Lexar SL500 2TB USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Magnetic Portable SSD Review

After recently testing the LaCie Rugged Mini 2TB portable SSD in our last hardware review, today we’re going to take a closer look at the SL500 portable SSD from LEXAR. This compact SSD was released last March and is available in three capacities: 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB. In this article, we will focus on the 2 TB model, which comes with a magnetic attachment system.

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Presentation

The LEXAR SL500 comes in a small cardboard box that contains the SSD, a USB-C cable, a user manual, a wrist strap, and a magnetic attachment kit that allows you to attach the SSD almost anywhere—for example, on the back of a smartphone, tablet, or other compatible device.

Here are the contents of the box.

The LEXAR SSD is very compact, as you can see. It measures only 85 mm long, 54 mm wide, and 7.8 mm thick, and weighs just 43 grams. Thanks to its small size, it can easily fit into a pocket or bag.

The SL500 features a black aluminum enclosure that looks sleek and feels fairly sturdy. The SSD is powered by a Silicon Motion SM2320 controller and uses 3D TLC NAND Flash memory.

The drive includes a USB Type-C port that supports the USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20 Gbps) standard. According to LEXAR, the SSD can reach transfer speeds of up to 2,000 MB/s read and 1,800 MB/s write when connected to a compatible USB port. We’ll verify these claims during our tests.

The SSD can be used without protection (as shown in the photo) or placed inside a rubber protective shell, which helps protect the device during transport. However, it’s important to note that this does not make the SSD fully rugged. The SL500 is not waterproof and is not designed to withstand heavy drops or shocks, unlike products from the LaCie Rugged series. These are clearly different product categories.

Here it is with the rubber shell installed.

The rubber shell is well designed. It is very easy to install and remove.

Another interesting feature is that the back of the protective case includes a magnet. Combined with the included metal ring, this makes it possible to attach the SSD easily to the back of a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or other device.

For example, you can attach the SSD to the back of an iPhone 15 Pro / Pro Max or iPhone 16 Pro / Pro Max and use it to record videos directly in Apple’s ProRes format through the phone’s USB port.

The LEXAR SL500 comes with a rubberized USB-C cable measuring 20 cm in length.

Testing Machine

To test the LEXAR SL500, I equipped our test machine with a PCI Express expansion card featuring an ASMedia ASM3242 controller. This allows the system to support USB Type-C connectivity with the USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20 Gbps) standard, since the motherboard itself is limited to USB 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbps).

Test configuration:

• MSI B450 Tomahawk Max motherboard
• AMD Ryzen 5 5600G processor
• HyperX Fury DDR4 RGB 16 GB RAM
• M.2 NVMe SSD: Crucial P1 500 GB
• 2.5″ SATA SSD: Crucial MX500 1 TB
• Monitor: Philips 32″ 328P6AUBREB/00
• Case: Antec NX1000
• Power Supply: Antec VP 600W
• Operating System: Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
• Expansion Card: Kalea USB 3.2 Gen2x2 PCIe card (20 Gbps)

Performance Testing

To measure the performance of the LEXAR SL500, I used the usual benchmarking tools:

• CrystalDiskMark
• ATTO Disk Benchmark
• AS SSD Benchmark

First, I connected the portable SSD to the USB-C 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbps) port on the motherboard. Then I repeated the same tests using the USB-C 3.2 Gen2x2 (20 Gbps) port provided by the expansion card in order to measure the maximum performance possible.

When connected to the USB-C 3.2 Gen2 port of the MSI B450 Tomahawk Max, the CrystalDiskMark benchmark measured speeds of 985.10 MB/s read and 996.56 MB/s write, which is very good for this interface.

Using ATTO, transfer rates reached 984.48 MB/s read and 994.20 MB/s write.

The AS SSD Benchmark, which tends to be slightly more conservative, measured 915.26 MB/s read and 902.30 MB/s write.

It’s when connected to a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 port that the LEXAR SL500 SSD reveals its full power. Indeed, by connecting it to the USB C port of the expansion card, I was able to measure transfer rates of 2,094.55 MB/s read and 2,061.36 MB/s write with the Crystal Disk Mark program.

For its part, the ATTO program revealed maximum read speeds of 2,095.10 MB/s and 2,055.62 MB/s write. And finally, the AS SSD program indicated transfer rates of 1,908.85 MB/s read and 1,852.52 MB/s write.

When connected to a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 port, the LEXAR SL500 reveals its full potential.

Using CrystalDiskMark, the SSD achieved 2,094.55 MB/s read and 2,061.36 MB/s write.

The ATTO benchmark showed similar results, reaching 2,095.10 MB/s read and 2,055.62 MB/s write.

Finally, AS SSD Benchmark measured 1,908.85 MB/s read and 1,852.52 MB/s write.

As you can see, the LEXAR SL500 easily surpasses the 2,000 MB/s mark, demonstrating the clear advantage of the USB 3.2 Gen2x2 interface.

Compared to USB 3.2 Gen2, this interface essentially doubles the transfer speed, which is especially useful when transferring large files or performing backups.

Conclusion

The LEXAR SL500 is a very convincing portable SSD. Compact and stylish, it takes up very little space and can easily be carried anywhere. It provides a convenient storage solution for transporting files, photos, and videos.

The magnetic attachment system is a particularly useful feature for users who want to expand the storage capacity of their smartphone or tablet.

Another major advantage is its compatibility with iPhone 15 Pro / Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro / Pro Max, allowing direct recording in Apple ProRes format.

In terms of performance, the LEXAR SL500 delivers excellent speeds. While it already performs well with USB 3.2 Gen2, it truly shines when connected to a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20 Gbps) port, where it can exceed 2,000 MB/s in both read and write speeds.

This performance gain significantly reduces file transfer times, although users will need a compatible USB 3.2 Gen2x2 port to fully benefit from it.

Overall, the SL500 impressed me. It is a fast, stable, and attractive SSD. My only small complaint is that the USB cable is quite short for desktop PC use, although its length is perfectly adequate for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

The SSD also comes with the Lexar DataShield software. This simple tool allows users to protect sensitive data with a password by creating a secure partition on the drive using AES-256 encryption. While it may not be the most advanced software available, it is efficient and free, which is certainly a welcome bonus.

One final note: the model tested here includes the magnetic mounting kit. A cheaper version without the magnetic kit is also available. Whether you need it or not depends on how you plan to use the SSD, particularly if you want to expand the storage of a smartphone or tablet.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. This article may contain affiliate links. If you click and buy, we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.