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Trust us on this, HDDs don’t like being called a bit delicate as compared to SSDs. If we were reviewing a mere looker with the Silicon Power Stream S10, then this next one begs to differ. When the Silicon Power Armor A80 plopped down on our review table, we were not surprised to see the portable external HDD sporting a rather plain exterior as compared to the aforementioned. Where have we seen the same look before? On the previously introduced Armor A70 HDD, of course. The iteration appears to be out with more of a major spec bump than anything else considering the A70’s USB 2.0 interface and the A80’s USB 3.0 capability.

The Armor A80 came to us in a box that’s mainly black, white and gold wherever it’s shouting USB 3.0, the product name and 640GB. We shook out the portable drive, a CD indicating the backup and security utility user guide and a meter-long USB cable. You’ll find the last mentioned to be a rather considerate supplement since it already hides a short cable for the same purpose within a compartment on the left side. If the A70 was only 85.7mm in width, the corresponding side on the A80 has been stretched by 8.3mm in order to accommodate an alcove along the entire length of the left portion for the said cable.

Apart from volunteering that the HDD in hand is a 640GB Silicon Power offering manufactured in Taiwan and complying with various specifications, the writing on the drive does not hint at the product name. The USB 3.0 port resides on the top right edge and screws on the four corners seem to hold this gadget together while presenting eternal temptation for those who like tinkering around with screwdrivers. The 139.4mm x 94mm x 18.1mm dimensions and 270g weight give the A80 a very solid feeling when we wrap our paws around it and if you’re not using the recess to stow away the USB cable, sliding the fingers into it enhances the grip.

But then again, why would you want to bother with being careful about the way it’s held when Silicon Power says the drive has withstood freefalls of up to 122cm meted out by drop test machines? Apparently, 26 contact points have been tried out and the US MIL-STD-810F compliance also protects it from bumps when it inadvertently meets concrete floors with gravity as the only attraction. Monsoon to offer an excuse for testing the IEC529 IPX7 waterproof stamp? There’s no need to wait since the drive can actually go underwater and depths of up to 1m and still come out all right. We gave it a dunk and fished it out to find the water rolling smoothly off its back and the gadget still in fine working condition.

We’ve now come down to the USB 3.0 interface which is supposed to deliver a 5GB/s bandwidth or 10 times the bandwidth of USB 2.0. Our reckoning chalks the average read rate at 95MB/s, with us moving a 4.29GB folder of movies onto it from an Asus G53J notebook within 49 seconds. We got a write speed average of 135MB/s from the drive. The laptop in question features 6GB RAM, an Intel Core i7 CPU and runs Windows 7 Home Premium. Those stuck with a USB 2.0 port can rest assured since the drive is backwards compatible with this standard too. Our only grouse with the Armor A80 is that we could have done with a more interesting appearance and at least a couple of color choices. Blue is not necessarily everyone’s favorite color, Silicon Power.

Sitting quite pretty on the device is a Rs. 4,250 label. It’s a hardy drive for multimedia entertainment as well as more serious hoarding needs. The fact that this storage solution can bravely stand up to drops, water, dust and similar damage within certain limits definitely adds to its usefulness in different kinds of conditions including trials inflicted by klutzy owners. We’re awarding the Silicon Power Armor A80 a 9 out of 10 rating based on price and functionality.

Update: Check out our Silicon Power Armor A80 portable hard drive video review.