Silicon Power Bolt B80 480GB

Silicon Power Bolt B80 480GB Product description:

In October of 2017 Silicon-Power released their Bolt B80 portable SSD drive that features a robust aluminum enclosure and comes in three capacities ranging from 120GB, 240GB and 480GB. The Bolt B80 series is the company's rugged portable SSD designed for those who need an extremely compact and lightweight portable SSD for easy transport and storage.

Today we are going to review the Bolt B80 120GB portable SSD that retails for $114.99 on Amazon and comes with 3 years of warranty. Most manufactures generally provide a 1-year warranty with their portable devices so having 3-years of warranty is very nice.

The Bolt B80 drive utilizes the new USB Type-C connector and it is compatible with the USB 3.1 Gen 2 interface for data transfer up to 500 MB/s read and 450 MB/s write. It comes with a Type-A to Type-C braided cable which means it offers extra durability compared to regular non-braided cables. You can use the Silicon Power Widget software to configure the Bolt B80 for data backup, AES 256-bit encryption, and cloud storage.

Silicon-Power has made the Bolt B80's housing with an aluminum casing for high durability and on top of that, the Bolt B80 was tested in a military-standard free test and is drop-safe as well as water and dust-proof (IP68). Size-wise, the Bolt B80 is 7.5cm in diameter, 11.9mm thin, and weighs 53g. I love how compact and lightweight it is but I'm disappointed to see that the Bolt B80 series top out at 480GB capacity. I would have liked to have seen up to 1TB of capacity because 480GB is not enough for some people to store all of their data.

What stands out visually from the B80 is the rubber piece that covers the USB-C port. The rubber cover can come in handy if the SSD is accidental dropped by preventing water and dust penetration. Also, the front part of the rubber bumper slightly sticks out for easy access to open the cover. With that being said, the B80 is one of the thinnest and most compact portable SSDs that you will come across and it feels high quality when holding it thanks to the aluminum design.

Silicon-Power has equipped the Bolt B80 drive with a USB 3.1 Gen 2 interface but it is backwards compatible with USB 3.1 Gen1, USB 3.0 and USB 2.0. Keep in mind that USB 3.1 Gen 1 is rated for 5 Gbps which means that it is the identical speed of regular USB 3.0. So when you see USB 3.1 Gen 1, it basically means USB 3.0 while USB 3.1 Gen 2 is the true USB 3.1 and is rated for 10 Gbps. Your system must support USB 3.1 Gen 2 capability in order to use USB 3.1 Gen 2 devices.

An issue that I have with the included A-to-C USB cable is that it makes it difficult to find a replacement if you accidentally lose the cable because most devices use the standard A-to-B cable. However, I do like that the cable is braided which is very much preferred by people because it offers extra durability.

Silicon-Power has included an LED indicator that is microporous laser cut aluminum that allows the light to shine through while at the same time keep water and dust out. Something that I dislike about the B80 is the included USB cable and that is because it is way too short at 30 cm. Other products that I have reviewed from SP have had the same problem with the cable being too short and SP needs to address this issue with their future products.