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Drive enclosures typically only cover your drive, ensuring that your data will be physically safe from electrostatic shock. Some are reinforced, protecting them from falls, sometimes water and impacts.

the Dockcase Explorer Pro Editionhowever, specializes in the digital security of your data with a 10-second Power Loss Protection (PLP) feature and a small LCD screen that displays a wide variety of information on five different menus.

The screen’s main menu displays the PLP’s charging status, SSD in enclosure, SSD lifespan, and partitioning details. To change menus, press and hold the black button on the side of the case and release to select a menu. Pressing this button twice also rotates the screen 90 degrees.

The first menu details SSD information, such as name, serial number, unsafe shutdowns, power cycles, and units read and written in gigabytes. The second menu digs deeper into the partition information, such as the format and quantification of the number of partitions.

The third menu lets you select your language, boot mode, SSD timeout, and more. The fourth and final menu is a system monitor, displaying power and temperature over time.

The Pro enclosure comes with a screwdriver, a screw, two washers and a USB-C to USB-C/USB-A cable, along with an NVMe SSD installation manual. There was no information on how to use the screen, but since it’s on Kickstarter, we recommend that upon full release, additional instructions be given to customers, so they can use the feature the most important of the enclosure.

• Up to 4 TB capacity
• USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) connection
• 1.33″ 240*240 IPS LCD screen
• 1,250MB/s read speeds claimed
• Claimed write speeds of 1,250MB/s
• 5 inches by 1.51 inches by 0.56 inches
• Weighs 3.35 ounces

The Pro speaker is a flashy but manageable device. It stands out for its glass casing, accompanying screen, futuristic details and its small size, practical enough to fit in your pocket.

The case is 5 inches long, 1.51 inches wide, and 0.56 inches thick. The case weighs only 3.35 ounces.

It can survive being dropped from your pocket, but with its glass casing and aluminum frame, the Enclosure Pro may not be the best choice for harsh conditions, and should ideally be kept in a safe place. in your pocket or bag.

The reader connects to a Mac or iPad over USB-C using USB 3.2 Gen 2 supporting up to 10Gbps on its primary port, and as a 15W Type-C auxiliary power port in case of insufficient power from the USB port. One Thunderbolt port and cable is enough for the main port for data and power.

The case comes with a USB-C to USB-C/USB-A cable for hassle-free connection to different devices.

We used a 2TB FireCuda 520 M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD and macOS for testing. Dockcase claims read and write speeds of 1250MB/s, but testing using the Blackmagic Disk Speed ​​Test showed realistic speeds of around 778 megabytes per second write and 844 megabytes per second read when connected to a Thunderbolt 3 port on a Macbook Air M1 and similar numbers when connected to a Thunderbolt 3 port on an M1 Max Macbook Pro.

These test results put the Enclosure Pro in a faster place but closer to a SATA SSD than a Thunderbolt NVMe drive in terms of speed. Frankly, despite the manufacturer’s claims, this is what to expect from a 10Gbps enclosure. We’d like to see the final product hit its claimed speed – if it can.

As for the PLP functionality test, when a copy of the Finder is complete, it does not mean that the drive cache is empty. All that means is macOS finished writing to the drive, and cache everything. So if a drive loses all power immediately after the Finder reports that the copy is complete, the file will not be completely copied because the RAM cache on the drive is fast but volatile, and will drain when the power drops, the data has been moved to flash media or not.

To test this, we unplugged the drive immediately after Finder reported completion of copying 25GB and 32GB video files to observe if the write completed without USB power- vs. Power failure protection triggered and successfully completed the copy on both tests because the files were not truncated and passed a checksum.

The Pro enclosure is a good choice for those who are very concerned about the health and longevity of their NVMe SSD, which makes it specialized for sensitive information. Its ease of use and versatility make it attractive for everything from personal use to video editing.

Current single-bay NVMe SSD enclosures range from $20 to $60, but Dockcase is the only company that consistently implements smart displays and PLP technology in their enclosures, which justifies their price.

However, slower-than-advertised read and write speeds limit the device’s convenience as an NVMe enclosure.

Dockcase Explorer Edition Pro – Benefits

• Useful interactive display
• High portability
• Power failure protection function that actually works

Dockcase Explorer Edition Pro – Cons

• Slower than advertised by the manufacturer
• The case is solid, but not robust

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 — at current speed

The Dockcase Explorer Edition: M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure Pro is currently available for purchase at Starter for $79 and up, expected delivery February 2023.

The project is fully funded. However, this is still a Kickstarter and there is no delivery guarantee. However, this is not Dockcase’s first project.