StarTech mSATA to 2.5 SATA Enclosure Review

Introduction

With technology constantly advancing, the standards created for those technologies also change quickly. In the case of computer storage, in the span of just a few years we have gone from IDE to SATA, SATA II, SATA III, and now new mSATA drives are beginning to hit the market. For some people, it is not feasible to constantly upgrade their computer every 6 months just to keep up with these standards, and would rather keep their old computer and adapt the new technology to it.

Today we are taking a look at the StarTech mSATA to 2.5″ SATA enclosure, which should be able to help you in that situation.

We would like to thank Tiger Direct for sending us the StarTech mSATA enclosure.

Features

• Fits virtually any full-length mSATA Solid State Drive into an housing that is identical to a standard 2.5in SATA drive.
• A completely pass-through design allows for the mSATA drive to operate at full capacity without any conversion bottleneck.
• Durable aluminum and plastic construction.
• Backed by a StarTech.com 2-year warranty and free lifetime technical support.

Specifications

Connectors	1 x mSATA (Mini SATA) female 1 x SATA (data and power) male
Dimensions	3.9 x 2.7 x 0.4in. (LxWxH)
Weight	1.8 oz
Operating Temperature	32F – 122F

 

Closer Look

It comes in pretty standard packaging with some basic information on the box, a user manual, and mounting hardware.

The enclosure itself has a nice brushed aluminum finish with a black plastic border. The only labeling is on the front with some identification information as well as a QR code that you can scan to get the full specs which I thought was neat.

To install the mSATA drive you simply remove the bottom cover, slide the drive into place, screw it down with the included screws, and screw the bottom cover back on. With everything bolted down it feels solid and nothing rattles around. The overall weight is about the same as a standard 2.5″ SSD.

As you can tell by just looking the the near-bare PCB, this enclosure is nothing more than a pass-through to let standard SATA cables work with your mSATA drive. Because there is no converters, the speed of the drive won’t be bottlenecked.

Final Thoughts

Pros:

• Clean design and well constructed
• Easy to use
• Works flawlessly

Cons:

• None

Overall, the StarTech mSATA to 2.5″ SATA enclosure did its job flawlessly. It was simple to set up and use, feels solid when everything is screwed down, and because of its pass-through design you don’t lose any performance. There are other mSATA to SATA adapters on the market, but none are the full enclosure to 2.5″ like this. With this enclosure, not only can you easily work on an mSATA drive in a desktop that doesn’t support it, but you could also install the drive in a desktop just like any other 2.5″ drive. At $28 it is a little pricey compared to other adapters, but considering you get the full enclosure to use in any 2.5″ application, the price is not that bad.

If you need to use an mSATA drive in a PC that only supports standard SATA, then this enclosure would be a fine choice.

Again we would like to thank Tiger Direct for sending us the StarTech mSATA enclosure.  See other Tiger Direct mSATA products here.