PNY RP60 external SSD review: A fast looker you can use in the rain

At a glance

Expert's Rating

Pros

• Handsome, IP65-rated design (dust-proof, water-resistant)
• Good 20Gbps performance
• Nice flat Type-C USB ribbon cable

Cons

• USB port plug tether is difficult to reinsert.

Our Verdict

The PNY RP60 might just be the best looking and best weatherized USB SSD we’ve tested. Performance is great in the grand scheme, but middle of the pack for 20Gbps

Best Prices Today: PNY RP60 20Gbps USB SSD

My first impression of the PNY RP60 and its unusual ribbon-like Type-C cable was… Wow, nice looking drive! Fortunately, my hands-on testing showed that there’s more to this book than its cover, making me feel just a tad less shallow. A tad…

Further reading: See our roundup of the best external drives

What are the PNY RP60s features?

The PNY RP60 is a USB 3.2×2, 20Gbps SSD that’s weatherized to the tune of an IP65 rating — i.e., it’s dust-proof and can keep out jets or sprays of water, rain. etc.

Measuring approximately 3.9-inches long, by 2.35-inches wide, by 0.4-inches thick, the RP60 weighs in at roughly 2 ounces. That’s very light given the size.

As I more than hinted at in the opening paragraph, I consider the PNY RP60 to be one of the better-looking external SSDs I’ve laid my hands on. It’s jacketed in black silicone with geometrically styled grooves, sports a bold white logo, and offers a large hole for a lanyard. That jacket makes for a very firm grip, not to mention a pleasant tactile sensation.

The Type-C port on one end of the RP60 is covered by a captive plug, which no doubt contributes to the IP65 rating. Given the plug, you might even get away with the 3-foot submersion that an IP67 rating would allow.

I did have an issue with the plug, however. The tether is so flexible that it’s very difficult to guide it back into its receptacle. I had to grab it at the base using a pair of needle nose pliers to accomplish the task. Tweezers would also do, and if you have longer fingernails, you might have an easier time. A tiny drop of lubricant also helped.

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The downside to soft silicone is that it tends to collect micro-schmutz. So much so that I had to retouch these photos to make them palatable close up. From a distance, you likely won’t notice the harvested detritus.

PNY warranties the RP60 for three years, but didn’t provide us with the TBW rating that limits it — TBW is the terabytes that may be written before worn out cells can’t be replaced. Most TLC NAND SSDs these days are rated for around 600TBW per terabyte of capacity. As you’ll likely never touch that in a mere three years, don’t sweat it.

On the plastic tray in which the RP60 ships is a download code for Acronis True Image OEM, which you can grab when you register the drive at the company’s website. Admittedly, registration is a nuisance, but the software is a nice perk to facilitate backup chores.

How much does the PNY RP60 cost?

The PN60 is available in 1TB and 2TB capacities, for $100 and $180, respectively. The drive just arrived on the market so you may find it lower than that in a wee bit.

How fast is the PNY RP60?

Pretty darn fast would be the answer to that question. In some tests, the 1TB version that PNY sent us gave the mighty Crucial X10 Pro, a 2TB SSD, a run for its money.

            <div class="lightbox-image-container foundry-lightbox"><div class="extendedBlock-wrapper block-coreImage undefined"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large enlarged-image"><img decoding="async" data-wp-bind--src="selectors.core.image.enlargedImgSrc" data-wp-style--object-fit="selectors.core.image.lightboxObjectFit" src="" alt="" class="wp-image-2343706" width="1200" height="606" loading="lazy" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The RP60 gave the X10 Pro a run for its money in the CrystalDiskMark 8 sequential tests. </figcaption></figure></div>

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The PNY RP60 was a little behind the X10 Pro in the 4K tests, though it did manage to better the latter’s strange dip in the 32-queue read test.