Ive reviewed several Thunderbolt 3 SSDs over the last year or so, and the Akitio Node Lite with Intel Optane SSD is the best performer of them all. Advertising speeds up to 2600 MB/s read, its the only external SSD that Ive tried thus far that skirts close to such a speed rating without being affected by noticeable thermal throttling.
Granted, the combo package of Akitio Node Lite + Intel Optane SSD should be a great performer, after all its price is $1500 for a 960GB SSD. Thats a lot of money to pay for storage when you can buy a 1TB version of Samsungs bus-powered Thunderbolt 3 SSD for less than half the cost.
But if youre in the market for an SSD that delivers workstation-class performance and endurance, then the Akitio Node Lite with Intel Optane SSD is worthy of consideration. Not only does it have a high performance ceiling, but it can sustain that performance while under load. Watch our hands-on video for more details.