro Elite V3. An SSD holds huge amounts of data and provides fast access… like the PNY Pro Elite V3.
Don’t concern yourself with what it’s called. Just plug the drive into your Mac, iPad or iPhone for easy access to all your files.
The premium, metal design of the PNY Pro Elite V3 flash Drive makes it the ultimate mobile storage solution with a sleek style for any professional. Plus, it holds up to 2TB, and USB 3.2 Gen 2 means it offers up to 1 GB/s data transfers.
And all at an affordable price.
- Blazing fast
- USB-C for wide compatibility
- Small, metal chassis
- Affordable
- None
Table of contents:
Tiny SSD, big capacity
As discussed, the days when a multi-terabyte drive needed to be a big hefty piece of equipment are long over. PNY’s latest is about the size of my pinkie finger.
It’s 2.3 inches by 0.9 inches by 0.4 inches. That’s easily pocketable. The accessory is so small, you might consider using the integrated key loop to attach an AirTag so you don’t lose it.
I mentioned the low price, but don’t think for a second this product is cheaply made. The PNY Pro Elite V3 includes a metal casing rather than the usual plastic, and a sliding cap protects the USB-C connector.
That USB-C connector is on one end, making the portable SSD compatible with all Macs, most iPads and many recent iPhones. It works on Windows and ChromeOS, too. That makes it well-suited for moving files between computers.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
So very, very fast
The best thing to happen to flash drives is USB 3.2 Gen 2. Any SSDs that support this standard can move large files around quickly, whether that’s a multi-gigabyte video or a hefty collection of documents. The USB standard means computers can read data on the PNY Pro Elite V3 at up to 1,000MB/s and write data to the SSD at up to 800MB/s.
That’s the manufacturer’s claim, anyway. Of course, I tested the drive in real-world use, too.
Transferring a 1GB test file took 1.9 seconds, so I stepped up to 10.7GB file. That took 12.5 seconds.
With real-world data transfer speeds getting close to the 1 GB/second mark, I was going to call this lightning-fast performance, but USB 3.2 Gen 2 makes the PNY Pro Elite V3 much faster than Apple’s old Lightning standard. The only drives I know of that run faster use Thunderbolt and cost about 3X as much.
PNY Pro Elite V3 external SSD final thoughts
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
PNY says the drive was “crafted for professional content creators, designers, and gamers demanding high performance while working with large files and resource-demanding applications.”
My testing fully supports that claim. The Pro Elite V3 is one of the fastest drives I’ve ever tested. And it’s very well built, too.
★★★★★
It’s genuinely surprising it costs so little.
Pricing
As noted, the 2TB version of the PNY Pro Elite V3 comes in at $144.99. There are also 1TB, 512GB and 256GB versions.
Buy it from: Amazon
For comparison, the 2TB Samsung T9 SSD costs $199.99 and is considerably bulkier.
PNY provided Cult of Mac with the review unit for this article. See our reviews policy, and check out more in-depth reviews of Apple-related items.
The premium, metal design of the PNY Pro Elite V3 flash Drive makes it the ultimate mobile storage solution with a sleek style for any professional. Plus, it holds up to 2TB, and USB 3.2 Gen 2 means it offers up to 1 GB/s data transfers.
And all at an affordable price.
- Blazing fast
- USB-C for wide compatibility
- Small, metal chassis
- Affordable
- None
