The market for external storage solutions is very crowded. Nowadays we find a wide range of options, but without a doubt external SSD drives They have become the most attractive alternative due to their high performance and favorable price. In terms of performance and build quality, the PNY RP60 occupies a leading position on the market, and thanks to PNY we had the opportunity to test it.

At first glance, its specifications put it, as I said, in a very interesting position, because we are looking at a high-performance SSD that is integrated into a protective chassis. lightweight but durable. This chassis has IP65 certificationwhich means it is ready to withstand drops of up to three meters and also has no problems with ground and water.

This is undoubtedly a unit intended primarily for demanding users and also for professionals in the field as well as for creatives and adventure lovers who want to keep their data and files with them without having to worry about their integrity. Promising, but will it live up to the expectations it has raised? I’ll tell you in this analysis, so keep reading if you want to find out.

PNY RP60 SSD, first contact and external analysis

This external storage unit is integrated into a very light chassis covered in soft, soft silicone. This silicone is a magnet for dust and dirt, but it fulfills a very important function and that is the damping effect and protection against falls from a height of up to three meters.

The PNY RP60 SSD is very compact, so much so falls into the palm of your hand. This, along with its light weight, makes it very comfortable and easy to carry as it easily fits in your pocket. The sensations it conveys to the touch are very good and although it is so light and compact, its structural strength borders on a good level. PNY has done a very good job in this regard.

At the top we have a clip that will allow us to carry the SSD on a suspension, and at the bottom we find the USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C connector, which is protected by a plastic piece that can be easily removed. This piece prevents dirt from entering the connector when we are not using the PNY RP60 and is the icing on the cake of a product with excellent build quality.

On a design level, the PNY RP60 is very simple, adopting a rectangular format with a flat frame and a texture with rubber lines of varying thickness on the front and back. The black color gives it an understated and elegant finish, but like I said, it’s a dirt magnet. What can I say, it’s a price for that rubber finish that protects the unit so well.

The PNY box includes a storage unit and a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C connection cable. It is important that you keep in mind that in order to get the most out of this storage drive, we need to mount it such a USB port with a speed of 20 Gbpsbecause otherwise we will cause bottleneck due to port bandwidth limitation.

The unit comes with software Acronis True Image data protectionand is compatible with any device that has a USB Type-C connector, including the new iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, which means that we can connect the PNY RP60 directly to these smartphones and use them without any problems.

Technical specifications and key features

• High performance external SSD drive.
• Chassis reinforced and protected by rubber treatment.
• IP65 certified for dust and water resistance.
• 1 TB of storage capacity.
• It uses TLC NAND Flash memory and uses a part as SLC cache.
• It achieves speeds of 2,000 MB/s and 1,800 MB/s sequential read and write.
• USB 3.2 Gen2 2×2 interface (20 Gbps).
• Dimensions and weight: 9.7 x 6 x 1.2 cm, 53 grams.
• Includes connection cable and Acronis True Image Data Protection software.
• 3 years warranty.
• Price: from 123.65 euros.

Usage experience and performance

The PNY RP60 SSD comes with everything we need to start using it right away. No need to go into any type of complex configuration or make modifications or install specific software, we just have to connect it to the device we want to use it with and done, it will work without a problem.

This is important because it translates into plug and play experience. which makes our lives easier and is of fundamental value for less knowledgeable users who don’t want to complicate things. I tested the PNY RP60 SSD with the latest generation ASUS ultraportable and with a desktop PC, and it worked perfectly in both cases.

Before going through the synthetic performance tests, I decided to run some real-world tests to see what average performance we can expect. This is important because since it is an external SSD with SLC cache, maximum write performance he will be alone for a whileand gradually decreases depending on the size of the write operation we perform.

This happens because the SLC cache runs out, at which point the drive loses speed until it stabilizes within a certain range. To push the PNY RP60 SSD to the limit I made a backup of almost 400 GBthe process was completed in about 12 minutes, that is the average speed was 555 MB/s.

During this backup, you can identify different write speed ranges. The first peak of almost 1800MB/s which lasts less than a minute, the second band between 1500MB/s and 1200MB/s, the third band less than 1000MB/s, the fourth band around 750MB/s and the last band where it was stabilized between 400 MB/s and 500 MB/s.

This means that the PNY RP60 SSD is able to work at the maximum speed of writing files that weigh the maximum about 50 GB. Normally, we won’t be doing write operations of hundreds of gigabytes at a time, but I wanted to do this test because it’s important to be clear about what you can expect from this SSD even in such a demanding and complicated scenario.

Performance in CrystalDiskMark

The performance values ​​of the PNY RP60 SSD in this test are generally excellent, in fact they exceeded my expectations and the official performance data offered by PNY, because as we can see exceed 2000 MB/s and 1800 MB/s in sequential read and write.

The data in random read and write is quite competitive and the temperature values completely safe.

Performance on an ATTO SSD

At ATTO we also have good results in general, although I appreciate some inconsistencies in writingand on certain subtests such as the 64KB and 16MB subtests. It might be a benchmark issuebecause in most subtests the results are very positive and in most cases it borders on their peak performance values.

Performance on the anvil

For an external drive, the results we have in Anvil are also good. We can see that the latency is higher than the internal SSD, which is quite logical, but they remain within the norm. Performance values ​​as well fall into expectationand I have nothing to object to.

Performance on AS SSD

We finish with another well-known performance test, where we see that the PNY RP60 SSD is again within the expected range. Good overall performance and acceptable latency for an external SSD of its size and price.

Final remarks

The PNY RP60 SSD is an SSD interesting in the quality-price ratio. It has a good design, very careful build quality and offers performance values ​​that stand out especially for sequential reading and writing. It is also very easy to use and offers such a simple experience that even a person with basic knowledge can easily enjoy it.

Its high durability is an important added value both for professionals who are constantly on the move and need to carry important data, files and projects with them, as well as for adventurous user profiles and for those who want to keep their data, files, photos and videos protected at all timeseven in the face of significant drops and liquids.

My experience with the PNY RP60 SSD is generally very good, I actually involuntarily tested his durability when I accidentally dropped it on the ground from a height of almost 1.60 meters and absolutely nothing happened. The silicone coating cushioned the fall and the unit worked without a problem. It is also very convenient to carry and use.

The performance it offers is very good, although it is true that it lags behind the Crucial X10 Pro in write operations for a long time. To be fair, even this SSD it is more expensiveand that it was the only way he could justify this price difference compared to the PNY model, which is undoubtedly good choice.