Skip to main content

Want an external hard drive cased in wood, leather or carbon fiber? Brinell can do that

USB drives are a dime a dozen these days – in some cases, literally. For most people they are a commodity to be bought as cheaply as possible. A rare few, however, think of them as a fashion accessory – and Brinell is a chief proponent of that view.

The company builds a variety of USB thumb drives, portable mechanical drives and portable SSDs that turn these mundane items into luxury accessories. To this end, the company encases its drives with high-end materials like leather, wood, and carbon fiber. The external solid state drives have a rigid metal lining with a divot that hides a built-in USB 3.0 connection. Opt for the smaller USB drive, instead, and you’ll end up with a quick-release hideaway USB connector that opens with the flip of a tiny button.

Related Videos

A product like this will live or die on its build quality. If you’re going to pay more for a luxury gadget, it’d better deliver in aesthetics. Fortunately, the company seems to know what it’s doing in that department. All of its hardware feels robust, yet it doesn’t rely on excessive heft to create the illusion of durability. Instead the products are just well-engineered, with nearly invisible panel gaps and top-notch materials that feel great in-hand.

Brinell SSD

Matt Smith/Digital Trends

The company’s newest product, which it’s promoting at IFA 2015, is its external solid state drive. It fits into the same case as previous 3.5” mechanical drives, but instead packs a Samsung Evo internal drive. Those familiar with SSDs will know the Evo is among the best performs in its class. Brinell quotes read/write speeds of around 420MB/s, which is right at the limits of what USB 3.0 can manage – indeed, it’s likely the connection standard, rather than the drive itself, that is limiting speeds.

Undoubtedly the company’s most unusual product is the Brinell Tower. This small cube combines a 2,600mAh power brick with a wireless transmitter and USB 3.0 port to create a dual-purpose wireless hard drive and smartphone charger. While the device comes with its own, small USB stick, it actually works with any hard drive that can connect over USB.

The Brinell Stick USB 3.0 is sold in North America with capacities between 16GB and 64GB on Amazon.com, starting at $59.99. If you visit the company’s European site, however, you can grab 240GB version for 199 Euros. The Brinell SSD comes in a 500GB capacity in North America, sold at $299, but a 1TB version can be had for 600 Euros. The tower is not available direct through any North American retailer; it’s 219 Euros online.

Obviously these are high prices, but that’s kind of the point. You don’t buy a Brinell drive because you want a good value; you buy it because you want something that stands out. Unlike many other USB devices that try to look unique, these drives manage it without resorting to gimmicks. They’re an excellent way to blow a few hundred dollars on a pointless luxury none of your friends will have.

Editors' Recommendations

Need maximum storage? Transcend’s new 8TB external hard drive is for you
transcend exceeds storage expectations with 8tb external hard drive 35t 35t3

Transcend has revealed an 8TB StoreJet 35T3 external hard drive which, according to Tom's Hardware, is scheduled to retail for $409. The USB 3.0 HDD offers new recording technology and the lowest price-per-GB on the market.

Presently, only two 8TB HDDs exist on the market -- the Seagate Active Archive HDD and the HGST Ultrastar He8. A close look at the pricing reveals that the StoreJet 5T3 actually contains the Seagate Archive HDD within the confinements of its enclosure.

Read more
Seagate throws in free OneDrive storage with its Backup Plus hard drives
seagate throws in free onedrive storage with its backup plus hard drives

Seagate Technology revealed on June 23 that its latest line of external hard drives will include 200GB of storage on OneDrive. The Backup Plus family, as it’s been named, also comes with Lyve’s photo and video management app.

Microsoft’s OneDrive is designed to give you access to your files in the cloud from any connected mobile device. Additionally, the files you upload stay synched and up-to-date once they are in OneDrive.

Read more
Samsung announces new 4TB external drives, each weighing well under one pound
Samsung M3 Portable HDD

Samsung announced on June 17 that it has developed the world’s thinnest and lightest 4TB external hard drives, the M3 Portable and P3 Portable. The company states that they are the first 4TB USB-powered single-drive solutions to come in 2.5-inch-long cases. They each weigh approximately 8.3 ounces, making them ideal portable storage solutions, according to MaximumPC.

The M3 Portable and P3 Portable have similar hardware specifications, despite their differences in appearance. The M3 Portable has a USB 3.0 transfer rate of up to 4.8 Gb/s, while the P3 Portable has a USB 3.0 transfer rate of 5.0 Gb/s. Both are also capable of using a USB 2.0 or older, but you’ll need a USB 3.0 port in order to take full advantage of the high transfer speeds.

Read more