With a look

Pro

• Powerful magnet to attach MagSafe iPhone
• Shockproof

Disadvantages

• Non-Pro iPhones have USB-C ports that limit SSD performance

Our verdict

The SL500 Portable SSD with Magnetic Set is a well-rounded storage solution for iPhone filmmakers. The form factor with the magnetic rubber cover fits perfectly and its use as a data storage device for filming leaves nothing to be desired. The SL500 also cuts a fine figure on the Mac.

Price upon review

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127.49 Euros

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Videographers know the problem: you shoot just a few short videos on vacation and your iPhone’s memory is full again. How nice would it be if you could record directly to an external storage device? That’s exactly what the Lexar SL500 Portable SSD with Magnetic Set is designed for. All you need is an iPhone with a USB-C port (iPhone 15 or later).

The SL500 with magnet set is about the size of a credit card, has an aluminum casing and attaches to the iPhone via MagSafe. The SSD connects to the iPhone using a USB-C connection, which is USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 at 20Mbps, capable of data transfer rates of up to 2,000MBps. Unfortunately, Mac and iPhone users cannot take advantage of this speed. Measured on the M3 MacBook Air, we end up with a typical write speed of 869MBps and a read speed of 959MBps for the USB-C connection.

The SL500 with magnet set comes with a special rubber case and a short USB-C cable. The USB-C cable is flat and therefore does not hinder the function of the iPhone. The rubber sleeve offers shock protection and a magnetic back that matches the iPhone’s MagSafe magnets. In this way, the rubber case fits the iPhone perfectly. Lexar specifies impact protection for drops of two meters and IP54 for dust and water resistance.

iPhone 15 Pro and later support Apple ProRes, a professional video codec. This video codec is reserved for the Pro models and makes it possible to record a maximum of 4K resolution at 60 frames per second directly on external devices. iPhone 16 Pro can even handle 120Hz at 4K. To cope with these high data speeds, the iPhone 15/16 Pro and iPhone 15/16 Pro Max are equipped with a 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 port.

Users of regular iPhones can also benefit from the SL500 with Magnetic Set. However, because the USB connection is throttled to 480 Mbps, the speed is not as fast as on the Pro iPhones. On the iPhone 15, video recordings with 4K resolution, HEVC (H.265) codec and 25 frames per second are possible without problems.

The iPhone’s camera app must be changed to a camera app that can select a device as a recording target. I used the very good one Blackmagic camera app.

The Lexar SL500 Portable SSD with Magnetic Set is available in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB capacities.

Should you buy the Lexar SL500 Portable SSD with Magnetic Set?

15 minutes of 4K video in HEVC (H.265) is over 4 GB, and if you use the iPhone for a video recording, the large files will fill up the iPhone quickly and an external SSD like the SL500 Portable SSD with Magnetset is essential. Lexar’s SSD has a nice rubber cover, attaches magnetically, fits the iPhone, and the USB-C cable also cuts a nice figure. It can also be used with Mac computers and other devices.