The read and write speed of OWC Envoy Ultra on Thunderbolt 5 protocol meets the needs of high-performance mobile processing and storage.

In the OWC Envoy Ultra unboxing article , we saw how OWC built the Envoy Ultra – a portable storage option that is not only reliable but also durable throughout its use. Combining a sturdy aluminum unibody shell that serves as protection and passive heat dissipation for the SSD inside, the OWC Envoy Ultra is powerful enough to maintain very high read and write speeds for long periods of time without overheating. So what are the key components of the Envoy Ultra to take advantage of Thunderbolt 5 capabilities?

Inside the OWC Envoy Ultra

There are a total of four hex screws that connect the two halves of the OWC Envoy Ultra's aluminum housing, hidden under the rubber strip on the product's base. Between the two aluminum halves is a waterproof rubber gasket, ensuring the Envoy Ultra's IP67 certification.

After getting inside the OWC Envoy Ultra, Migovi found that the heart of this Thunderbolt 5 portable SSD is a 2280 internal SSD, PCIe 4.0 x4 standard – OWC Aura Pro IV. The Envoy Ultra offers 2 capacity options of 2TB and 4TB, corresponding to the capacity of the Aura Pro IV.

Although on the outside, users see that OWC chose the Thunderbolt 5 cable solution attached, but inside is still a Thunderbolt 5 cable with 2 USB-C ends, just fixed to have better water resistance for the entire Envoy Ultra. This is also the reason why OWC announced that in case the Thunderbolt 5 cable is damaged, users can completely replace it.

OWC's use of a PCIe 4.0 SSD combined with a Thunderbolt 5 adapter also shows technical limitations. The Thunderbolt 5 protocol has a theoretical bandwidth of up to 80 Gbps (about 10,000 MBps). However, since the OWC Aura Pro IV inside is PCIe 4.0, with a theoretical maximum speed of about 7400 MBps, the overall performance of the Envoy Ultra will be limited by the speed of the internal SSD itself, not the connection protocol. The actual speed of over 6000 MBps is the result of the interaction between the SSD, the Thunderbolt controller and the computer system. In the future, when OWC integrates PCIe 5.0 SSDs, the performance of the Envoy Ultra line can be pushed even higher.

OWC Aura Pro IV

The OWC Aura Pro IV is an internal 2280 SSD (there is a 2242 option if you want to buy it separately for other purposes), 3 capacity levels including 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB. When combined with the Envoy Ultra, OWC only uses the 2 TB and 4 TB versions.

The heart of the OWC Aura Pro IV is the Phison PS5027-E27T controller, which balances performance and energy efficiency. The Phison PS5027-E27T has 4 channels, manufactured on TSMC's 12nm process and is a DRAM bufferless design. Instead of integrating a separate DRAM cache chip on the PCB to store the address mapping table (Flash Translation Layer - FTL), the PS5027-E27T uses Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology. This mechanism allows the SSD to borrow a small portion of the computer's RAM to buffer the FTL table. The Phison E27T is designed to maximize the bandwidth of the PCIe 4.0 interface, capable of reaching sequential speeds of up to 7400 MBps.

The memory chip on the OWC Aura Pro IV is the Kioxia BiCS6 3D NAND TLC, 162 layers. Kioxia BiCS6 uses Charge Trap technology with a dielectric layer to trap charges instead of the traditional floating gate. At the same time, it adopts the Circuit under Array (CuA) design, in which the control logic circuits are placed below the memory cell array. This combination both reduces the die size and improves performance and bit density, up to 10.4 Gbit/mm2. Kioxia BiCS6 supports the very high-speed Toggle Mode DDR interface, which can reach 2400 MT/s or even 3600 MT/s.

The OWC Aura Pro IV is packed with technologies and features to enhance read and write performance, reliability and security. This SSD reserves 7% of its total physical capacity, or 128 GB on the 2 TB version, as Over-Provisioning (OP). OP increases sustained write performance, increases durability and improves the efficiency of Garbage Collection. The Aura Pro IV also features a multi-layered data protection system – Phison 5th Gen LDPC & RAID ECC. LDPC (Low-Density Parity-Check) is an error correction algorithm, while RAID ECC is an internal redundancy mechanism that ensures data integrity.

In terms of data security, the OWC Aura Pro IV integrates a suite of tools including TCG Opal and TCG Pyrite – two security standards of the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) for self-encrypting drives (SED). In addition, the SSD is also equipped with two secure data deletion methods: Crypto Erase and Secure Erase.

OWC Envoy Ultra Performance Test

Since there are not many computer systems that support Thunderbolt 5 for Windows users at the moment, Migovi tested the OWC Envoy Ultra with a desktop computer. The desktop configuration uses an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor, ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z890 EXTREME motherboard and a Thunderbolt 5 port integrated in the back I/O. In addition to direct connection, Migovi also connected the OWC Envoy Ultra indirectly through the CalDigit Element 5 hub. In addition, the test was also continued with the USB4 protocol (ASRock X870E Nova WiFi motherboard + AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D) and Thunderbolt 4 (ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z790 DARK HERO motherboard + Intel Core i7-14700K).

Results with CrystalDiskMark 9 software, OWC Envoy Ultra and Thunderbolt 5 protocol for sequential read speeds up to 6162.66 MBps, sequential write speeds 5185.32 MBps. The AJA System Test with resolution setting 3840 x 2160 UltraHD, capacity 4 GB, Sony 16-bit RAW encoding for read speeds 7734 MBps and write speeds 3095 MBps. Also with AJA System Test, setting resolution 8192 x 4320 8K, capacity 4 GB, ProRes (HQ) encoding for read speeds up to 6331 MBps and write speeds 3737 MBps.

The temperature of the OWC Aura Pro IV when tested with CrystalDiskMark reached 50 degrees Celsius, while the outer shell of the OWC Envoy Ultra fluctuated between 40 - 45 degrees Celsius. This shows that the heat is very well managed, transferring heat quickly and pushing it out to the environment effectively.

Switching to USB4 protocol, OWC Envoy Ultra with CrystalDiskMark test results in sequential read and write speeds of 3866.67 MBps and 2865.69 MBps respectively. Note that in the USB4 test, Migovi did not enable the write optimization option in Windows operating system (Removal policy – Better performance and Write-caching policy). If this option is enabled, the sequential write performance of OWC Envoy Ultra is even better.

For Thunderbolt 4 and CrystalDiskMark 9, the OWC Envoy Ultra achieved read and write speeds of 3061.76 MBps and 2895.41 MBps, respectively.

Migovi also tested large file writes to determine how large the SLC cache on the OWC Envoy Ultra is. The results showed that the SLC cache size was around 60 GB. When the SLC cache was full, the write speed of the OWC Envoy Ultra 2 TB would drop and stabilize at around 1400 MBps. Note that to get sustained high write speeds, you must enable Better performance mode in Windows operating system.

Who is the OWC Envoy Ultra for?

With its performance and price point on the high end, the OWC Envoy Ultra isn’t a portable SSD for everyone. The Envoy Ultra is aimed at a specific group of professionals whose workflows demand the most speed and reliability. First and foremost are filmmakers and digital imaging technicians. When you need to copy hundreds of GBs to terabytes of data from a high-speed memory card to the fastest possible drive, the OWC Envoy Ultra is the way to go. Video editors and visual effects (VFX) professionals also need the speed of the OWC Envoy Ultra to work directly with large file formats like 6K, 8K, or even 12K ProRes and Blackmagic RAW directly on the portable drive without creating low-capacity proxy files. This makes editing, color grading and VFX workflows smooth, seamless and flexible, especially when moving between workstations.

For event, sports, or wedding photographers, processing thousands of large RAW images is a daily occurrence. The Envoy Ultra makes it easy to manage massive photo libraries, or back up entire photo shoots in minutes. Gamers can also use the OWC Envoy Ultra to install games and play them right on an external SSD, although that’s not necessarily what the product is intended for. Finally, for customers who own a Mac Studio or Mac mini but can’t upgrade the internal storage, the Envoy Ultra is the perfect external storage option, offering performance comparable to Apple’s native SSD.

Conclude

The OWC Envoy Ultra is one of the world's first and fastest portable SSDs to utilize the Thunderbolt 5 protocol. With a real-world speed of around 6000 MBps, the Envoy Ultra is twice as fast as its predecessor. The Envoy Ultra's design may not appeal to some customers, but its excellent ability to dissipate heat while maintaining high levels of performance is undeniable. The IP67 dust and water resistance standard allows the OWC Envoy Ultra to operate in a variety of environmental conditions without worrying about surrounding impacts. Of course, it comes with an integrated cable design, which may be a weakness in the eyes of many. One thing to note is that you need a computer device that supports Thunderbolt 5 to be able to exploit the full potential of the OWC Envoy Ultra.

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