Disk Pro

Running an external SSD alongside a USB hub usually means two hot devices, the occasional unstable HDMI signal and sometimes an extra power brick. Sharge Tech, the company behind the SHARGE Disk and Disk Plus Kickstarter projects, says it built Disk Pro around feedback from thousands of backer comments and a survey of 3000 users to tackle those problems in a single device.

A hub with a fan

The headline feature is Ice-storm Cooler, an active cooling system with two modes. In Turbo Mode the fan spins constantly at 10,000 RPM; the maker says this keeps the SSD at around 50°C (122°F) while transferring 480GB of mixed files, compared with the 80°C-plus it attributes to conventional hubs. Auto Mode reacts to NAND temperature: the fan starts at 7,000 RPM above 35°C (95°F), rises to 10,000 RPM above 50°C (122°F) and stops below 25°C (77°F) to save power. According to the maker, continuous transfers of more than 950GB stayed under 50°C with stable speeds in its own tests.

Storage, ports and power

• Built-in storage in 1TB, 2TB or 4TB options
• 10Gbps transfer speeds, with three independent controller chips handling different ports
• Four USB ports plus HDMI 2.1, supporting 4K at 144Hz or 8K at 30Hz
• 100W input and 80W output
• Credit-card-sized body weighing 150g (5.3oz)
• Built-in magnetic pad and a PSSD control switch that cuts disk access

Sharge Tech says the three-controller layout prevents connected devices from slowing each other down, and its development team reports fast load times after installing Doom: The Dark Ages on the drive. The maker also says no external power is needed with low-power devices such as iPhone or Samsung phones, enabling direct ProRes recording from an iPhone or display mirroring from Switch2 and SteamDeck.

Compatibility and design

Citing more than 10,000 units sold of its earlier drives, Sharge Tech says it ran over 1000 hours of compatibility testing across more than 800 devices, and claims seamless connection with smartphones, game consoles and computers released in the past three years. OTA software updates are intended to extend support to future devices. The transparent, cyberpunk-styled shell shows the internals, and the magnetic pad lets the unit attach to the back of a laptop such as a MacBook. The PSSD control switch is described as both a security measure and a way to reduce NAND wear.