The SanDisk Professional G-Drive ArmorATD (starts at $89.99 for 1TB; $109.99 for 2TB as tested) is a cost-effective, semi-rugged external hard drive available in capacities up to 5TB. As a spinning (5,400rpm) platter drive, its speed is typical of its class, meaning well short of the performance of solid-state drives. This makes the ArmorATD less-than-ideal for users needing to back up many large files in a hurry, but it should work well for travelers or mobile workers who need lots of capacity for the spend, versus what their money would buy in an external SSD.
Platters That Play Well With Macs
The ArmorATD is one of the first products in Western Digital’s SanDisk Professional line of storage solutions, which combines a rebranding of WD’s G-Technology series with the introduction of some new products. A slightly modified version of the G-Technology ArmorATD, the G-Drive ArmorATD has a new color scheme—the case has changed from blue to space gray—and comes formatted in HFS+ instead of exFAT.
HFS+ is a Mac-friendly format, one of two (along with APFS) compatible with the macOS backup system Time Machine. Unlike exFAT, which is both Mac- and Windows-compatible, HFS+ can be used only on a Mac. If you need to use the ArmorATD with both Windows PCs and Macs, you’ll need to reformat it to exFAT. This can be done with a Mac’s Disk Utility, where HFS+ is called Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
If you only have a Windows machine and want to convert the format to NTFS, you can do so using the Windows Disk Management utility by carefully deleting the HFS+ partition and reformatting the drive as NTFS, wiping the drive clean. Utilities such as Paragon NTFS-HFS Converter offer a simple and straightforward way to convert drives between HFS+ and NTFS.
Should you reformat the ArmorATD, you will want to back up all your data first. (The Paragon utility even prompts you to do so.) As for software, SanDisk doesn’t include any on the drive. By contrast, the WD My Passport (5TB) supports AES-256 hardware encryption and password protection through its WD Security app. It also includes utilities for checking drive health, backing up and reformatting the drive, and downloading data from cloud storage. True to its name, the Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch provides backup software (via a free download); it also supports 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption with password protection.
Measuring 0.8 by 3.4 by 5.1 inches, the ArmorATD can fit in one hand, and it’s easy to grip the black, rubberized removable sleeve that cushions the drive. The device’s silver-gray surface shows through on the top and bottom. On the side, a rubber plug attached to the drive conceals a USB-C port with a USB 3.1 Gen 1 interface. (Of course, the port also works with the Thunderbolt 3 ports on all recent Macs, over a USB-C-to-C cable) The drive’s protection against dust and rain is contingent on the port being covered. The ArmorATD comes with a pair of 2-foot cables, one USB-C to USB-C, the other USB-C to USB-A.
A Drive That’s Semi-Tough
The ArmorATD is a platter-based hard drive with some ruggedness cred. With a rubber bumper cushioning its aluminum frame and internal shock mounts, it’s rated to survive up to 1,000 pounds of pressure or a drop from 3.3 feet. Its ingress protection (IP) rating of IP54 provides some security against sand and rain, though it’s still potentially vulnerable to fine dust. You can splash water on (but not immerse) the unit with no ill effects.
The bottom line is that the ArmorATD is moderately rugged. A hiking trip that involves the need for data backup, say to save photos, should pose no threat, and trips around town should be a breeze. If you need something more water-tight or are heading into particularly dirty or dusty environments, you’ll likely be better off with a higher-IP-rated hard drive such as the ADATA HD830. You could always spring for a solid-state drive, whose lack of moving parts makes it inherently less vulnerable than a platter drive. The SanDisk Professional G-Drive SSD sports IP67 water and dust resistance, up to 3-meter drop protection, and 2,000-pound crush resistance. You’ll pay more for the G-Drive SSD, but in addition to being more rugged, it’s much faster and provides useful software.
At current retail (Amazon) pricing, the ArmorATD’s 2TB version goes for 5 cents per gigabyte, while the 4TB and 5TB models each sell for 3 cents per gigabyte. The more rugged ADATA HD830 also costs 3 cents a gig in 4TB and 5TB capacities, though its 2TB version goes for 4 cents per gigabyte, as does the 2TB Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch. SanDisk backs the ArmorATD with a three-year warranty.
Testing the ArmorATD: On Par for Platters
The ArmorATD’s performance proved typical of a 5,400rpm hard drive from a major manufacturer, which is unsurprising because nearly all such drives fall within a very narrow range of scores. (See more about how we test hard drives.)
The PCMark 10 Storage test generates a proprietary score based on a mix of simulated workloads, including a Windows Defender scan, video editing tasks, and application launches. The ArmorATD finished a close second to the WD Black P10, the only other 5,400rpm drive we’ve tested since upgrading our PCMark benchmarks from PCMark 8, with a score of 499 versus 503.
Crystal DiskMark, a test of sequential read and write speeds for straight-line transfers of contiguous data, represents a best-case scenario for platter drives. Rated for a peak transfer (sequential read) speed of 140MBps for the 2TB version we tested, the ArmorATD just missed with a read speed of 135MBps and a write speed of 132MBps. Its read speed was tied with three others for the highest among the nine 5,400rpm drives with which we compared it, and its write speed tied for second best, but the scores were within a narrow enough range that differences are of little consequence. The Seagate FireCuda Gaming Hub, which contains a 7,200rpm desktop-size (3.5-inch) hard drive, predictably led the pack with read and write scores of 233MBps and 255MBps respectively.
For our own folder transfer test, we use a MacBook Pro laptop. This drag-and-drop test consists of copying a standard 1.2GB folder from the Mac to the test drive, with a stopwatch showing how long it took to finish the job. The G-Drive ArmorATD claimed bragging rights by completing the transfer in 10 seconds, a second quicker than five other 5,400rpm drives including the previous-generation G-Technology ArmorATD. The 7,200rpm Seagate FireCuda Gaming Hub was predictably quickest, taking 7 seconds. No drive took longer than 13 seconds to complete this test.
The Mac-only BlackMagic testing utility was created by an Australian producer of video software and hardware, and is often used to help videographers gauge how a drive will perform when working with large video files. It measures a drive’s throughput in MBps for reading and writing various video formats. The ArmorATD’s scores of 121MBps read and 125MBps write put it a bit above par among its 5,400rpm competitors, which all scored in a fairly narrow range.
Although speedy SSDs arguably dominate today’s storage arena, spinning hard drives still have much to recommend them. They’re often available in capacities seldom seen in SSDs—the ArmorATD, as mentioned, provides up to 5TB of storage space, as do many other hard drives. Its cost per gigabyte is typical of its class, especially at the 4TB and 5TB capacities.
Spinning Bits for the Road
The SanDisk Professional G-Drive ArmorATD is a solid and attractively designed piece of kit that works well as a grab-and-go drive. It has a good balance of price and ruggedness, with on-the-mark performance thrown in.
If you want a platter hard drive that comes with a software suite or data encryption (or both), look to the WD My Passport or Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch, though neither is particularly rugged and the Seagate peaks at 2TB. The ADATA HD830, a PCMag Editors’ Choice winner like the other two drives mentioned above, is even more secure than the ArmorATD, but it lacks a USB-C interface. The ArmorATD is a more-than-reasonable alternative, especially for Mac users willing to settle for platter speeds alongside the cheap capacities they make possible.
