Iomega Prestige Desktop USB 3.0 review

Iomega’s Prestige desktop hard disk looks incredibly sleek in brushed aluminium, just like its mobile counterpart, the Iomega Prestige Mobile. This 3½in version can be positioned horizontally or vertically using the supplied stand. It also has USB3 support, so file transfers should be noticeably quicker than on older disks.

Performance in our file transfer benchmarks was very impressive; the disk managed to write large files at 98MB/s and read them at a rapid 136MB/s, making it one of the faster external disks we’ve seen. Small files were quick too. Even if 53.4MB/s write and 60MB/s read speeds are slower than the large files test, they’re still very quick for an external hard drive.

As the disk is aimed at professionals as well as home users, it includes AES 256-bit hardware encryption. This is unlikely to make a difference to most people, but those that require it are sure to appreciate its inclusion. Much more useful is the download link for Iomega’s protection suite, which provides access to a year’s subscription to Trend Micro Internet Security as well as local backup and online storage software.

The fanless enclosure felt warm to the touch after a few hours’ use and the disk made a noticeable amount of noise when being accessed, so we would recommend keeping it somewhere out of earshot and with plenty of ventilation.

At £76 for a 1TB disk, the Prestige desktop isn’t particularly great value compared to the larger-capacity Freecom Hard Drive XS USB 3.0. However, the Iomega has a much better software bundle and surprisingly fast performance; if speed is a priority, the Prestige is an excellent choice.