TeamGroup PD20 mini external SSD review

It can be hard to truly distinguish an external SSD from others of the same USB generation. For example, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 drives like this TeamGroup PD20 usually have the same speed ratings, the same capacity options, and heck, even the same internals like the controller.

TeamGroup solved this problem by putting its eggs in the form factor basket and choosing a tiny but stylish portable SSD with the PD20. It’s a strategy that I think has paid off.

That’s not to say it’s perfect – the PD20 has its issues, which we’ll discuss shortly – but it really delivers on its strategy and delivers a very portable drive. I don’t need to remind all of us that this is what external SSDs are all about: portability.

First – and most obviously – it is incredibly tiny. For comparison, check out the gallery below and you’ll see it next to the already very crappy Adata SD810, the Samsung T9, and then the Logitech G Pro X Superlight gaming mouse. But its size isn’t all that makes it highly portable.

You’ll also notice a tiny hoop on the top that I assume can be attached to a keychain of sorts. And that really shows how far we’ve come, doesn’t it? It’s something so tiny and portable that it’s practically no different from a USB pendrive, only it’s much faster and more capacious.

This is the kind of riding you can be proud of. It looks very fancy and most of its ribbed, rubberized shell is nice to hold and throw. Not that you need to talk much, because it’s not the most hard-wearing drive ever. Mine, however, survived a fall from desk height to the floor without any problems, and seems hard-wearing enough to be attached to keys and thrown here and there, as you usually do with keys.

Don’t worry about dust or water either, as the PD20’s body comes with a tiny rubber cover that slides into the USB-C port, so most everyday dust or liquid accidents won’t cause too much of a problem. Be sure to double check that it’s connected though, as sometimes it can’t be easily pushed in and when closing it I had to readjust the angle of the lid to ensure a dust-tight grip.

Provided the port has been properly connected, it should be protected to the IP54 standard. This means it is dust protected (though not dustproof) and also resistant to “water splashes”, which eliminates most of the potential threats to a keychain SSD.

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What do you get when you put all these things together? A very practical and stylish little drive that’s also rated for speeds about as high as most current PCs can handle via a USB connection (2000MB/s).

However, the rated speeds are not real and in the case of TeamGroup PD20 the situation is not so rosy. But we wouldn’t expect that to be the case with such a tiny drive, right? Smaller drives aren’t able to offer as much in terms of cooling, so they’re more likely to start throttling faster than others.

As far as I know, this is the case with the PD20. It offers peak sequential transfer speeds similar to other USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 drives – in this case just under 1,800 MB/s – but only for (almost exactly) 30 seconds, while other 3.2 Gen 2×2 drives like the stellar Adata SD810 last for over 2 minutes.

This equates to just 49GB of data transferred sequentially before speeds dropped dramatically on the PD20, while the SD810 managed around 260GB. Admittedly, other 3.2 Gen 2×2 drives fall between the performance of these two, but the PD20 was the worst of the bunch.

I can only assume the reason for this is because it’s also the hottest of the bunch. It didn’t take long for the PD20 to brown, and when it did, it reached a temperature of 83°C. Other drives I tested maxed out well below this, at temperatures of 65°C or lower. This naturally means that the drive will throttle faster before it runs out of pseudo-SLC cache at all – which seems to happen after about 3 minutes, or in other words, after 150 GB of sequential transfer.

But does it really matter? I suppose it depends on each person’s individual apply case, but speaking for myself, I can’t imagine having to transfer over 50GB of data at once very often. That is, unless I was uploading a whole load of gigantic game installs at once. If this is your apply case, such a tiny drive may not be for you.

Speaking of gaming, this drive performs quite well, but it’s far from the best USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 gaming drive in terms of 4K random performance (as shown in CrystalDiskMark results) and real-world gaming performance (as shown in 3DMark Storage and FFXIV results).

But realistically, it works so well as a gaming drive that I don’t think anyone will notice the difference. I moved my sub-2GB Crab Champions Steam installation to disk, which only took a few seconds, and left it alone. The game ran smoothly – without any issues – and fresh levels loaded immediately.

If you want the fastest drive on the market, this one is not for you. However, if you need something tiny and truly portable, the PD20 Mini External SSD is probably the best option on the market. Of course, provided you have a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port. If you don’t, you’re better off buying something like the Crucial X6 and calling it a day.

However, if you have such a USB port, and as most current PCs do, the PD20 is a tiny drive that does exactly what it should, given its intended purpose. This Is mini and it wears and looks good. The maximum performance of just 50GB at a time isn’t anything to write home about, but if you’re after pure portability and perfectly usable speeds, the PD20 has a lot to offer.