Introduction

Whenever my friends over at SanDisk Professional reach out to me in order to check out one of their new product releases, I feel excited like a child. As most of you should know, I’m a long term user of their products, whether it is SD and CFexpress cards, mobile SSD drives or their RAID-based solutions for managing large amounts of content. I tested and reviewed a lot of their solutions, some of them under relentless conditions and I stand by my word when I say, that I can fully recommend their drives to professionals and enthusiasts alike. If you haven’t already, make sure to check out some of these reviews I did in the past here.

This time though, we’re talking about a brand new modular SSD eco system, the SanDisk Professional PRO-BLADE. Not only is this system packed with the newest technology and a true powerhouse, but it also features professional grade materials and a unique design. So let’s waste no time and move on with a closer look at the PRO-BLADE product line.

The PRO-BLADE eco system

The PRO-BLADE system is based on a modular architecture and consist of three different products. As you will see in a minute, each of them serves a special purpose in order to speed up different steps within your overall creative workflow, whether you are a photographer, a videographer or like me, a hybrid shooter.

The SanDisk Professional PRO-BLADE eco system

SanDisk’s professional line of products always amazes with high-grade build quality and best of the industry specifications. SanDisk Professional clearly aims at the professional creator with these type of solutions and the PRO-BLADE system makes no exception here. Everything is made out of high-quality metals and synthetic materials. The overall system was created with mobility and performance in mind, both being two of the most important factors for tools being used within a high demanding, professional workflow. On top of this, the overall footprint, especially when considering its mind-blowing performance, is very small and moving the whole system in-between production locations is very easy and a smooth process.

PRO-BLADE SSD MAG

The first of the three PRO-BLADE components is the PRO-BLADE SSD mag. These mags are basically very compact high-performance SSD drives, with the smallest footprint possible, in order to pack less bulk without compromising on speed. Each of these drives features super fast transfer speeds of up to 2000MB/s by offering capacities between 1 and 4TB and of course can be used within a MacOS and Windows workflow. These transfer speeds are available thanks to the NVMe™ protocol (Non-Volatile Memory Express), being implemented right into the PRO-BLADE SSD mags.

The PRO-BLADE SSD mags feature the NVMe™ protocol

Paired with the PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT enclosure you get a powerful setup

The housing is made out of high-grade aluminium, helping to cool down the drive and to sustain the high read/write speeds even during heavier, long-term usage. These PRO-BLADE SSD mags are indeed super small and lightweight, so scaling up and carrying as many terrabytes as you need will never become an issue. In order to use these magazines while on the go, you need to pair them with the portable PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT, which brings us to the second component of this modular eco system.

Let’s have a closer look at it.

PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT

The PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT is a modular SSD enclosure, which enables you to swap out PRO-BLADE SSD mags in order to carry several terabytes of storage without excess bulk. The housing features a cooling aluminium heat sink to further sustain the fast transfer speeds during high demanding workflows.

Furthermore, the PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT offers USB-C (20Gbps) for speeds of up to 2000MB/s and it can be attached to your USB-C compatible camera rig to record directly onto the loaded PRO-BLADE SSD mag. This makes it super straight-foward to keep on recording without any notable down time during the swap between the mags.

Quality-wise, everything feels very rugged and durable. The package also induces a professional USB-C 20 Gbps cable, which matches the high quality of the TRANSPORT housing. A lot of other manufactures try to save costs on these and often include only a cheap or no cable at all. So it is definitely nice to see, that SanDisk Professional is serious about the professional use case here.

The PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT offers extremely fast USB-C 20Gpbs

High-performing quality in a extremely portable package

Cooling aluminium heat sink to maintain high speeds during heavy workloads

Next, we’ll talk about the third component of the PRO-BLADE eco system, the PRO-BLADE STATION.

PRO-BLADE STATION

Last but not least, there is the SanDisk Professional PRO-BLADE STATION, which probably can be called the brain of the overall modular eco system. The PRO-BLADE STATION is a high-performance desktop enclosure, which offers 4 PRO-BLADE SSD mag slots on the front. This allows for fast hot swapping of the mags in order to edit, copy and move massive amounts of data from the SSD mags right onto your machine or other storage devices, like the SanDisk Professional Shuttles.

SanDisk payed high attention to detail when it comes to the design language of the PRO-BLADE system

PRO-BLADE SSTATION offers 4 slots to hot swap PRO-BLADE SSD mags

The non-disruptive design allows for extremely fast access to massive amounts of data

Excellent finish and high-grade materials paired with an active cooling system

The PRO-BLADE STATION also features the NVMe™ technology and offers unbelievable transfer speeds of up 3000MB/s via Thunderbolt™ 3 (40Gbps). Furthermore, it features a completely new designed flow-through active ventilation system to help cooling down the inserted mags and keeping the high-speed performance during long sessions.

The PRO-BLADE STATION performance is exceptional

Incredible read/write speeds are maintained during high workloads

The build quality is outstanding, featuring the same high grade materials as the PRO-BLADE SSD mags and TRANSPORT enclosure. Furthermore, the STATION has just the right amount of weight, so that it doesn’t move when swapping out mags. It’s these little details which separate a true professional product from one that just pretends to be for pro usage. From the very first moment you unpack the PRO-BLADE STATION you’ll be assured that it will deliver what SanDisk Professional promises.

The PRO-BLADE STATION connectivity allows for carefree integration into professional workflows

On the back of the housing, you’ll find two Thunderbolt™ 3 (40Gbps) connections for your laptop, desktop machine or to daisy chain further storage solutions, like a SanDisk Professional Shuttle or another portable drive. Next to these connections, there is also one for a Kensington lock as well as one for the power cable.

Speaking of cables, the PRO-BLADE STATION packaging includes professional data and power cables and also a variety of different power plugs, which can be slid onto the power adapter, based on the country you are operating from. This makes the PRO-BLADE station a true mobile power house, which can be brought to shooting locations worldwide without the need of buying any additional third-party accessories.

Again, SanDisk Professional truly made sure that these products can be used within a high demanding professional workflow and the marketing holds what it promises.

Final Thoughts

First of all, thank you for following along until here. I hope I was able to share my first impressions with the SanDisk Professional PRO-BLADE system. So far, and this was no surprise to me, the overall system feels very well thought out from beginning of end, when it comes to supporting professional creative workflows.

Not only did SanDisk Professional make sure to implement the NVMe™ protocol and Thunderbolt™ 3 to provide the highest performance possible. They also were able to create this high-performance system in such a small package, which is truly impressive. I use a lot of different mobile SSDs within my own workflow, some of which are really small and lightweight already. But what SanDisk Professional was able to deliver with the PRO-BLADE SSD mags is on a different level. They are smaller than every other SSD I own and on top of this they are faster as well. Paired with the PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT and STATION you’ll get an extremely portable, well-built and high-performing setup while travelling or working on shooting locations world-wide.

Furthermore, the PRO-BLADE eco system isn’t meant to substitute your already existing RAID system, which is often used as a first layer within your backup and data management strategy. It rather should be seen as an additional high-performance storage solution, which allows you to be as flexible and fast as possible, when it comes to avoid any downtime waiting for transfers on location. You can record from your camera rig directly onto the PRO-BLADE SSD mags, then swap them out when needed and put them right into the PRO-BLADE STATION for further editing and distribution. The system truly focuses on two core requirements of professional workflows : Performance and Efficiency.

Personally, I already have implemented the SanDisk Professional PRO-BLADE system into my own creative workflow and couldn’t imagine of any better and more flexible way to deal with my daily amounts of photography and videography related content. In a world of ever increasing resolution and file sizes, where time is money, this is the system to stay ahead of the game.

You’ll find all the important links below and if you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Talk soon,

Chris

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