With Switch 2, iPhone, and laptop computer methods, the Sharge Disk Pro 2 is lastly a worthy EDC

Sharge, the corporate that makes pleasant retro Mac-shaped chargers and see-inside batteries, is lastly impressing me with a transportable SSD. I couldn’t suggest the Sharge Disk, Disk Plus, and even the Disk Pro, however I’d be pleased to personal the new Disk Pro 2 Ultra.

This isn’t only a drive. It’s a 4K HDMI dock and a USB-C hub too. It’s a veritable USB-C Swiss Army Knife for all of your principal devices: laptop computer, pill, cellphone, Steam Deck, even the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.

And this USB multitool has built-in MagSafe sample magnets to stay it to your iPhone, Pixel, or something the place you’re prepared to stay a magnetic ring. (One stick-on ring is included.)

In whole, this pack-of-playing-cards-sized gadget provides one 4K 144Hz HDMI 2.1 video output, a 5Gbps USB-A port, SD and microSD card readers, plus USB-C passthrough charging — plus a slot so as to add as much as 8TB of solid-state storage with a full-sized M.2 2280 (or smaller M.2 2242 and 2230) stick SSDs.

By plugging in a single wire, I gave my MacGuide Pro a second exterior monitor, 4 simultaneous sources of storage (SSD, USB flash drive, SD, microSD), and 80W of USB-C PD juice.

And after I plugged in my Android cellphone and a USB-C iPhone, each of them noticed the SSD and confirmed up on my HDMI display screen. It additionally unlocked 4K60 ProRes video recording on the iPhone… extra on that in a minute.

Some of those options exist collectively in different devices, and this 10Gbps exterior SSD enclosure definitely isn’t the quickest on the town now that 40Gbps and 80Gbps enclosures exist. With huge 100GB and 195GB transfers, my write speeds with a funds 1TB Lexar NM710 within the Disk Pro 2 averaged round 700MB/s.

But that’s nonetheless nothing to sneeze at, and what number of enclosures double as USB-C HDMI docks, not to mention ones that talk Nintendo’s language and magnetically connect to your cellphone? How many have a built-in fan to maintain them cool? And what number of are low-power sufficient which you can energy the HDMI and USB ports out of your cellphone or laptop computer, no want for an influence wire?

Things get a bit difficult with the low wattage, although.

First, Sharge is promoting two fashions of the Disk Pro 2, the “Ultra” that requires not less than 1.5W of USB-C bus energy, and and the “Lite” which wants 5W for its extra power-hungry chips (and solely does 4K60 over HDMI 2.0, as an alternative of 4K144 over HDMI 2.1).

Second, to realize such low energy draw on the Ultra, it might solely route 3W of energy out of your laptop computer or cellphone to a related SSD, Sharge advertising supervisor Leo H. tells me. Reviews show my borrowed Lexar NM710 attracts greater than that in writes — and certain sufficient, the Disk Pro 2 shut down proper after I began ProRes video recording on an iPhone 15 Pro or a giant switch on my Galaxy S25.

(There’s a easy answer: simply plug an exterior USB-C battery or charger into the Disk Pro 2. When I did that, I recorded over 5 minutes of 4K60 ProRes video, no downside. You might as an alternative attempt to discover a lower-power SSD.)

Third, whereas the HDMI dock does work with each my Switch 2 and my unique Switch, Nintendo’s handhelds explicitly examine for a comparatively particular exterior energy supply earlier than docking. Sharge continues to be tweaking the firmware, however says I presently want a 85W or greater USB-C PD charger plugged in for Switch 2 specifically.

You also needs to know there’s a protracted pause earlier than the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 seem on a related TV, like another third-party docks, and also you received’t get variable refresh charge (VRR) with a Steam Deck or different PC handhelds. It does 4K144 and 4K120 with HDR, however the Steam Deck claims my VRR TV is just not VRR-capable with the Disk Pro 2 as a go-between.

And whereas I efficiently labored with a mouse, keyboard, headset, monitor, webcam, and extra plugged into the Disk Pro 2 for a number of days — by daisy-chaining an additional USB hub — I did often see the monitor go darkish for a minute, roughly as soon as a day.

There’s nonetheless work for Sharge to do. But it’s the primary drive from the corporate that I’d fortunately add to my go bag.

The unique Sharge Disk was a cumbersome dongle with a ridiculously noisy tiny fan. The Disk Plus marketed itself as barely-there stylishly skinny SSD enclosure that magnetically attaches to your cellphone, however the magnets had been truly a stick-on accent that made the drive a lot thicker. The first Sharge Disk Pro had an influence port so tiny and recessed that the majority charging cables wouldn’t match, and buttons that might truly reduce energy to the drive mid-transfer.

The Disk Pro 2 fixes all that. The included cable is now removable, the magnets are built-in, the ports are not weirdly recessed, the fan isn’t noisy by default, you possibly can flip off that fan totally, the change doesn’t reduce energy to the drive, and the drive has a bigger airflow path. Plus, you possibly can convey your personal SSD — although I’d favor toolless swaps to the present screws.

You received’t at all times see a lot greater switch speeds turning that fan on full blast. My 195GB switch took 4 minutes and 55 seconds with the fan on full energy, and 5 minutes 5 seconds with it off — a distinction of simply 10 seconds, despite the fact that I let it cool between take a look at. The actual distinction is the one I felt when making an attempt to choose up the Disk Pro 2 afterwards. Without fan, the steel sides had been burning scorching to the contact.

The Disk Pro 2 Ultra is $75 on Kickstarter for early bird and might be $89 full retail. While the standard caveats apply with Kickstarter tasks, Sharge has a really strong monitor document for transport (even when it’s hit or miss on design).