Ready to go for Mac computers and Apple Time Machine backup right out of the box. Support for up to 45 watts of USB Power Delivery through the USB-C port allows you to charge your compatible MacBook or MacBook Pro without having to take a separate charger out of your bag. Our G-Technology 10TB G-Drive USB-C review cover details here.
Pros & Cons – G-Technology 10TB G-Drive USB-C
Like:
- Sleek and lightweight
- Solid construction means I won’t fear shipping it
- Very quiet in operation
- (2) Thunderbolt 3 and (1) USB-C ports
- Pretty fast read/write speeds regardless of port
- Physical on/off switch
- Multiple capacity options (4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB & 12TB)
No Like:
- Oddly inconsistent speeds during testing. It would also peak to very fast speeds quickly before falling to a much lower, final speed (which are the published numbers above)
- Nearly triple the price for triple the ports, but TB3 workstations will appreciate it
General Features
- Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports and one USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C port, which is also known as USB 3.0
- Daisy-chaining for up to 5 additional devices
- High-speed data transfers up to 245 MB/s
- Solid aluminum case helps improve durability
- 10TB enterprise-class 7200 rpm hard drive
- Apple Time Machine compatible
- Plug-and-play on macOS
Price
The G-Technology G-Drive, for example, costs as little as £153 (around $215) for the 4TB model with the 6TB model available for only £20 more. You will be hard pressed to find a 1TB external SSD for less than £300 (G-Tech’s very own G-Drive being the exception at less than £200).
Affordability aside, is the G-Technology G-Drive 4TB worth it? Well, it delivers some great read/write speeds with a minimalist design.
Compare with similar items
| G-Technology 10TB G-DRIVE USB-C | G-Technology 5TB ArmorATD All-Terrain Rugged Portable External Hard Drive | G-Technology G-DRIVE USB 3.0 10TB External Hard Drive | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compatible Devices | Notebook | Desktop, Laptop, Television | Desktop, Laptop, Television |
| Digital Storage Capacity | 10000 GB | 5000.0 GB | 10.0 TB |
| Hard Disk Description | Mechanical Hard Disk | Portable | — |
| Hard Disk Size | 10 TB | 5.0 TB | 10.0 TB |
| Hardware Interface | USB | USB 3.1 Type C | USB, USB 3.0 |
| Item Dimensions | 7.70 x 5.10 x 1.40 inches | 5.20 x 3.46 x 1.18 inches | 9.25 x 5.12 x 1.89 inches |
| Item Weight | 2.29 lbs | 0.77 lbs | 2.40 lbs |
| Memory Storage Capacity | 10.00 TB | 5 TB | — |
| Model Year | 2017 | — | 2016 |
| Size | 10TB | 5TB | 10TB |
G-Technology 10TB G-Drive USB-C review
Size
It is a relatively large piece of kit at 196 x 128.5 x 35.3mm with a weight of just over 1kg, and that’s because of the 3.5-inch hard disk drive that’s inside.
In addition, a wieldy 19V, 3.42A (65W) power supply unit accompanies the device, which is at odds with the minimalist design of the drive. Four rubber feet plus the usual details (serial number, barcode) are located on the base of the device. The matte silver aluminum finish of the drive matches the Apple MacBook Air and other aluminum-clad systems perfectly.
Design
Designed to match the Apple product range, the G-Technology G-Drive external hard disk features an all-aluminum enclosure with an illuminated ‘G’ logo and air vents (to cool the drive) on the front. A large ‘G’ adorns the top of the device and there’s a power switch, a USB Type-C connector (Gen 1 so only up to 5Gbps) and a power socket at the back.
The G-DRIVE Thunderbolt 3 is anything but flashy, and I like that. It’s a simple metallic rectangle with subdued branding and minimal design. The face of the drive is a grate with a light-up “G” in the center that glows and flickers with the drive’s activation. The rear of the drive features three connection ports (two Thunderbolt 3 and one normal USB-C), a power port, and an on/off switch. The G-DRIVE ships with a Thunderbolt 3 cable, but also works with a regular USB-C cable, and a USB-C to USB-A cable
RPM
The 7,200rpm 1TB hard drive mechanism is faster than the 5,400rpm mechanism found in the Toshiba Canvio Slim II and Seagate Slim. The LaCie P’9223 Slim has a SSD mechanism, which is much faster but has a much smaller capacity 120GB SSD.
File format
The G-Drive Mobile USB 3.0 comes pre-formatted HFS+ for Macs, though you can reformat it ExFAT or NTFS for use with a PC. This is less convenient than the Seagate Slim for Mac, which comes with a HFS+ driver for PCs. The G-Drive Mobile USB 3.0 is best suited for Mac-only offices, where you’ll use the speedier 7,200rpm G-Drive to reduce drag-and-drop transfer times or for quicker backups using Time Machine. The G-Drive Mobile USB 3.0 comes with a three-year warranty.
G-Technology 10TB G-Drive USB-C performance review
The G-Drive external drive is plug-and-play on Apple Mac and can be easily reformatted for Windows. It is also Time Machine ready so you will be able to quickly backup all your files.
Pry open this drive and you will find a Western Digital WD40EMRX-82UZ0N0, otherwise known as the WD Red. This is a 4TB hard disk drive spinning at 5400RPM with 64MB cache – a storage device that has been fine-tuned to deliver cooler temperatures in use and targets NAS users.
There is a 10TB model – with a staggering 256MB cache – available directly from G-Technology in the US for $370 (around £260) but it is not yet available in the UK.Advertisement
WD says that its Red range has features such as NAS compatibility, increased reliability, error recovery controls as well as noise and vibration protection that make it a great choice for use cases that require better reliability than your run-of-the-mill hard disk drive.
Not surprisingly, the drive comes with a three-year limited warranty, plus a pair of USB Type-C cables and extra plugs for mainland Europe territories.
The drive achieved some great numbers on CrystalDiskMark hitting 180MBps and 152.6MBps on sequential read/write benchmarks respectively, while reaching 182MBps and 184MBps with sequential read/write speeds on the popular ATTO disk benchmark. That’s not far from the ‘up to’ transfer rates of 195MBps claimed by the manufacturer.
As expected the drive warmed up a bit during our testing, but this represented nothing alarming for a storage device that is expected to be powered on 24/7.
Alternate of G-Technology 10TB G-Drive USB-C
Western Digital has a 4TB Elements drive for around £100 ($140) and a 4TB WD My Book desktop hard drive, while Seagate-owned LaCie sells a 4TB Porsche Design USB-C drive – that targets the same audience as the G-Drive – and a high performance drive called the D2 that is surprisingly inexpensive.
G-Technology 10TB G-Drive USB-C customer review
quality product
I am very pleased with the quality of this hard drive. It was plug-n-play (for a Mac), just as advertised. I took it out of the box, plugged it in, and off we went. I had previously had a Seagate external hard drive which has lasted happily for many years, so originally I ordered another Seagate (3 TB). As soon as I took the new Seagate out of the box I could see it was cheaply made. The sheet metal case had sharp corners that would cut skin. I sent it back immediately.
A friend of mine has a portable (1 TB) G-Tech drive, one of two we trade back and forth to store our date off-site at each other’s h comes. I had been very impressed with the quality of my friend’s little G-Tech drive, so I ordered my 4 TB G-Tech drive (which lives permanently in my house for backup). I had read online reviews which rated G-Tech drives highly. It has the look and feel of a quality product. I have not had it long enough to make any statements about how it will hold up over time.
But it was one of the few I found that has an ON/OFF SWITCH – a very important feature to me, since switching on the drive only when I want to back up saves greatly on wear on the drive, as opposed to other drives which are left running full time. G-Tech’s tech support was very helpful in answering my questions before I bought the unit.
By chrislegacy at Best Buy
