Performance: 40 out of 40.
Thanks to a fantastically engineered chassis, excellent internal components, and even a very good PCIe to USB bridge controller the LaCie Rugged SSD can, will, and does saturate a USB 3.1 gen 2 bus all by itself. That is about as good as it gets with USB 3.1 g2 devices.
Technological Innovation: 18 out of 20
While it is indeed true that there are many, many M.2 based portable storage devices the manner in which LaCie has solved the usual problems is highly innovative. Little tweaks here and there really do add up. They add up to a very fast, very consistent device that can take abuse like few others can.
Build Quality & Warranty: 19 out of 20
When you combine a five-year warranty with five years of Data Recovery than add in Swiss watch precision there is only minor nits left to pick. In this instance that is the choice of color, and the fact that LaCie does not include a cap for the Type-C port. That is it. That is certainly above average to say the least.
Value: 16 out of 20
There is no denying the robustness, the toughness, nor the performance the LaCie Rugged SSD series has to offer. It really is top of its class in all these departments. Unfortunately counterbalancing that is an asking price that is equally ‘top’ of its class… in a bad way. With an asking price of nearly $300 buyers will have to justify it by thinking long and hard about how they intend to use it. Some will decide that they do not need this level of protection and opt for much, much cheaper competitor options like the Crucial X8. That is a shame. If your data is important enough to save, it is important enough to be safe.
Final Score: 93 out of 100
The LaCie Rugged SSD will not be right for everyone and every scenario. However, if you can justify its asking price it will provide years and years of top-notch performance as well as top notch protection. So before you write it off, think long and hard about what the data you are planning on storing on it is really worth.
