Package

The Drive

The ADATA SE880 is very compact for a portable SSD, especially when you consider the performance offered. It's also slightly smaller than the SE800.


The metal gray case looks fantastic and has excellent durability. The top and bottom (black) parts are made of plastic, which isn't an issue at all. A single USB-C port lets you connect to the drive. An activity indicator is not available.

Disassembly

When taking the drive apart, it becomes clear how space-optimized the whole design is. ADATA uses a custom-design PCB—other vendors use a full-size M.2 drive that plugs into some kind of adapter PCB, making their design significantly larger of course.


On the PCB we find the SSD controller, which also houses the USB interface, and four NAND flash chips.


The flash chips have been rebranded by ADATA, they are 3D TLC NAND, probably Micron 96- or 176-layer.


The Silicon Motion SM2320G is a brand-new design that combines the USB interface and SSD controller logic into a single processor. It uses four channels to connect to the flash chips, and has support for QLC and TLC NAND.