RANKING
18
Rank 18 out of 68 Summarized in this category
Rankings based on:
• Pros-to-cons ratio
• Number of reviews
• Category average
Mushkin
Pilot-E
around $75
i
All prices are estimates and may vary from actual prices.
Image source:
52 Pros
81%
9 reviews (1h 42m)
12 Cons
Unleash the full potential of your NVMe SSD with the Mushkin Pilot-E external enclosure. Experience blazing-fast speeds thanks to its USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 interface, reaching up to 20 Gbps, making external storage nearly as fast as internal. Transfer massive files in seconds, not minutes, ideal for gamers, media professionals, and anyone needing top-t...
95%
21 vs 1
Performance
75%
6 vs 2
Features
100%
7 vs 0
Compatibility
100%
2 vs 0
Price
50%
1 vs 1
Durability
Reviewer verdict
Across 9 YouTube reviews, the Mushkin Pilot-E earns a Summa score of 4.3/5, ranking #18 among SSDs. Reviewers most often praise its performance, compatibility, features, while the most common criticisms concern form factor, software.
Reviewers consistently praise the Pilot-E for its strong performance, with many noting sequential read/write speeds often hitting multi-gigabyte-per-second ranges and high transaction/AI operation throughput (mentioned in 21 comments). Several reviewers said the external experience is nearly as fast as installing the SSD internally and called the drive "very fast" or that it "smokes" typical external storage. Compatibility and connectivity are also frequently highlighted (7 mentions), with reviewers noting USB-C/USB4, USB 3x2x2 support, and included cables that enable full speeds. Reviewers additionally appreciated the practical kit and design touches—screws, included screwdriver, magnetic dust filter, DRAM-equipped drives, and an aluminum-styled enclosure—mentioned across features and form-factor comments.
Criticisms focus on the Pilot-E’s physical design and ergonomics (5 mentions), with several reviewers calling the enclosure large, thick, clunky to carry, mismatched in color, and noting fitment issues for cables; one reviewer corrected an earlier claim and said the case is plastic rather than aluminum. Setup and documentation drew mild complaints (3 mentions), described as a bit vague or requiring extra work compared with tool-less alternatives. A few reviewers flagged small feature quibbles (2 mentions) like unchangeable activity LEDs and one report raised a thermal concern about a sensor reading 90°C; a single test also noted slower performance on very small files as expected.
Analysis based on 9 YouTube reviews (1h 42m of video) with 52 pros and 12 cons extracted.
Pros (52)
Performance (21)
- the drive appears to do well with a sequential one megabyte q8 thread one reads and writes as they are meeting average high speeds within margin getting about 34 86 megabytes per second read and 2961 megabytes per second right with advertised numbers being max sequential reads at 3 500 megabytes per second read and 3000 megabytes per second right ▶ A review of the Mushkin Pilot E 1TB @ 2:45
- not even that much different than if I were to install the SSD directly in my PC, only that I external one ▶ GÜNSTIGE SUPER SCHNELLE USB-C SSD (USB 3.2 Gen2x2 / USB 4) @ 9:37
- read/write speeds are pretty incredible ▶ NVME M.2 PCIE SSD Hard Drive Install, External Enclosure, PS @ 1:10
- wow so that looked like it was better than 30 megabytes per second reading a bunch of small files back over to the hard drive so that was 150 megabytes back over in less than 5 seconds so that's quite awesome very awesome ▶ Patriot XT USB 3.0 Thumb Drive @ 4:34
- fast speed ▶ NVME M.2 PCIE SSD Hard Drive Install, External Enclosure, PS @ 2:20
- look how fast that was ▶ Unitek External M.2 SSD enclosure with Mushkin 2TB Drive ins @ 12:11
- about two and a half gigabytes a second right ▶ Mushkin Source 2, Helix L, Pilot E, and Carbon X-100 First L @ 5:42
- this drive is going to do that for you ▶ Mushkin Source 2, Helix L, Pilot E, and Carbon X-100 First L @ 6:11
- two gigabytes reading and writing from the second SSD ▶ GÜNSTIGE SUPER SCHNELLE USB-C SSD (USB 3.2 Gen2x2 / USB 4) @ 9:29
- Muskelpilote is also recommended, also in a terabyte size. Here too, the data reads at 3500 mb/s and it writes at 3000 mb/s. ▶ SSD Kaufberatung | Empfehlungen | DEUTSCH @ 9:40
- well over 70 MBT per second read which is absolutely abolutely awwesome for a USB drive ▶ Patriot XT USB 3.0 Thumb Drive @ 2:58
- this drive smokes ▶ Patriot XT USB 3.0 Thumb Drive @ 4:57
- upper 300 thousands as far as AI ops go ▶ Mushkin Source 2, Helix L, Pilot E, and Carbon X-100 First L @ 5:46
- highest end solution for you know the heavy workloads gamers media professionals ▶ Mushkin Source 2, Helix L, Pilot E, and Carbon X-100 First L @ 9:47
- pretty fast for right speed ▶ Patriot XT USB 3.0 Thumb Drive @ 2:34
- wow that was done before I could even take a look at it so this thing absolutely smokes absolutely ▶ Patriot XT USB 3.0 Thumb Drive @ 3:11
- you just want really fast storage ▶ Mushkin Source 2, Helix L, Pilot E, and Carbon X-100 First L @ 10:03
- the mushroom pilot e1 terabyte performs well for the pcie 3.0 spec ▶ A review of the Mushkin Pilot E 1TB @ 4:42
- two gigabits per second reading and writing from your SSD ▶ GÜNSTIGE SUPER SCHNELLE USB-C SSD (USB 3.2 Gen2x2 / USB 4) @ 5:12
- really high transaction performance ▶ Mushkin Source 2, Helix L, Pilot E, and Carbon X-100 First L @ 5:44
- hitting up to three point four gigabytes a second read ▶ Mushkin Source 2, Helix L, Pilot E, and Carbon X-100 First L @ 5:35
Compatibility (7)
- first external DIY SSD case that supports the YEN 2 x 2 standard. So 20 gigabits per second makes reading and writing from your external SSD possible. ▶ GÜNSTIGE SUPER SCHNELLE USB-C SSD (USB 3.2 Gen2x2 / USB 4) @ 4:45
- plug it into my external PC via the USB 3 x 32 x 2 port or a laptop that has a USB 4 port and enjoy the full speed ▶ GÜNSTIGE SUPER SCHNELLE USB-C SSD (USB 3.2 Gen2x2 / USB 4) @ 9:43
- include usb a to usbc and it that's pretty cool ▶ Unitek External M.2 SSD enclosure with Mushkin 2TB Drive ins @ 5:38
- usbc to usbc which is the cable that i will be using ▶ Unitek External M.2 SSD enclosure with Mushkin 2TB Drive ins @ 5:33
- use this thing on a high-end PC motherboard, which has two 2-port ports, as well as on a laptop that has a USB 4 or Panda Bolt 4-port at full speed. ▶ GÜNSTIGE SUPER SCHNELLE USB-C SSD (USB 3.2 Gen2x2 / USB 4) @ 5:00
- type-c connection ▶ NVME M.2 PCIE SSD Hard Drive Install, External Enclosure, PS @ 2:17
- usbc which i like ▶ Unitek External M.2 SSD enclosure with Mushkin 2TB Drive ins @ 2:50
Features (6)
- bunch of screws which was nice ▶ My New PC Build! @ 3:18
- nice little magnetic dust filter ▶ My New PC Build! @ 2:34
- comes with a screwdriver ▶ NVME M.2 PCIE SSD Hard Drive Install, External Enclosure, PS @ 3:04
- has DRAM so you're not gonna take up that little bit of system ram like the helix drive would ▶ Mushkin Source 2, Helix L, Pilot E, and Carbon X-100 First L @ 6:14
- nice design, it has an RGB LED ▶ GÜNSTIGE SUPER SCHNELLE USB-C SSD (USB 3.2 Gen2x2 / USB 4) @ 10:23
- without going to a dram less drive ▶ Mushkin sent in some awesome stuff, lets get a look! @ 0:56
Form Factor (5)
- i do like the fact uh that with this case it comes you know with a bunch of screws and you can it it's easy to take take things apart move things around uh so it's nice that that gives you the option ▶ My New PC Build! @ 8:00
- pretty good case ▶ My New PC Build! @ 1:31
- all aluminum closure enclosure is nice ▶ Unitek External M.2 SSD enclosure with Mushkin 2TB Drive ins @ 2:59
- it's aluminum ▶ NVME M.2 PCIE SSD Hard Drive Install, External Enclosure, PS @ 2:15
- has these uh these air vents on the sides ▶ Unitek External M.2 SSD enclosure with Mushkin 2TB Drive ins @ 3:03
Software (4)
- overall i mean that was pretty painless ▶ Unitek External M.2 SSD enclosure with Mushkin 2TB Drive ins @ 10:24
- much simpler ▶ GÜNSTIGE SUPER SCHNELLE USB-C SSD (USB 3.2 Gen2x2 / USB 4) @ 10:32
- nice of them it's really handy because even if you know what you're doing it's nice to review and say oh yeah okay I know what I'm doing ▶ NVME M.2 PCIE SSD Hard Drive Install, External Enclosure, PS @ 4:12
- instructions here were very clear on how to do it ▶ NVME M.2 PCIE SSD Hard Drive Install, External Enclosure, PS @ 5:08
Overall (4)
- thumbs up for me ▶ My New PC Build! @ 11:07
- very happy with this ▶ Unitek External M.2 SSD enclosure with Mushkin 2TB Drive ins @ 13:25
- Icy Box is a brand of the company Raidsonic. Raidsonic is a German company. ▶ GÜNSTIGE SUPER SCHNELLE USB-C SSD (USB 3.2 Gen2x2 / USB 4) @ 5:24
- really good product ratings ▶ Unitek External M.2 SSD enclosure with Mushkin 2TB Drive ins @ 4:28
Price (2)
- I got a good deal on this one ▶ NVME M.2 PCIE SSD Hard Drive Install, External Enclosure, PS @ 1:08
- this drive typically represents the best value per dollar at one terabyte ▶ Mushkin sent in some awesome stuff, lets get a look! @ 0:46
Durability (1)
- no games here if you you bought a pilot e on launch day and you bought a pilot e today they're going to behave the same ▶ Mushkin sent in some awesome stuff, lets get a look! @ 3:49
Power Consumption (1)
- pc runs surprisingly cool ▶ My New PC Build! @ 11:13
Capacity (1)
- it recognizes one terabyte ▶ NVME M.2 PCIE SSD Hard Drive Install, External Enclosure, PS @ 8:18
Cons (12)
Form Factor (5)
- the blue and black doesn't really match many people's best expectations when it comes to aesthetics on a drive ▶ A review of the Mushkin Pilot E 1TB @ 0:34
- pretty fat, especially when you put it next to my previous SSD case. It's more than twice as thick. ▶ GÜNSTIGE SUPER SCHNELLE USB-C SSD (USB 3.2 Gen2x2 / USB 4) @ 5:44
- made a mistake i said it was aluminum it's not aluminum it is plastic ▶ Unitek External M.2 SSD enclosure with Mushkin 2TB Drive ins @ 3:28
- really quite large and therefore a bit clunky to carry around ▶ GÜNSTIGE SUPER SCHNELLE USB-C SSD (USB 3.2 Gen2x2 / USB 4) @ 6:09
- there are some uh people that might uh flame me in the comments that oh yeah you're really crap crappy at a game management and you're not wrong because it is actually to the point where i can't even fit the wires in the case perfectly flush ▶ My New PC Build! @ 8:30
Software (3)
- instruction a little bit vague ▶ My New PC Build! @ 3:20
- not as easy as with the Eurodistricts area because you don't need any tools for it ▶ GÜNSTIGE SUPER SCHNELLE USB-C SSD (USB 3.2 Gen2x2 / USB 4) @ 8:24
- it took a little bit of work to get setting up ▶ My New PC Build! @ 11:07
Features (2)
- it has two red leds for activity lights on reading and writing i wasn't able to find a way to turn them off ▶ A review of the Mushkin Pilot E 1TB @ 0:42
- almost seems like it's a bit unnecessary ▶ Unitek External M.2 SSD enclosure with Mushkin 2TB Drive ins @ 7:24
Durability (1)
- one of the temperature sensors on the cpu were detecting 90 degrees celsius which is very high for ssds and ssd components especially nand flash ▶ A review of the Mushkin Pilot E 1TB @ 3:33
Performance (1)
- starts to drop down pretty good when we do the smaller files which is to be expected now we're below 7 mbes per second so we're going to see about 7 and 1/2 to 8 mbes per second doing the small NES ROMs ▶ Patriot XT USB 3.0 Thumb Drive @ 3:43
Review sources
- GÜNSTIGE SUPER SCHNELLE USB-C SSD (USB 3.2 Gen2x2 / USB 4) by DAVISION — 9 pros, 3 cons
- Unitek External M.2 SSD enclosure with Mushkin 2TB Drive install. by Circuit and Sole — 9 pros, 2 cons
- My New PC Build! by TJP — 6 pros, 3 cons
- NVME M.2 PCIE SSD Hard Drive Install, External Enclosure, PS4, Xbox or PC by EchoEv1 — 9 pros, 0 cons
- Mushkin Source 2, Helix L, Pilot E, and Carbon X-100 First Look by Geekazine — 8 pros, 0 cons
- Patriot XT USB 3.0 Thumb Drive by AdoptedMike — 5 pros, 1 cons
- A review of the Mushkin Pilot E 1TB by PCB — 2 pros, 3 cons
- Mushkin sent in some awesome stuff, lets get a look! by Pocketables.com — 3 pros, 0 cons
- SSD Kaufberatung | Empfehlungen | DEUTSCH by Daniel Waschnig — 1 pros, 0 cons
Frequently asked questions
Is the Mushkin Pilot-E worth buying?
Based on 9 independent YouTube reviews, the Mushkin Pilot-E scores 4.3/5 with 52 positive and 12 negative points mentioned by reviewers, placing it #18 in the SSDs category.
What do reviewers like most about the Mushkin Pilot-E?
The most praised aspects are performance, compatibility, features — Performance (21 mentions), Compatibility (7 mentions), Features (6 mentions).
What are the most common complaints about the Mushkin Pilot-E?
Reviewers most frequently criticize form factor, software — Form Factor (5 mentions), Software (3 mentions).
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