Introduction
A couple of weeks ago, SanDisk reached out asking if I would be interested in checking out one of the most rugged drives in their product line, the SanDisk Professional G-DRIVE ArmorATD.
The ArmorATD gets marketed as an all-terrain portable hard drive, which can withstand the extreme conditions some of us creators might face once in a while, when being out there shooting. It promises to protect your content from nasty stuff like rain and dust but also features crush resistance up to 1000 pounds, which is around 450 kilograms. Furthermore, it shields your files from accidental drops off up to 1 meter. All of this is possible due to its premium aluminum enclosure and internal shock mounts, paired with an easy-grip rubber bumper. The ArmorATD offers storage of up to 5 TB and supports USB-A and C as well as Thunderbolt. Of course the drive works on Windows as well as Mac. And on top of this, SanDisk offers a 3-Year Limited Warranty so you can have peace of mind at all times.
So all in all it seems like the G-DRIVE ArmorATD is the perfect companion for backing up your work when traveling, right?
Well, what a perfect timing that I had a trip coming up to Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands in Spain.
The island is very well known for its different microclimates, ranging from the rainy and foggy coastlines in the North to dry hot weather in the South. Furthermore, the center is covered by dense forests leading up to a high-altitude volcanic region where sub-zero temperatures prevail.
All of this sounded like the perfect place to give the ArmorATD a real-world test run and see if it really can hold up to what the marketing promises.
Water Resistance
First, I wanted to see what’s up with the protection against water and moisture. I often travel to locations close to the ocean and during my trip the G-Drive ArmorATD got covered with sea water many times. And as most of you should know, salty sea water is kind of the best way to destroy any of your gear.
Well, despite the fact that the ArmorATD litereally got soaked it kept working just perfectly fine.
Accidental Drops
We all know that feeling of accidentally dropping something expensive. And wouldn’t it be even worse dropping a hard drive containing some of your most valuable content and out of a sudden it would stop working? Exactly, that could turn into a nightmare real quick.
The ArmorATD promises to protect your files from drops of up to 1 meter. So I did exactly that: I dropped the drive intentionally onto solid rocks a couple of times. The sound it made was pretty awful but I’m happy to say that the drive continued to work like nothing happened.
Good stuff here SanDisk! :)
Crush Resistance
Next, I wanted to see how reliable the crush resistance really is. Personally, I couldn’t think of any more dramatic way than running over the ArmorATD with a car. This to me would be the ultimate proof to the overall durability of the drive.
So let’s how that went!
To my surprise the the aluminum enclose held up perfectly fine, even after running over the drive several times. Yes, the exterior got some pretty nasty scratches but everything was still sealed and working as expected. This might never happen to you in real life but nevertheless feels very reassuring.
Dust Resistance
Being a creator’s worst enemy, dealing with dust can be a real pain at times. Especially in windy or dry desert-like regions, it’s almost impossible to prevent your gear from getting exposed to it. Teide National Park, located in the center of the island is exactly such a location where I could expose the ArmorATD to lots of dust.
Needless to say, that the very tight sealing of the drive had absolutely no issues here.
Conclusion
There you have it guys, the SanDisk Professional G-Drive ArmorATD did in fact hold up to what it promised. It’s a very rugged all-terrain drive and definitely will have a permanent place in my backpack from now own. I still use the drive I had with me on that trip, so don’t worry about any waste creation. I just want to make sure that whatever I talk about in terms of products and services in fact is something that I as a photographer am convinced to use within my own workflow. And I have no doubts at all recommending this drive to you.
Anyways, you’ll find all the important links below and if you haven’t already make sure to check out the full video about my thoughts on the ArmorATD on YouTube here.
Stay healthy and see you soon,
Chris
Additional Information
SanDisk Professional G-Drive ArmorATD
Instagram: @sandiskprofessional & @sandiskemea