The Lossy Rugged Raid Pro with UHS 2 SD Card Reader: A Comprehensive Review
By Jeff Benjamin, Nine-to-Five Mac
As I sit here with the Leesa Rugged Raid Pro, I can confidently say that this drive is a game-changer for professionals on-the-go. With its rugged design and built-in UHS 2 SD card reader, this device offers unparalleled convenience and flexibility.
The Leesa Rugged Raid Pro boasts an impressive 4 terabytes of mechanical hard drive storage, allowing users to store vast amounts of data in a single, compact package. But it's not just the size that makes this drive special – its traditional AC design by Neil Poulton lends a bright orange color scheme and shock-resistant rubber sleeve, making it perfect for those who need a device that can withstand the rigors of daily use.
One of the standout features of the Leesa Rugged Raid Pro is its IP 54 dust and water resistant cover. This ensures that the drive can handle even the most challenging environments, from dusty workshops to wet or humid conditions. And with an activity light above the SD card slot, users can easily monitor the drive's status without having to dig through a cluttered bag.
But what really sets this drive apart is its AC adapter connector. Unlike some other portable drives that rely on makeshift solutions, the Leesa Rugged Raid Pro comes with a built-in power adapter for those cases where the computer doesn't provide enough bus power. This is particularly useful for MacBook Pro users who may not always have access to a reliable power source.
Speaking of USB-C ports, the Leesa Rugged Raid Pro features a USB 3.1 Gen 1 connector that provides a max of five gigabits per second – more than sufficient for most data transfer needs. And with the drive pre-configured with RAID 0 for optimal performance, users can enjoy speeds of up to 250 megabytes per second both read and write.
But be warned: RAID 0 comes with its trade-offs. If one drive fails, all data is lost – a stark reminder that backup is always essential. And if you want to configure other RAID settings or simply store files on the drive, the Leesa Rugged Raid Pro's RAID manager app comes in handy. But I found this tool to be finicky and slow at times.
The toolkit app is perhaps the most interesting feature of the Leesa Rugged Raid Pro. With it, users can format their drive, backup data from an SD card, or even synchronize files across multiple folders – a convenient feature that's sure to appeal to professionals on-the-go. However, I found manual backups to be faster and more reliable.
Another standout feature is the UHS 2 reader itself. Not only does it provide incredibly fast data transfer speeds, but its built-in slot ensures that users can easily connect their MacBook Pro or other devices for seamless data transfer.
In terms of who this drive is best suited for, I would say professionals who regularly work on-the-go and need to backup SD card contents are the primary target audience. Whether you're a photographer, videographer, or simply someone who needs to access your files in the field, the Leesa Rugged Raid Pro offers unparalleled convenience and flexibility.
Of course, there are faster SSDs available for MacBook Pros – but those often come with significant price tags. In contrast, the Leesa Rugged Raid Pro is an affordable option that offers a massive 4 terabytes of storage at a fraction of the cost. Plus, its rugged design and built-in SD card reader make it an essential tool for anyone who needs to stay productive on-the-go.
Overall, I'm impressed by the Leesa Rugged Raid Pro's performance, convenience, and value. Whether you're a professional or simply someone who needs reliable storage solutions, this drive is definitely worth considering.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: entoday we go hands-on with the lesea Roga trade pro with the built-in UHS 2 SD card reader hope you guys and gals had a good weekend this is Jeff Benjamin with nine-to-five Mac and here it is in the flesh the lossy rugged raid pro giving you 4 terabytes of mechanical hard drive storage up to 250 megabytes per second Reed you get that traditional a/c design by Neil Poulton which lends you that bright orange shock resistant rubber sleeve now hundred the IP 54 dust and water resistant cover you have a USB C port in an SD card slot you also have that activity light right above along with an AC adapter connector which we'll talk about a little bit later so here's the water and dust cover for the lesea rugged raid pro and they actually include a second one of these inside the box just in case you lose this one on some previous list c drives you had a built-in cable that was permanently attached that's not the case with the rugged raid pro you have a standalone USBC cable there's also a legacy USB C 2 USB a cable included and a power adapter for those cases where the computer doesn't provide enough bus power in most cases you probably won't need that 4 MacBook Pro users you should be able to connect and power the rugged raid pro using the included USB CD USBC cable there are good things about not having a permanently attached cable but the downside is that you have to remember to always bring it with you in order to connect your rugged rate Pro to your MacBook Pro and this is USB 3.1 gn1 which provides a max of five gigabits per second now the drive comes pre-configured with raid 0 which is going to give you the best performance but if you want to configure raid 1 or JBOD just a bunch of discs you have to use raid manager to go in and change the configuration and then you have to confirm the change by pressing this little button here with the paperclip like this so I think that's a pretty thoughtful design decision because obviously reconfiguring raid is going to completely wipe the drive so you want to be absolutely sure so let's talk about performance obviously raid 0 as far in a way the best option if performance is a priority you can see 250 megabytes per second both read and write and here's that Blackmagic disc beat test tool the downside of raid 0 obviously is that if you lose one drive then all of your data is low so definitely not a solution for mission-critical data that you don't have backed up you can see rate one basically provides less than half the speed of raid 0 and that of course isn't going to cut it for some workflow so just keep that in mind the drive defaults to raid 0 for reason obviously but if you're going to use it make sure you have a backup for your data along with the raid manager app there's also the toolkit app which lets you do things like format your drive or even near your files from a folder and automatically sync those files but the toolkits most interesting feature is the ability to automatically backup an SD card to the drive just like this so the first time you backup is going to prompt you if you want to import you just click import and it'll start the import the problem is is I found this to be a little on the finicky side it's gonna be a little slow as well I find that it's so much faster just to manually manage your backup so basically just manually drag your SD card contents over to the drive and do it that way it's a UHS 2 reader by the way so it's really really fast so watch this I'm just manually dragging the contents of my SD card over and notice the speed here so this is like almost 30 gigabytes look at that about three minutes remaining so manual is the way to go in my opinion it's a very fast way to backup your SD card and the fact that you get an SD card built into the drive is just a convenience factor for MacBook Pro owners because that's a feature that the MacBook Pro outright lacks so who is this drive for I would say it's mainly for those on the go who need to regularly backup SD card contents so you're out shooting in the field you need to backup the contents of your card this is a great drive to do so it's obviously rugged is made that was thin the day-to-day rigors of travel it's definitely not the fastest drive that you can find for the MacBook Pro there are many SSDs available that we've reviewed way faster than this but you get a massive four terabytes of on the go bus powered storage and you get that UHS to reader built-in and that may appeal to some of you let me know what you think in the comments this is Jeff what the 905 Mactoday we go hands-on with the lesea Roga trade pro with the built-in UHS 2 SD card reader hope you guys and gals had a good weekend this is Jeff Benjamin with nine-to-five Mac and here it is in the flesh the lossy rugged raid pro giving you 4 terabytes of mechanical hard drive storage up to 250 megabytes per second Reed you get that traditional a/c design by Neil Poulton which lends you that bright orange shock resistant rubber sleeve now hundred the IP 54 dust and water resistant cover you have a USB C port in an SD card slot you also have that activity light right above along with an AC adapter connector which we'll talk about a little bit later so here's the water and dust cover for the lesea rugged raid pro and they actually include a second one of these inside the box just in case you lose this one on some previous list c drives you had a built-in cable that was permanently attached that's not the case with the rugged raid pro you have a standalone USBC cable there's also a legacy USB C 2 USB a cable included and a power adapter for those cases where the computer doesn't provide enough bus power in most cases you probably won't need that 4 MacBook Pro users you should be able to connect and power the rugged raid pro using the included USB CD USBC cable there are good things about not having a permanently attached cable but the downside is that you have to remember to always bring it with you in order to connect your rugged rate Pro to your MacBook Pro and this is USB 3.1 gn1 which provides a max of five gigabits per second now the drive comes pre-configured with raid 0 which is going to give you the best performance but if you want to configure raid 1 or JBOD just a bunch of discs you have to use raid manager to go in and change the configuration and then you have to confirm the change by pressing this little button here with the paperclip like this so I think that's a pretty thoughtful design decision because obviously reconfiguring raid is going to completely wipe the drive so you want to be absolutely sure so let's talk about performance obviously raid 0 as far in a way the best option if performance is a priority you can see 250 megabytes per second both read and write and here's that Blackmagic disc beat test tool the downside of raid 0 obviously is that if you lose one drive then all of your data is low so definitely not a solution for mission-critical data that you don't have backed up you can see rate one basically provides less than half the speed of raid 0 and that of course isn't going to cut it for some workflow so just keep that in mind the drive defaults to raid 0 for reason obviously but if you're going to use it make sure you have a backup for your data along with the raid manager app there's also the toolkit app which lets you do things like format your drive or even near your files from a folder and automatically sync those files but the toolkits most interesting feature is the ability to automatically backup an SD card to the drive just like this so the first time you backup is going to prompt you if you want to import you just click import and it'll start the import the problem is is I found this to be a little on the finicky side it's gonna be a little slow as well I find that it's so much faster just to manually manage your backup so basically just manually drag your SD card contents over to the drive and do it that way it's a UHS 2 reader by the way so it's really really fast so watch this I'm just manually dragging the contents of my SD card over and notice the speed here so this is like almost 30 gigabytes look at that about three minutes remaining so manual is the way to go in my opinion it's a very fast way to backup your SD card and the fact that you get an SD card built into the drive is just a convenience factor for MacBook Pro owners because that's a feature that the MacBook Pro outright lacks so who is this drive for I would say it's mainly for those on the go who need to regularly backup SD card contents so you're out shooting in the field you need to backup the contents of your card this is a great drive to do so it's obviously rugged is made that was thin the day-to-day rigors of travel it's definitely not the fastest drive that you can find for the MacBook Pro there are many SSDs available that we've reviewed way faster than this but you get a massive four terabytes of on the go bus powered storage and you get that UHS to reader built-in and that may appeal to some of you let me know what you think in the comments this is Jeff what the 905 Mac\n"
