Saturday, October 2, 2021

Best Black Friday standing desk deals 2021: what to expect

If you’ve been waiting all year for the best standing desk deals, then you’re in luck - Black Friday 2021 is approaching fast, and prices will soon start to tumble.

It’s the perfect time of year for an upgrade, and that’s the case even for the bits of kit that you’d never really think about, like the desk that holds all of your hardware. And if you need a furniture upgrade, then there’s never been a better time to consider switching to a standing desk.

It might seem strange at first - everyone just sits at a desk, surely - but there are plenty of advantages to standing desks. Multiple studies show that people who use standing desks experience “an improvement in discomfort and pain [levels]”, and standing for longer periods improves blood flow, posture and the health of your back.

Look a little closer, and it makes total sense. Humans are simply not designed to sit at desks all day, and the American Journal of Public Health has found that sitting for more than eight hours a day can increase the risk of chronic diseases by 10% to 20%.

If you want the best standing desk possible, the Black Friday season is the perfect time of year to hunt for a deal. This year’s Black Friday will fall on November 26th, and the weeks that surround the all-important day will be full of deals too. We’re going to keep our eyes on all of the top retailers for the entire period to make sure you don’t miss anything, so bookmark this page if you want to stay up-to-date with Black Friday 2021. 

Stand for deliveries

It’s no good going into Black Friday without doing some preparation - this all-important shopping period is a bigger deal every year, and you’ll save loads of cash if you make sure you’re ready.

The creative heavyweights at Adobe have spent years researching the growth and impact of Black Friday, and the firm’s numbers make for impressive reading. For instance, Black Friday spending topped $9 billion in 2020, and that was a 21.6% improvement on the previous year.

Even more impressively, Black Friday isn’t the only day when retailers see big sales numbers. Indeed the entire November and December periods are vital for retailers, and in 2020 more than $188 billion was spent across those two months. That’s four billion dollars more than predictions, and more than forty billion more than 2019.

The Black Friday season is a big deal, and standing desks are a big deal too, especially now that more people than ever work from home thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic. Analysts at 360 Research crunched the numbers and found that the global standing desk market was worth $5.7 billion in 2020 - and that it’ll nearly double in size by 2027.

There’s no stopping the standing desk, and we’re going to be right on top of the best deals as Black Friday gets closer. Keep this page bookmarked and you won’t miss your chance to nab a top product at a reduced price.

Black Friday standing desk deals: FAQs

Man Working at a Standing Desk

(Image credit: Thestandingdesk.com / Pixabay)

When will the best Black Friday standing desk deals start in 2021?

Black Friday is traditionally held on the Friday that immediately follows Thanksgiving in the US. This year, the day will fall on November 26th - so get that locked into your calendar immediately.

The best deals do tend to be unveiled on Black Friday itself, because that’s the peak of the shopping season. But Black Friday’s huge growth and increased popularity means that top-notch savings have seeped into the surrounding days and weeks, too. 

We’ve observed shopping patterns and retailer offers and found that the very best deals tend to hit the shops at the start of Thanksgiving week. Beyond that, price reductions can be seen from the middle of October, so you could be in luck if you need a new standing desk but don’t want to wait until the end of November. And, on the other side of this, expect prices to remain low up until Christmas and throughout the holiday season. 

With standing desks being more popular than ever, especially with people working from home more often, we fully expect the retailers to offer loads of discounts during the entire sales season - you’ll be spoilt for choice.

The Covid-19 pandemic has only accelerated the trend for online shopping - and that, in turn, has created more demand for deals throughout the Black Friday season. Need evidence? Just look at the data: Adobe found that the popularity of online shopping increased by 50% between 2019 and 2020.

Where will you find the best Black Friday standing desk deals?

There’s one easy way to make sure that you don’t miss out on any of the best standing desk deals on Black Friday: keep this page bookmarked and check back regularly.

If you’d like to venture onto the internet to find your own deals, there are plenty of key retailers that are worth a visit for standing desk deals. We’ve picked out our favourites from the US and UK and highlighted their strengths below. 

Top US retailers:

Amazon: a huge range, often at unbeatable prices

Adorama: a top choice for discounted options and creative hardware

Best Buy: good prices, and they’re even better if you’re a member

Walmart: a broad range of affordable options, but be aware of marketplace sellers

Newegg: the best range for high-end and game-friendly hardware

Top UK retailers:

Amazon: the broadest choice and consistently great prices

Ebuyer: a specialist computer retailer with high-quality products

Overclockers: the top retailer for game-friendly, bold-looking desks

IKEA: the Swedish furniture giant produces reliably excellent furniture

How can you find the best standing desk deals on Black Friday?

There are some good rules of thumb to follow if you want to make sure you get the best deals on Black Friday - whether you’re shopping for a new standing desk, a new laptop, or anything else.

The best way to ensure you’re on top of things? Do your research before the best deals start to appear. When it comes to standing desks, that means you’ll have to spend some time to figure out exactly what features you need on your new bit of furniture, and which attributes you’re willing to leave behind to secure the best price possible. We’ve explained exactly what to look for below.

Beyond the desks themselves, make sure you’re ready for the moment you sit down to buy your new product - because you’ll be better off if you’re prepared to shop around. While it’s true that all of the big retailers tend to match their prices, they also try to get an edge over their rivals by offering free gifts and bundles. It’s those incentives that can make the difference when you’re ready to place an order.

We’re going to stay on top of the best standing desk deals on Black Friday and beyond, so keep this page bookmarked if you want to make sure you’re getting the best discounts and offers. But if you want to strike out on your own, check all of the big retailers before you splash the cash.

It’s also worth casting your net wide in terms of dates, especially if you want to make sure that you get the best deal. The top Black Friday discounts do tend to arrive on the week of the event, but it’s common to see other good deals pop up throughout all of November and sometimes as early as the end of October. 

If you do decide to pounce on an earlier deal, consider keeping your standing desk boxed up until all of the best Black Friday deals have emerged. You could easily see your desk reduced even further, and you could buy the cheaper model and return the earlier purchase for a refund - saving yourself even more cash.

What specs should I look for when buying a standing desk on Black Friday?

A standing desk is a specialist bit of kit that plenty of people have embraced over the past couple of years, and it pays to examine the specifications before you shell out on a Black Friday deal.

The first thing you need to consider is the desk’s height. It’s no good buying a standing desk if its maximum height isn’t going to be tall enough for you to stand and work comfortably. Similarly, consider the minimum height - you’ll want to sit down sometimes too.

Make sure the desk is big enough for your working environment and that it’ll fit into its intended space, and check the weight capacity: you don’t want to load it up with monitors and find out that it can’t take the strain.

Standing desks use electric, manual or pneumatic adjustment systems. Think about which will be easiest for you to use, and make sure you’ve got a spare plug if you go down the electric route.

It’s important to think about the environment around your desk. If you use monitor arms, make sure they can easily attach to your desk. If you need a keyboard tray, add one to your order - and think about a footrest, too. And if you’re going to buy a new standing desk, maybe it’s worth upgrading to a new office chair too: you won’t be standing all of the time, and it’s vital to get ergonomic support no matter how you choose to work.

And if you’d like to see our favourite standing desk options, here are 2021’s best standing desk options - perfect for the home office. 

Today’s best standing desk deals

It’s important to maintain a great work environment if you want to remain happy, productive, and healthy. And if you’re struggling to manage it right now, then you might want to buy a new standing desk immediately instead of waiting for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

If that’s the case, then you’re still going to be able to find loads of great standing desks at top-notch prices. We’ve highlighted a few of our favourites right here.

What were last year’s best Black Friday standing desk deals?

Black Friday and the surrounding weeks are only becoming a bigger deal for online retailers and consumers alike, so there’s going to be no shortage of deals when the 2021 season rolls around.

If you’d like to anticipate what’s coming, then the best way to get an idea is to look at last year’s top discounts. We’ve rounded up some of 2020’s best standing desk offers so you can get a hint of what to expect in 2021.



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Nvidia GeForce Now just got a bunch of EA games

GeForce Now only previously had one EA game available to stream – the popular battle royale Apex Legends – but a cluster of new games, or to be precise four of them, have just arrived on Nvidia’s service.

Those games are Dragon Age: Inquisition, Battlefield 1 Revolution, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, and Unravel Two (a co-op platformer).

There were other additions to GeForce Now revealed this week as well as those EA titles, and the full list runs as follows:

  • Away: The Survival Series (new game launch on Steam)
  • Lemnis Gate (new game launch on Steam)
  • The Eternal Cylinder (new game launch on Epic Games Store)
  • Hot Wheels Unleashed (new game launch on Steam and Epic Games Store)
  • Industria (new game launch on Steam and Epic Games Store)
  • The Last Friend (new game launch on Steam and Epic Games Store)
  • Rogue Lords (new game launch on Steam and Epic Games Store)
  • Europa Universalis IV (free on Epic Games Store, September 30)
  • Battlefield 1 Revolution (Steam and Origin)
  • Dragon Age: Inquisition (Steam and Origin)
  • Mirror’s Edge Catalyst (Steam and Origin)
  • Unravel Two (Steam and Origin)
  • Rustler (Steam)
  • Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Blacklist (Ubisoft Connect)

Analysis: A good sign for the future

While the EA titles introduced here might be pretty old – Dragon Age is a big franchise name, of course, but Inquisition was released way back in 2014 – the fact that a number of EA games are now present on GeForce Now is a good sign.

It bodes well for further products to come across from the major publisher in the future, hopefully before too long. (And yes, as you might guess, there are already gamers clamoring for FIFA 22 to come to the streaming service – but the next titles to arrive will doubtless be lower-key affairs, naturally).

In July 2021, Nvidia announced that GeForce Now supports over 1,000 games, so it’s clearly making some good strides in terms of beefing up its library, following the desertion of some big-name publishers right after the launch of the service. In other words, things are being turned around, and in our dabbling with GeForce Now at TechRadar, we’ve had a mostly positive experience, too.



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This network is offering a 2GB of data SIM plan for just 99p a month with this code

Not worried about having lots of data with your next SIM only deal? Prioritising pricing over features? Lebara's latest offer will be perfect for you, coming in as the UK's cheapest SIM by a long way.

Right now, you can get a Lebara SIM plan for just 99p a month. At under £1 each month, it is no surprise that this pricing doesn't last forever. Instead, you will be able to get it for 3 months by using the code UNI21.

With that lower pricing, this is £3.96 cheaper than the next nearest SIM plan. For that 99p price tag, you'll get 2GB of data, 1000 minutes and texts and 100 international minutes to 41 countries.

After those 3 months are up, your pricing will go up to £5 a month. That is just 5p a month more expensive than the cheapest SIM plan out there with the same data cap. Plus, because Lebara operates on a 1-month rolling contract, you can simply leave after those 3 months if you don't want the higher price.

This super cheap SIM only deal in full:

SIM only plan from Lebara | 1-month contract | 2GB data | 1000 minutes and texts | 99p for 3 months with code UNI21
Thanks to this discount code, this is the cheapest SIM plan on the market by quite some way. For the first 3 months, you'll only pay 99p for 2GB of data. After that period, your prices will only go up to £5 a month which is still one of the cheapest prices around. Because this is a 1-month rolling SIM plan, you can simply leave after those 3 months if you don't want the higher price. To get this discount, simply use the code UNI21 at the checkout.

What's Lebara and what stands out about it?

Lebara specialises in cheap SIM plans, scoring its best value offers in the lower data regions.

All of its SIMs run on 1-month rolling plans, giving you the flexibility to leave at any time or change which plan you're on and Lebara promises no price rises during your contract.

Along with that, Lebara piggy-backs off the Vodafone network so you're getting reliable and fast speeds. You also get 100 international minutes to call 41 countries outside of the UK.



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Moto Tab G20 release date, price, features, specs and news

If you’re in the market for a cheap Android tablet then Motorola has a new option you might want to consider, dubbed the Moto Tab G20.

This slate has so far only been launched in India, but a wider rollout is certainly possible, so don’t be surprised if it comes to the US, UK or elsewhere soon.

While the specs don’t excite, it looks to have the basics covered, being essentially a slightly modified version of the Lenovo Tab M8, and thanks to its 8-inch screen it could also be a strong option for anyone after a relatively compact, portable slate.

Below, you’ll find all the specs of the Moto Tab G20, along with what we know so far about the release date and price.

Cut to the chase

  • What is it? A cheap tablet from Motorola
  • When is it out? October in India, unconfirmed elsewhere
  • How much does it cost? 10,999 Indian rupees (around $150 / £110 / AU$205)

Moto Tab G20 release date and price

The Moto Tab G20 was announced on September 30, 2021, and it will be sold in India from October 2. At the time of writing there’s no word on if or when it will arrive in other regions, but we wouldn’t count it out.

It costs just 10,999 Indian rupees (around $150 / £110 / AU$205), though we wouldn’t expect an exact price conversion if it launches in other regions.

Design and display

The Moto Tab G20 from the back

(Image credit: Motorola)

The Moto Tab G20 has an 8-inch 1280 x 800 IPS LCD screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio and an 85% screen-to-body ratio. So its screen is small and not particularly high resolution, but that’s in line with the price.

As for the design, it comes in at 199.1 × 121.8 × 8.15mm and 305g, making it marginally heavier than the iPad mini (2021). The bezels are sizeable, but where it comes out looking surprisingly premium is the back, which is made from metal. However, it’s only available in a single color – platinum grey.

It’s also worth noting that the Moto Tab G20 has a 3.5mm headphone port, so fans of wired audio are in luck here.

Camera and battery

Tablets rarely include great cameras, especially at the lower end of the market, so we wouldn’t expect much from the cameras here, but you get a 5MP main one and a 2MP front-facing one.

The battery meanwhile is fairly small at 5,100mAh, though Motorola claims it can last through up to 15 hours of video viewing, and its charging speeds top out at 10W (via USB-C), so this won’t juice up particularly fast. There's also no wireless charging, but we wouldn't expect that at this price.

Specs and features

The Moto Tab G20 is powered by a MediaTek Helio P22T chipset, which is a low-end one. It also has 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a microSD card slot so you can add more.

It runs a near-stock version of Android 11, so there should be minimal bloat or manufacturer customizations – this is Android more or less as Google intended it.

Others features include face unlock, and a single bottom-firing speaker, capable of Dolby Atmos audio.



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Looking to buy the iPhone 13? A 36 month contract could be the best way to go

If you've been on the search for a new iPhone lately, you will have seen that Apple has launched four new devices. In typical Apple fashion, these devices aren't too cheap, but, there are ways to get the prices down.

One of those ways is by signing up to a 36 month contract. If you know you want to hold onto the device for longer than the normal two year life span, you can get a much cheaper price by adding on an additional year.

While there are a few networks that do this, Sky Mobile does it with the lowest overall costs. Via Sky, you can get iPhone 13 deals from just £33 a month. The iPhone 13 mini comes in even cheaper starting at £30 a month.

As for the two larger Pro devices, Sky Mobile can start at £39 a month for iPhone 13 Pro deals and for the larger iPhone 13 Pro Max, just £43 a month.

You can find out more about these cheap tariffs below and more about how Sky's 36 month contracts work.

Sky's best iPhone 13 deals right now:

iPhone 13 mini: at Sky Mobile | Swap 24 | FREE upfront | 3GB data | Unlimited calls and texts | £30 per month
Easily one of the cheapest overall tariffs we've seen from the iPhone 13 launch - with Sky you'll get 3GB of data for only £30 a month. While that's obviously a small data plan, upgrade the data for small additions to the cost, including discounts on 20GB options.

iPhone 13: at Sky Mobile | Swap 24 | FREE upfront | 3GB data | Unlimited calls and texts | £33 per month
The middle device for cost, the iPhone 13 will cost you £33 a month with Sky. That gets you 3GB of data or you can boost your plan for an additional cost. There are no upfront costs and compared to other networks, this is a very cheap way to go.

iPhone 13 Pro: at Sky Mobile | Swap 24 | FREE upfront | 3GB data | Unlimited calls and texts | £39 per month
Usually, the cost jump for Pro models can be high but here, you're not paying much more than going for the iPhone 13. Bills come in at £39 a month with no upfront costs. Like the two options above, boost your data cap for a few extra quid.

iPhone 13 Pro Max: at Sky Mobile | Swap 24 | FREE upfront | 3GB data | Unlimited calls and texts | £43 per month
Finally, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is surprisingly affordable with Sky, costing just £43 a month with no upfront costs. That price gets 3GB of data or boost costs for slightly more. 20GB is another great option with a major discount.

What is Swap24 from Sky Mobile?

It requires a few more grey cells to work out, but Sky Mobile's Swap24 tariff can be a great way to get your new phone and know that you'll have the chance to upgrade later down the line.

In essence, Swap24 is a 36-month contract with the option to upgrade after 24 months. As long as you're phone is in full working order, you can return it to Sky after 24 months which will help pay off the bills of whatever shiny new handset you choose to upgrade to in two years' time.

If you get to 24 months with your new iPhone 13 and decide that you want to keep it for the remainder of the contract, you can do that too.

While the premise is simple, it is important to note that Sky states on their website "full working order with no physical damage".

You can also swap your phone out any time after the first 31 days, you just need to pay what's left in your contract balance after the value of your phone is taken into account.

Why go for Sky Mobile?

Looking past the obvious reason of the affordable pricing above, Sky Mobile has a few special features that make it stand out:

Roll: Don't use all of your data one month? No problem! Sky will let you roll it over into the next month. You can keep rolling data over for up to three years, perfect if there's a time where you'll need it more. You can even cash in your unused data for a range of rewards from Sky or gift it to other phones if you're on a family account.

Watch: If you're also a Sky TV customer, you can watch the Sky Go app on your mobile without using up data on your phone - perfect for train journeys.

Mix: Go for any of the prices above and, if you realise later down the line that the data cap you chose isn't enough, you can change it up at any time.

Swap: Sky lets you swap your phone contract after 24 months, meaning you can upgrade to a new phone if you like. Obviously, you will need to pay for the upgraded contract price, but otherwise, it is pretty simple. Just to be clear, Sky's Swap 24 plans keep you contracted in for 36 months.



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iPhone 14 tipped to offer double the maximum storage capacity

The iPhone 13 is the first Apple smartphone to top out at 1TB of internal storage, if you go for either the Pro or Pro Max model, but it seems Apple isn't finished there: the latest from the rumor mill suggests that the iPhone 14 could go as high as 2TB.

That's according to MyDrivers (via MacRumors), which has something of a hit and miss record with predictions – so don't take this as definite just yet. We're not expecting the phone for another 11 months, after all.

The site does mention a switch to a new type of flash storage called QLC (quad-level cell), which improves performance and capacity while also reducing cost. That switch has been mentioned by other sources, though this is the first we're hearing of a 2TB option.

Pro models only

As with the current iPhone line-up, it's reasonable to assume that the maximum 2TB of storage will appear on the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max, if it appears at all – it's likely that these configurations are going to be rather pricey.

To date we haven't heard too much about what Apple might be planning for its 2022 iPhone series. One rumor that has emerged is that the iconic iPhone notch could make way for a smaller punch hole design on the displays of the Pro models.

There's also been talk of an upgrade to a 48MP camera sensor, and higher resolution video capture could be one of the reasons that more storage is going to be offered by Apple. It would be a surprising upgrade if it happens, but we'll wait and see.


Opinion: more storage is always welcome

iPhone 13 Pro Max

The iPhone 13 Pro Max. (Image credit: TechRadar)

More storage space always used to be an expected upgrade year on year for flagship smartphones, but that trend has faded away as more and more of us have started relying on cloud storage to keep all of our precious photos, videos and other files safe.

On top of that, there's been a seismic shift from owning digital content like movies and music to simply streaming it through the likes of Netflix and Spotify. With broadband and cellular speeds increasing all the time, the need to keep files stored locally on a device is not as important as it once was.

Even so, we're not going to turn down the offer of 2TB. With the Pro iPhones now capable of shooting 4K ProRes video at 60 frames per second, it's a case of the more storage the better – and that's before we get on to syncing audio and video for offline playback.

If the higher storage configurations aren't for you, the more affordable, lower capacity options are still going to be available as usual. We're always glad to see more storage choices available at the top end though, and that goes for flagship Android devices as well as the Apple iPhone range.



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Samsung Galaxy M52 5G, Galaxy F42 5G Go on Sale in India With Amazon, Flipkart Festive Discounts

https://ift.tt/154AwVo Galaxy M52 5G and Samsung Galaxy F42 5G have gone on sale in India. They are up for grabs with a Rs. 3,000 discount on Amazon and Flipkart, respectively. The offers are only for Amazon Great Indian Festival and Flipkart Big Billion Days sales.

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Friday, October 1, 2021

iPhone 13 ‘Unlock With Apple Watch’ Issue Fix Rolls Out With iOS 15.0.1 Update

https://ift.tt/1aaWXu4 has rolled out iOS 15.0.1 and iPadOS 15.0.1 update for compatible users. This update brings a fix for the Unlock with Apple Watch feature on iPhone 13 units. It is a small point upgrade that largely focuses on bug fixes.

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Watch out - that Android security update may be malware

The creators of FluBot have launched a new campaign that uses fake Android security update warnings to trick potential victims into installing the malware on their devices.

In a new blog post, New Zealand's computer emergency response team Cert NZ has warned users that the message on the malware's new installation page is actually a lure designed to instill a sense of urgency that tricks users into installing FluBot on their own devices.

The new FluBot installation page, that users are led to after receiving fake messages about pending or missed package deliveries or even stolen photos uploaded online, informs them that their devices are infected with FluBot which is a form of Android spyware used to steal financial login and password data from their devices. However, by installing a new security update, they can remove FluBot from their Android smartphone.

The page also goes a step further by instructing users to enable the installation of apps from unknown sources on their device. By doing so, the cybercriminals' fake security update can be installed on their device and while a user may think they've taken action to protect against FluBot, they've actually installed the malware on their smartphone themselves.

Changing tactics

Until recently, FluBot was spread to Android smartphones through spam text messages using contacts stolen from devices that were already infected with the malware. These messages would instruct potential victims to install apps on their devices in the form of APKs that were delivered by attacker-controlled servers.

Once FluBot has been installed on a user's device, the malware often tries to trick victims into giving it additional permissions as well as granting access to the Android Accessibility service that allows it to run in the background and execute other malicious tasks.

FluBot is capable of stealing a user's payment and banking information by using overlay attacks where an overlay is placed on top of legitimate banking, payment and cryptocurrency apps. As mentioned before, the malware will also steal a user's contacts to send them phishing messages to help spread FluBot even further.

While FluBot was mainly used to target users in Spain at its onset, its operators have since expanded the campaign to target additional countries in Europe including Germany, Poland, Hungary, UK and Switzerland as well as Australia and Japan in recent months.

Via BleepingComputer



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Flipkart Big Saving Days 2021 Sale Goes Live for Plus Members: Best Offers on Mobile Phones, Electronics

https://ift.tt/2rx1t6M Big Saving Days 2021 has started for Plus members today.

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Meet the world’s first sub-$100 1TB portable SSD: here's what it means to you

Specialist Japanese data storage company, Buffalo Technology, is probably the last SSD vendor we’d expect to release the first external SSD with a 1TB capacity costing less than $100. 

And yet, the outfit, better known for its expensive high end Terastation NAS devices, has lined up the SSD-PG1.0U3B.  

How much does it cost?

Its marquee price of $99.99 is valid only on Amazon.com for US customers.

However, Amazon sells it at a premium to pretty much anyone worldwide who has an Amazon.com and that includes both UK and Australian customers for a far less enticing price of $163.49 (or local currency equivalent). 

The price includes delivery (and courier fees) but not local taxes, which in the UK will add another 20% to the price.

What do you get for your money?

The drive is pitched as the perfect complement to the Sony PS4 and Sony PS5 gaming consoles. The box contains a USB Cable (Type-A), a USB Type A-to-C adapter, a quick setup guide with a warranty statement  and a game console guide.

Speaking of warranty, it comes with a two year warranty that can be extended to three years once you register with Buffalo. We’re unsure why this is setup this way other than to collect the user’s information.

The drive itself is fairly compact at 11.7 x 7.5 x 1.3cm and weighs just over 90g. It appears to be made of hard plastic and claims to come with a shock-resistant, rugged design with improved drop protection. Buffalo has essentially converted an internal SSD into an external one. Clever! The use of shock absorbing material explains why it has passed the stringent U.S. MIL-STD 810G 516.6 procedure IV test, allowing it to withstand drops from four feet high.

It is not waterproof though, so no IP67 or IP68 rating. It contains no bundled software (no cloud storage, file sync, no antivirus or Adobe Creative cloud trials). The SSD-PG1.0U3B is exFAT formatted so can be used with Windows out of the box. 

Just bear in mind that it uses a flat USB connector rather than a more recent USB Type-C connector and there’s a good reason for that.

What’s the catch?

There is a fairly big catch and that’s the fact that it is a relatively slow external SSD drive with top read speeds of 340MBps, which is far less than what rivals can reach (more on that later). 

Write speeds are likely to be even lower than that. By itself, that is not bad (and significantly faster than even the fastest external hard drive). 

Just make sure that your expectations are, well, adjusted. One minor aspect is that its formatted capacity is around 930MB, rather less than the headline 1024 (or 1000) GB. Still, the $100 per TB barrier has been shattered and that’s what counts.

How does it compare to the competition?

Well, there is plenty of competition between the $100 and $110 price range and most of them are objectively better than Buffalo’s 1TB external SSD. 

Inland, the own-brand from popular US retailer Microcenter, is the next cheapest at $101.99; it has a smaller form factor and is about 60% faster. Pioneer is next at $103.99 (for a marginally smaller 960GB drive and Silicon Power, at $104.99, completes this trio of affordable alternatives. The PNY Pro Elite is our preferred low cost top dog though with a tiny footprint and almost three times the performance of its Buffalo rival.

If you want to go even further down the per TB price point, then large capacity external SSDs are the way forward. Netac is the current price champion with a barely believable $91 per TB. 

What comes next?

While other core components (processors, GPUs and memory) have seen their prices go up (and up) because of the ongoing chip shortage, SSDs are one of the few that have seen a downward trend, one that we believe will continue, especially as Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the holidays approach. 

We wouldn’t be surprised to see price parity between low capacity internal SSD and hard disk drives

Analyst firm Trendforce reported in September 2021 that “shipments have been below expectations for consumer electronics such as smartphones, Chromebooks, and TVs during this second half of the year. At the same time, demand remains sluggish for retail storage products including memory cards and USB drives” before adding that “contract prices of client SSDs will drop by 3-8% quarter-over-quarter”.



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