Faisal Ghaffar 
Western Digital’s branding has become confusing of late and the SanDisk Professional G-Drive ArmorATDis one of the results of that confusion since it combines two separate trademarks, namely SanDisk and G-Drive. It has added ArmorATD to tempt customers of both lines to give it a try, as the name implies that the product is meant to be tough because the name has a military vibe to it.
The design and build
You will find that the product in question is a 2.5-inch conventional drive contained in an aluminum case rather elegantly and a rubberized bumper has also been placed around it to protect it from physical abuse. While it has a USB-C port, the SanDisk comes with cables for USB-C and also USB-A, but there is no pouch available for you to carry the cables and the drive.
Not only does the bumper offer drop protection, but it also comes with a plug covering the USB-C port and this has given the drive the IP54 water and dust protection rating. But, it should be noted that the IP68 and IP69 offer better level of protection.
More details
The good thing about the cables that come with the drive is their length, as they are around 60 cm, which makes it easy to use the ArmorATD. But, the length could also indicate that the speed of the data transfer is not going to be that high and you do not need SSD level performance with conventional hard drives.
Some might have an issue with the lack of performance when compared with mobile SSDs, but the ArmorATD offers a better price per TB. The 1TB model costs $97.99 and its price is also reasonable for other capacities. The best part is that it also boasts a warranty of three years. The more prominent issue that people might face is actually utilizing all of the space. If you consider it from a practical viewpoint, you will find that it takes about 10 hours continuously for you to be able to write or read that amount of data without any issues, or interruptions of any kind.
If you are worried about the speed of transfer, you can use the SSD version that SanDisk has also introduced for the convenience of its users. However, you should bear in mind that it will cost you a bit more than models from other companies. But, there is also the fact that SSDs tend to be lighter than external hard drives and they are also more shock-resistant, which is a plus.
The Verdict
When it comes to external hard drives, you will not have any complaints with the ArmorATD because it is well-made. Apart from that, you will also find that the drive is resistant to water, dust and shock, but some users may have complaints about its transfer performance. If you are looking for an external drive for limited daily backup, the ArmorATD is a very good choice and can get the job done.
