ADATA – life proof

ADATA Technology is primarily known for flash and memory products such as RAM and SSDs, and you might know ADATA for its extensive PC gaming hardware and accessories under its XPG brand. Or you might not…

I’m here to tell you that the company also boasts quite a sizeable range of external hard drives. This publicly listed Taiwanese memory and storage manufacturer was founded in May 2001 by Simon Chen and its main line of products consists of DRAM modules, USB Flash drives, hard disk drives, solid state drives, memory cards and mobile accessories.

In 2017 ADATA gleaned the title of second largest DRAM manufacturer in the world and had an impressive market capitalisation of US$680 million. ADATA’s competitors include household names such as Western Digital and Seagate.

ADATA however has cut itself a piece of the market pie by offering competitive pricing and more specifically by innovating with its designs. Avoiding the usual plain design of its competitors has given ADATA its edge. You’ll find some pretty remarkable shapes and vibrant colours – some are just quirky, but others are designed to be rugged and reliable.

Rugged, reliable and harddrivey – this is what Gadget Gal has come across. I almost feel like ADATA knew who they were dealing with here when they suggested the product for review – if I wasn’t Gadget Gal, I would be Miss Butterfingers – has someone claimed that?

Although I try to be careful with everything, an accident is still exactly that – an accident. I’m sure we’ve all felt our stomachs sink as we observe the slow and steady decline of precious hardware whose fall is only halted when it hits the ground with a gut wrenching thud or smack.

So ADATA has made a name for itself primarily for flash memory products such as RAM and SSDs, but the company does also have a generous range of external hard drives too. The latest of these is the ADATA HD710. The ADATA HD710 guarantees water and dust resistance as well as protection from shock damage in case of falls or physical impact. It is far from the slim and sleek hard drives you’ve encountered before. It is quite chunky – we can live with chunky.

As mentioned the ADATA HD 710 is a solid and hefty 1TB of portable hard drive. It is set in a protective layer of rubber, that you can’t remove and this really protects the drive mechanism. There is no doubt that this rubberised shield guards the drive against any hard knocks or blows.

The rubber cover also has an indent molded around the outside of it. This is where the cable sits. I loved this feature. Not only does it all fit together, as one, but it stops you from misplacing the cable altogethe

r – if you’re putting it back before you go anywhere, that is. It looks good and attaching the cable to the hard drive is so practical.

The HD710 also notoriously survived military spec tests for shocks, bumps, drops and can be submerged in water for up to 30 minutes.

It also performed well on my side transferring files effortlessly and quickly!

If you’re in the market for a new hard drive, and rugged might be the one for you, you’re looking at spending about R1000, it really depends on where you shop.

Interestingly, and also maybe be worth a mention, ADATA has recently expanded its product compliment. The company’s research now includes robotics and electric powertrain systems and we can’t wait to see what they bring us next.

P.S. Click here for a link to Incredible Connection or get it straight from Amazon here.