Lexar SL500 and Armor 700: External SSDs Releaseing

At CES 2024 in January, Lexar unveiled two fast external SSDs that achieve speeds of up to 2,000 MB/s. The Lexar SL500 and Armor700, which were developed together with Silicon Motion, are now going on sale.

The Lexar SL500 in detail

The first new external SSD is called the Lexar SL500 and has a particularly slim design. It measures just 85 mm x 554 mm x 7.8 mm (length x width x height) and is only 4.8 mm thick at its thinnest point. With a weight of just 43 grams, the storage solution is also comparatively light.

It is connected via USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 and thus achieves speeds of up to 2,000 MB/s when reading and 1,800 MB/s when writing. The SL500 is available in capacities of 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB.

According to the manufacturer, the external SSD is primarily aimed at all those who want to make high-quality video recordings on the go. Apple Log video recordings in 4K 60FPS ProRes format on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are supported.

The focus is also on compatibility with laptops, cameras, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, which is certainly not a unique selling point for an external SSD. Data encryption in AES-256 is also possible.

SL500 with magnetic hold

Particularly practical: The Lexar SL500 also comes with a magnetic holder, thanks to which the external SSD can be attached to a suitable smartphone or the back of a notebook, for example, in order to store videos or other content directly.

In addition to a magnetic ring, other accessories are included in the scope of delivery. These include a lanyard and a data cable. There are no changes in terms of compatibility or speed compared to the normal SL500.

Lexar ARMOR 700: More robust and with higher speed

The second new external SSD goes by the name of Lexar ARMOR 700 and appropriately features a more robust housing, which improves its outdoor suitability. The external SSD is protected against dust and water in accordance with IP66 and should also survive drops from a height of three meters without damage.

Lexar also advertises that the AMOR 700 remains cool even at high speeds. This model is primarily aimed at professional photographers, videographers, content creators and gamers. In terms of speed, this external SSD is even a sour faster with up to 2,000 MB/s read and write speeds.

The SSD includes Lexar DataShield with 256-bit AES encryption to protect files and an all-in-one cable for Type-C and USB-A. Supports PC, Mac, tablet, iPad, Android, iPhone 15 Pro-Series, Xbox Series X|S, PS4 and PS5.

Although not explicitly mentioned, the first press images show that the Lexar ARMOR 700 can also be docked directly to smartphones or other magnetic devices via a corresponding magnetic holder.

In terms of speed and price, the ARMOR 700 is on a par with the Crucial X10 Pro (our test) and the Kingston XS2000 Portable (our test), which suggests that the Silicon Motion SM2320 controller is also used here.

Prices and availability

The Lexar SL500 will be launched in Germany first and is already listed on Amazon, at least in the 1 TB and 2 TB versions. However, the prices do not yet correspond to the RRP and availability is not yet given, but should be this week.

The SL500 with 1TB has an RRP of 129.99 euros, while the 2TB version costs 219.99 euros. The variants with a magnetic holder each cost around 20 euros more. In other words, the prices are 149.99 euros (1 TB) and 239.99 euros (2 TB) respectively.

The models with 512 GB or 4 TB storage space will follow at a later date. The same applies to the Lexar ARMOR 700, which is also not yet available. It is priced at the same level as the SL500 with magnetic content, i.e. at €1249.99 and €239.99 respectively.