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We read an article today entitled ‘What is Thunderbolt 4 and how is it different from USB-C? As if the consumer wasn’t already confused enough. Thunderbolt is a protocol and USB-C is a connector. To start, USB-C is a port type used by Thunderbolt and USB in order to achieve power to connected devices, higher data transfer speeds and to also provide video. USB-C has always been prevalent with Thunderbolt but really became a thing right around USB 3.2 where it allowed speed progression to just over 2GB/s (20Gbps) data transfer. No I am not ignoring USB 3.1 at 1GB/s (10Gbps) speeds. Both originated as competing technologies and consumers learned the hard way. If you bought a laptop with Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) capable of data transfer up to 2.8GB/s typically, or you bought a laptop with USB 3.2 2×2 that could reach 2GB/s, and you had an external device that was opposite that of your laptop, you would only reach 1GB/s speeds.
Times have changed…or have they. USB4 (40Gbps) was then a thing and, as we and so many others discovered first hand, devices coming out capable of USB4 speeds of 4GB/s only seem to be reaching 3.2GB/s. Now, many will tell you that Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 became easily interchangeable, which to us would mean we could plug one into the other and still get top speeds of each, but a word of warning… Don’t be so sure. Today is a new day. Today we have in our hot little hands the Lacie Thunderbolt 5 Rugged SSD Pro5 Portable NVMe SSD and, after reviewing countless earlier reports of this SSD, we are the first to post benchmark speeds above 6GB/s anywhere. The reason for this, of course, is that USB4 only gets all those reports to 4GB/s and Thunderbolt 5 (80Gbps) is brand spanking new.
So… I guess you could say… the LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5 was (and really still is) ahead of its time. Just think 6GB/s data transfer speed to and from your portable SSD. Unheard of… until this report! The LaCie Rugged SSD Pro 5 is available in two and four terabyte capacities, supports 80Gbps Thunderbolt 5 speeds, and is IP68 rated. This means it can withstand drops of 3m, dust, the pressure of a 2-ton vehicle along with water resistance up to 1.5m deep for a period not exceeding 30 minutes. Listed specifications of the Rugged SSD Pro5 identify speeds up to 6700MB/s read and 5300MB/s write but we haven’t seen anything anywhere near that posted in any reports prior.
The LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5 comes with a Thunderbolt 5 cord that is 1ft long and a word of caution with respect to cable length; size matters. Or at least it did with earlier versions of Thunderbolt where the shorter cables could reach top speeds but longer cables could not. The Rugged SSD Pro5 is 4″ x 2.5″ x 1/2″ and weighs 1/3lb and has an exterior sealed casing of metal under blue neoprene which is a dust magnet. It was next to impossible to get clean shots of this SSD, even straight out of packaging. This device is constructed of 45% recycled materials, which is refreshing, and it comes with a 5-year limited warranty that includes a 5-year subscription to Seagate Rescue Recovery software.
Compatibility. Thunderbolt 5 is brand new and everyone is going to be experiencing a few wrinkles before things get ironed out. We tested the LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5 on our brand new Asus Z890 ProArt motherboard and we were happy with the results. We unplugged it and plugged it into the Thunderbolt 4 ports of our ASRock Taichi Z790 Test Bench and it wasn’t recognized. We then plugged it into the USB 3.2 2×2 USB-C port on top of that same PC and got great 2GB/s speeds. Perhaps we should be checking our BIOS version. Or…. Windows. The Rugged SSD Pro 5 requires Windows 11 release 23H2 or later. We also tried this in our Thunderbolt 3 port of our HP Spectre 11th Gen ultrabook and it worked full speed at 2.8GB/s as it should. This was a bit unusual as LaCie’s own data sheet doesn’t recognize Thunderbolt 3 as being compatible with this device. Yes it is. In the end, please recognize that this is a 80Gbps device that requires a minimum 15W PD to work.
If all else fails LaCie includes a Compatibility Toolkit which just may get your drive running for speeds up to at least 1GB/s. Wait a minute? How do we get to it if the drive isn’t being recognized. It is available here.
Last but not least… pricing. Checking Amazon right now we can find the Lacie Rugged SSD Pro5 for $395.19 for the 2TB version and $745.26 for the 4TB version. Yikes. That is a niche price point for a very niche product. Let’s get to that 6GB/s speed benchmark shall we?