14 DAY TRIAL // US-based companies Seagate, Western Digital and Toshiba might try to monopolize the attention of HDD buyers, but Freecom is undaunted, having enlisted a certain designer's assistance when it created the Mobile Drive XXS 3.0 series of HDDs.
The name of the new Freecom series of hard disk drives is fairly self-explanatory.
Mobile obviously stands for its compact size and low weight, which makes it easy to slip inside a pocket.
The 3.0 moniker is also a more or less obvious indicator of just what interface technology was used in its creation.
Indeed, the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 standard is supported, the newest Universal Serial Bus iteration that USB-IF brought out.
As a reminder, it has a theoretical maximum transfer speed of almost 5 Gbps (4.8 Gbps), which is ten times what USB 2.0 allows.
That said, while the Mobile Drive XXS 3.0 line doesn't tap into the full potential of the interface, it does succeed in moving data at a top speed of 130 MB/s.
Design-wise, the looks of the newcomer, or newcomers, is/are owed to the imagination of Belgian designer Sylvain Willenz.
Measuring 109 x 79 x 13 mm (4.29 x 3.11 x 0.51 inches), the drive is colored black and has a rubber case, for survivability. The total weight is 155 grams.
"Whether at home or office, no one likes to waste time waiting for files to be transferred, especially now that we have more and more content to save and share," said Peter de Waal, product marketing manager at Freecom HDD.
"That's why we have integrated USB 3.0 technology to the latest incarnation of our popular Mobile Drive XXS. In addition to its incredible portability and ease of use, the Mobile Drive XXS 3.0 can transfer files at speeds faster than ever. "
There are two capacities, 500 GB and 1 TB, priced at 79 Euro ($107.49) and 130 Euro ($176.89), respectively.