Lindy USB 3.0 3.5in Hard Drive Enclosure review

Lindy’s latest enclosure for 3.5in desktop hard disks isn’t the first model we’ve seen with USB3, but it’s easily the most stylish thanks to a sleek design combining brushed metal and black plastic. Although it can be positioned on your desk vertically to save space, no stand is included to steady it, so we wouldn’t recommend it.

Fitting a SATA hard disk is easy; simply flip open the front hatch and slide the disk into place. We were concerned that the lack of screws might mean the disk would rattle and therefore produce a lot of noise, but it was mercifully quiet.

As expected for a USB3 enclosure, it’s very fast at copying files – far faster than any USB2 or eSATA enclosure. Large files were read at 105.2MB/s while small files were read at 85.2MB/s. Its performance writing files wasn’t as fast as some pre-built USB3 disks we’ve seen, but it’s still very quick with large files written at 87.6MB/s and small files written at 61.6MB/s.

Lindy’s USB3 enclosure is £20 more expensive than comparable USB2 models, but if you want the fast performance of USB3 than it’s a price well worth paying. It’s also worth considering a pre-built disk, like Western Digital’s My Book 3.0 2TB.