Seagate Barracuda Fast SSD 1TB USB-C review
Seagate has officially released its third iteration of the “Fast” lineup, taking the FireCuda and BarraCuda names into the portable SSD lineup. This lineup starts with the entry level Barracuda Fast SSD. The BarraCuda has the same design as its predecessor but with an updated/darker colour scheme.
| Capacity | 500GB, 1TB, 2TB |
| Interface | USB-C |
| Format | exFAT |
| Maximum sequential performance | 540MB/s read 500MB/s write |
| Dimensions | Length: 94mm Width: 79mm Depth (mm): 9mm |
| Warranty | 3-year limited warranty |
Packaging takes full advantage of the BarraCuda branding with a completely black and green colorway. Capacity is listed top right with features to the left an image of the drive below. See our video for more info below.
In the box, there is the BarraCuda itself, along with two cables, USB-C to USB Type A, and a standard USB-C cable.
Design wise, the BarraCuda Fast SSD offers a unique design with a thin and light square shaped drive that is almost completely blacked out with Seagate branding and a green outline around the faceplate. That green outline also features an awesome green LED when the drive is powered up.
The front of the drive has the input/USB-C connector for plugging in. The back of the drive has the standard identification information, serial number, capacity and so on. The drive is formatted as exFAT out of the box, making it work with both Mac and Windows from the get go, wise choice.
Warranty is at 3 years for this sleek device, courtesy of Seagate. And we are quite impressed with the warranty offered. Many manufacturers stick to their one or even two year warranty, but we are happy to see Seagate offering another reason to switch to their products.
The BarraCuda Fast SSD also comes with a 2-month membership of Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan which is pretty neat for any content creators to get a head start here.
The drive is simplistic and sleek yet powerful and efficient. The form factor is great as it weighs in at just 140 grams, making this not much larger than a standard USB drive but with the obvious benefits of insane speeds and huge storage sizes now available.
For comparison purposes, the BarraCuda Fast SSD will be compared to our recently reviewed LaCie Portable SSD and the Samsung T5 Portable SSD.
In BlackMagic we recorded the following speeds:
Mac
BarraCuda Fast SSD: 512.3MB/s read and 469.1MB/s write
LaCie Portable SSD: 515.1MB/s read and 475.5MB/s write
Samsung Portable SSD T5: 493.8MB/s read and 462.1MB/s write
Windows
BarraCuda Fast SSD: 451.6MB/s read and 439.4MB/s write
LaCie Portable SSD: 455.9MB/s read and 442.6MB/s write
Samsung Portable SSD T5: 435.2MB/s read and 419.4MB/s write
We were impressed with how close the BarraCuda Fast SSD got in testing, although falling short of the claimed figure, that is standard with all drives.
With IOMeter, when looking at 2MB sequential, the BarraCuda Fast posted speeds of 441.286MB/s read and 428.175MB/s write. The BarraCuda Fast took the top spot against the Seagate Fast Portable SSD, Lacie Portable SSD, and Samsung T5.
Onto 2MB random speeds, we saw the BarraCuda Fast pull figures of around 445.146MB/s and 433.455MB/s for read and write, respectively.
In Random 4K performance, the BarraCuda Fast posted 5,480.34 IOPS read and 9,515.97 IOPS write.
Overall, the new sleek design with the green LED makes the BarraCuda Fast SSD a nice looking storage unit that performs well. It provides both USB-C and Type A cables making it accessible for those without USB-C ports and has plenty of storage capacity options from 500GB to 2TB. Warranty is great, the additional Adobe subscription is a plus and the speed on this device is extraordinary and worth the upgrade over your standard portable hard drive.
See our unboxing and review video here: