Multibao 2.5" Hard Drive Enclosure SATA HDD/SSD Caddy Case To USB 3.0 For LAPTOP DVR External Black Enclosure Box

I broke my hard drive and needed this. It cake quickly and works wonderfully.

Excellent value. The case is plastic and appears flimsy when on-the-go but is perfectly adequate when used in the office and home. Works with Linux Mint. The similar Dynamode USB 3.0 2.5mm HDD (metal) enclosures sold by Currys UK high street stores don't work with Linux and are twice the price. Buy this instead.

It's a very basic 2.5in SATA HDD/SSD enclosure - just a cheap-feeling plastic case that clips together - no screws required - with a tiny controller board inside. It comes with a USB 3.0 cable which is rather short (around 25cm length) but it does the job. I have absolutely no complaints for the price I paid (under £5). When plugged in to USB, it identifies itself as a JMicron device, which is as expected for these types of products and similar to other ones I've used in the recent past. I bought it to reuse a very old 1TB laptop hard drive that I had lying around spare. It seems to work OK. Transfer speeds are in the region of 18-20MB/s but I expect it's my poor old hard drive that is the limitation here. I can't say how well it works with SSDs as I haven't used it with those. It came with a small adhesive foam pad, which must be required for fitting some of the slimmer 2.5in SSDs and maybe some HDDs. That certainly wasn't needed for my HDD which fits very snugly inside the case, and doesn't rattle around. The enclosure gets a little warm in use, but not hot. Certainly no warmer than dedicated external HDDs I've owned such as the WD Elements series. Overall - absolutely fine for a basic enclosure. Avoid if you want something that looks more premium (this is just a cheap plastic case). For me it was a good way to reuse an old hard drive at very low cost.

There are better enclosure you can buy, ones that are more robust, or offer features like a power switch etc. But this is a capable, quick enclosure that requires no tools to use and includes a USB 3 to Micro USB B cable for around the same price of the cable alone. It was also delivered quickly when I needed it. I was visiting family, who had an issue with an external hard drive they were using for backup and this kit allowed me to troubleshoot the issue, ruling out faults with the other drives cable, and then its interface. Whilst this was bad news for them (their physical hard disc had a terminal fault) it allowed them to know it what the issue was, and I was able to put a new drive in their old drives enclosure. So in summary, this is a handy enclosure that is easy to open without tools and would be ideal if you were upgrading your hard disc and wanted something a bit more sturdy than an adaptor exposing the drive.

I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this Multibao 2.5" Hard Drive Enclosure is to set up. It's straightforward to use, offers good build quality, and works like a charm for transferring data between my old hard drive and laptop. The USB 3.0 connection ensures fast speeds, and it fits perfectly in my bag for on-the-go storage. All in all, it does exactly what it promises without any fuss. Highly recommended!

good price works well

The first one works, but I did notice the potential problem with the connector. I brought a second one and when assembled the drive kept cutting out (I tried with two SSDs or different depths). Since the caddy is so cheap I kept it, but had to hacksaw the case around the connector to create a more solid connection to the short cable (I doubt the soldering from the PCB to the connector will last long.). Upon close inspection the connector on the controller does look a little deformed and possibly slightly misaligned (manufacturer defect). I won't be buying anymore of these and would recommend spending a couple of quid more for something of higher build quality.

Must have if you have a harddrive - makes it look smart. Easy to assemble.