Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosures

[Ploki]

I finally need to pull the trigger on some external storage, recently, I've been more prone to just get products that are ready to go, simple single-source warranty, i.e., my recent Mini purchase where I just went with 32GB from Apple (though it was a refurb).

I knocked around several options, the JEYI is tempting, but not with the long wait cycle. I've got a couple of options in my (Amazon) cart, both from TEKQ:

TEKQ Rapide in either 480 ($147) or 960GB ($276), that's a complete solution, with solid reviews, and a 3 year warranty.

TEKQ Cube with 120G at $109, with the idea to pull the drive and swap in a Sabrent 1TB Rocket for $109, making my total 1TB ~$218 plus a "free" 120GB drive I could swap into a cheapo USB-C case. The case is 1 year, the Sabrent drive according to the Q&A is 1 year, but if you register is on their site, it's 5[?]


It's tempting just to spend the extra $58, get the drive I take out of a box and plugin and it just works (er, hopefully )

I also looked at a couple of OWC and compatible drives, with the sort of shock proof exterior bumpers, around the same price, but didn't like the permanently attached cable.

if i recall correctly, TEKQ Rapid and the JEYI have the same circuit board, the Cube looks like it has identical enclosure as well.

Permanently attached cables cases are terrible, stay away. One mistake and its not easy to fix.

 

[sasabalac]

if i recall correctly, TEKQ Rapid and the JEYI have the same circuit board, the Cube looks like it has identical enclosure as well.

Permanently attached cables cases are terrible, stay away. One mistake and its not easy to fix.

I noticed recently that a lot of vendors (not all) are no longer offering these devices M/T with no SSD installed. I wonder why?

 

[Ploki]

I noticed recently that a lot of vendors (not all) are no longer offering these devices M/T with no SSD installed. I wonder why?

No clue - but JEYI was actually the first drive-less thunderbolt 3 enclosure, and for a while, the only one at all.

 

[d.steve]

TEKQ Cube with 120G at $109, with the idea to pull the drive and swap in a Sabrent 1TB Rocket for $109, making my total 1TB ~$218 plus a "free" 120GB drive

this is what I did back in July. working well, fast, not a single disconnect, but haven’t been using it as much as I anticipated. Connected all this time, just not utilized a lot. Some results from the TEKQ Cube and 2TB Sabrent Rocket:

2017 iMac T3 drives: TEKQ Rapide vs Internal vs T5

Some results with TEKQ Cube with Sabrent Rocket 2TB, based/build with Phison E12 with firmware 12.2. MacBook Pro 2017 running High Sierra (work computer, Mojave still blocked). I bought the TEKQ Cube with the smallest SSD I could find - 120 GB. I decided to compare HFS+ and APFS in case anyone...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[weaztek]

PSA: I just got a 512GB TB3 VisionTek SSD on amazon for $95. The 1TB version is currently $145. Both of these prices are comparable to USB 3.2 drives.

There aren't many reviews of the product but the one I did read measured speed at 1123 MB/s Write and 1180 MB/s Read on a 2016 MBP. Claimed speeds up to 1700 MB/s so that's pretty solid. The cable is short and is not removable but I'm fine with that as the drive has a one year warranty and I don't need much length. It's a wide shape (cooling I imagine) for an NVMe drive but there is only one SSD in the enclosure (I asked).

 

[D.T.]

this is what I did back in July. working well, fast, not a single disconnect, but haven’t been using it as much as I anticipated. Connected all this time, just not utilized a lot. Some results from the TEKQ Cube and 2TB Sabrent Rocket:

2017 iMac T3 drives: TEKQ Rapide vs Internal vs T5

Some results with TEKQ Cube with Sabrent Rocket 2TB, based/build with Phison E12 with firmware 12.2. MacBook Pro 2017 running High Sierra (work computer, Mojave still blocked). I bought the TEKQ Cube with the smallest SSD I could find - 120 GB. I decided to compare HFS+ and APFS in case anyone...

forums.macrumors.com

BTW, does the Cube come with a USB-C/TB3 cable? It's not mentioned, but they show a cable on Amazon ... ?

 

[D.T.]

Permanently attached cables cases are terrible, stay away. One mistake and its not easy to fix.

FWIW, the Sabrent Rocket, which looks very close to the OWC design, same exterior rubber bumper, etc., now has a revised model with a detachable cable:

... and a 4TB model being released this month for $799.

 

[Stephen.R]

FWIW, the Sabrent Rocket, which looks very close to the OWC design, same exterior rubber bumper, etc., now has a revised model with a detachable cable:


View attachment 875376


... and a 4TB model being released this month for $799.

I wonder if it has the same power issue as the OWC on a 2018 mini?

Also I don’t see the rubber bumper?

 

[D.T.]

Oh yeah, I meant their previous design has a bumper (like the OWC), this revision apparently lost the bumper (there's a video review / photos of the new one if you sort by most recent reviews).

 

[rewrew999]

wierd, my non-plus 1TB runs 2000 write in the 99$ JEYI.
Also, i get 2000/2500 with all 4 ports full.

also it doesn't disconnect.
also i didn't update or install anything drive related

Hi, i would to buy a JEYI thunderbolt enclosure like yours for my iMac 5K '17, can you confirm this enclosure still works OK with macOS 10.15 catalina without any problem of "disk not ejected properly" (self-disconnection) when you standby then resume your mac?! this is my huge doubts before buy it eheh very thanks if you want to reply me!

 

[Ploki]

Hi, i would to buy a JEYI thunderbolt enclosure like yours for my iMac 5K '17, can you confirm this enclosure still works OK with macOS 10.15 catalina without any problem of "disk not ejected properly" (self-disconnection) when you standby then resume your mac?! this is my huge doubts before buy it eheh very thanks if you want to reply me!

hi, unfortunately I haven't switched to Catalina yet, so i cannot comment on that.
It works fine on Mojave 10.14.6, i probably won't be switching to Catalina until late december.

By it works fine, i mean it has worked fine for at least a year now.

 

[MCAsan]

My Tekq Cube has a 2TB Inland Premium SSD from MicroCenter. Works very well. I am deciding if If will bite the bullet and open the iMac and install it. Of course I will also look for holiday specials on a Samsung EVO Plus or an Adata XPG SX8200 Pro. I have the Sintech adapter for the installation.

 

[ender78]

They seem to be. My Samsung EVO 970 1TB (non plus, the old one) runs 2000 write and 2500 read in that aliexpress JEYI enclosure, and its 95% full.

(Btw, i've been running it for about half a year, maybe a little more. Works like a charm, no issues whatsoever)

I applied the thermal thingies, the disk runs from 50-60 on casual workload (or idle)

Can you confirm the model of you JEYI enclosure.

 

[badanas]

Hello everyone

so I have applied the new firmware for Wavlink thunderbolt 3 drive and the problems with restart and return from sleep are fixed...

I can send the firmware to anyone, but you have to make sure that you are able to apply and not burn the device. Btw you need a windows machine with thunderbolt 3 port, or you can run Windows on the go on any Mac with thunderbolt 3 and install intel thunderbolt 3 drivers.

but I am on the same boat of the low speeds with my Samsung 970 evo plus 1tb
2500mb read
970mb write

I am thinking in return this device and buy the Jeyi one , but I’m afraid that have the same “garbage” speed.

the new firmware on the case didn’t improve the speed, only the disk not ejected and restart problem.
Ssd have also the latest firmware

 

[Ploki]

Can you confirm the model of you JEYI enclosure.

how do i do that? doesn't say anything except "Leidian Pro 40GBPS" on the enclosure

 

[Chancha]

Due to its "very low profile" M.2 Key M socket...
It will only support 2280 M.2 NVME SSD's that are completely "FLAT" on the bottom.
Single sided PCB (Printed Circuit Board) only...
My WD SSD fit because it was completely flat on the bottom single sided PCB but the XPG SX8200Pro
had issues... the damned thing would not fit because....
It is a 2 sided PCB with bumpy electronic components wave soldered on the bottom...
You can't screw it down because these components get in the way and cause the SSD to be "bowed"
So... how did I test it you may ask???
I kluged it... didn't screw it down put some silicone heat transfer tape on the end and let the plastic lid
hold it in place rather than the screw. It worked?

I wish I had stumbled upon this thread before... because I bought exactly the same ADATA 2TB SSD (thinking it was single sided), and also the WAVLINK UTE01 (which is a previous gen but with the same height constraint)

I can confirm your observation as well: "kluged" the SSD so it is "usable", plugged into my 2018 MBP 13" and BlackMagic speed test only reports 1300MB/s write and 1700MB/s read... a long way from the potential speed of the SSD. However the enclosure seems fine in keeping itself connected, I have not seen a disk eject error at all.
[automerge]1575265749[/automerge]

how do i do that? doesn't say anything except "Leidian Pro 40GBPS" on the enclosure

Could you please see if the M.2 socket of this JEYI/Leidian is high enough from the PCB such that a double-sided stick can fit?

 

[Ploki]

I wish I had stumbled upon this thread before... because I bought exactly the same ADATA 2TB SSD (thinking it was single sided), and also the WAVLINK UTE01 (which is a previous gen but with the same height constraint)

I can confirm your observation as well: "kluged" the SSD so it is "usable", plugged into my 2018 MBP 13" and BlackMagic speed test only reports 1300MB/s write and 1700MB/s read... a long way from the potential speed of the SSD. However the enclosure seems fine in keeping itself connected, I have not seen a disk eject error at all.
[automerge]1575265749[/automerge]

Could you please see if the M.2 socket of this JEYI/Leidian is high enough from the PCB such that a double-sided stick can fit?

okay i can take a pic later i dont have a screwdriver on me

 

[rewrew999]

hi, i bought a TEKQ CUBE thunderbolt3 enclosure (the board inside is the SAME of the old JEYI leidian pro, not the new one!) i put a 970 PRO 512GB inside ,generally works OK no disconnections, but i don't know why i get two very different results in write speed about 1700MB/s on my iMac 5K 2017 (pure 256gb ssd internal capable of 2500mb/s on read, no fusiondrive!) and about 2200MB/s on my brother's MacBook PRO 15 2018 (512GB ssd internal) why this difference?? both mac running last catalina macOS... is there a chance to speed up write results on my iMac?! thanks

 

[Ploki]

wait what's the difference between old JEYI and new JEYI board?

 

[rewrew999]

wait what's the difference between old JEYI and new JEYI board?

the NEW jeyi has a completely redesigned board with an intel thunderbolt chip most recent (JHL6340)

 

[Ploki]

the NEW jeyi has a completely redesigned board with an intel thunderbolt chip most recent (JHL6340)

so the new one is better?

 

[rewrew999]

so the new one is better?

i read something, Probably yes, but actually it’s difficult to confirm..

 

[piotreksz]

Hi,
actually I've ordered the Jeyi case on Black Friday. The shipment was cancelled like a week later. I asked support about it and this is what they replied:

I'm very sorry. Due to the upgrading of the Thunderbolt 3 product, we were unable to ship in time. If you agree, I will send you a new version of Thunderbolt 3.
1: The circuit board is upgraded to a 10-layer board, which is more stable (8 layers before improvement)
2: Send you a portable mine wire, with a total length of 9cm, which can be stored in a box Note: The original 50cm lightning cable is still equipped.
3: Improved heat dissipation, very good heat dissipation

He also attached a photo of the new case. I can't really find it anywhere on aliexpress, though. At least not under the JEYI brand. This is what the new one looks like. The cable cutout actually seems like a decent idea for portability. I have no idea about the board redesign, though. It still has to ship and I haven't really gotten around to choosing an SSD to go with it.

 

[ender78]

hi, i bought a TEKQ CUBE thunderbolt3 enclosure (the board inside is the SAME of the old JEYI leidian pro, not the new one!) i put a 970 PRO 512GB inside ,generally works OK no disconnections, but i don't know why i get two very different results in write speed about 1700MB/s on my iMac 5K 2017 (pure 256gb ssd internal capable of 2500mb/s on read, no fusiondrive!) and about 2200MB/s on my brother's MacBook PRO 15 2018 (512GB ssd internal) why this difference?? both mac running last catalina macOS... is there a chance to speed up write results on my iMac?! thanks

View attachment 880946
View attachment 880947
View attachment 880948

Does the TEKQ enclosure support S.M.A.R.T ? I use DriveDx to monitor the status of my drives and two USB-C enclosures I have do not report the SMART Data.

 

[Ploki]

Hi,
actually I've ordered the Jeyi case on Black Friday. The shipment was cancelled like a week later. I asked support about it and this is what they replied:



He also attached a photo of the new case. I can't really find it anywhere on aliexpress, though. At least not under the JEYI brand. This is what the new one looks like. The cable cutout actually seems like a decent idea for portability. I have no idea about the board redesign, though. It still has to ship and I haven't really gotten around to choosing an SSD to go with it.

View attachment 882942

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...hweb0_0,searchweb201602_10,searchweb201603_55

looks like this cable tho