Performance and Summary
Having just a single cable makes Innov8 extremely easy to get up and running - plug it in and away you go. The only potential snag is Seagate's bundled lead, which at 50cm in length is a tad too short for our liking. Laptop users won't consider this to be a problem, but if you want the drive sat on your desk while connected to a floor-standing tower PC, you may need to invest in a longer cable.
On the performance front, Innov8 fares reasonably well for a mechanical external drive. We have three other portable storage devices in our line-up: a 256GB Patriot USB pen drive, a 512GB SK hynix SSD attached via a cheap-and-cheerful SATA-to-USB 3.0 cable, as well as a 2TB My Passport Ultra. The smaller Flash-based solutions lead the way, yet Seagate's 8TB solution does well to achieve just over 200MB/s in sequential read and write tests. Better yet, it remains quiet during use and noise can only be deemed bothersome during the initial spin-up.
Our second benchmark involves two scenarios; copying across a folder containing large files such as ISOs; and copying across a program folder full of various small files. SMR-based drives are best suited to specific workloads and writing numerous small files isn't Innov8's forte, with performance dropping to 24.8MB/s in this worst-case scenario.
Summary
Seagate has demonstrated that additional power cables ought one day become a thing of the past...The Innov8 desktop hard drive is a harbinger of storage devices to come. Armed with a massive 8TB capacity, it offers plenty of room and capable speed in an eye-catching package that requires only a single USB Type-C cable.
Seagate has demonstrated that additional power cables ought one day become a thing of the past, yet as with most first-generation solutions, Innov8 does come with a caveat or two. It's very expensive, at £350, too heavy to be deemed portable, and by relying solely on the latest USB standard, there's the issue of incompatibility with legacy PCs.
Plenty to ponder, yet if 8TB of storage via USB Type-C is what you're after, Seagate Innov8 is currently the only available option and a stylish one at that.
Needs only a single cable
Stylish industrial design
Seagate Innov8
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The Seagate Innov8 is available to purchase from Amazon.
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At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
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