ZikeDrive Usb4 NVMe SSD Enclosure Z666 - Is It The Fastest External SSD Drive Yet?

In today's video, we test an SSD enclosure that claims to be the fastest. I ran across this ZikeDrive while searching for an SSD enclosure for my MAC Studio. It was a new product, so I pre-ordered one to validate its claims. We will walk through the hardware and put it through its paces to see if the results match the MFG claims. Please don't forget to like and subscribe as it helps support the channel.
Link to the MFG Website: ziketech.com/products/zikedri...
The links below are Amazon affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn a small commission when you buy the product without affecting your price.
Cables used in testing and in my setup: OWC amzn.to/49oCPY0
Other cables I tested:
Cable Matters: amzn.to/45XcL3l
Ankers amzn.to/3QotW8b

[@UkesAlive]

Happy with mine. No loose cable issues. I have similar speeds to yours in the video.

[@MikeFaucher]

Great to hear and thanks for the feedback!

Thanks

[@MikeFaucher]

Glad you like it!

[@marcusavanti902]

Great video review. Can I please ask how has this held up over time ? Has it proved as reliable as the Acasis, not random drop outs, ejects, disconnects ?

[@MikeFaucher]

This is permanently attached to my Mac Studio and it is used everyday as a scratch drive when I edit videos. It has never dropped out on me and I have been very pleased with the reliability and performance. Thanks for the feedback and great question.

[@B4s3MXxD]

Nice, I've been really curious about the Zike. Do you have a Thunderbolt 4 dock connected to a 4k display that you can plug this into and benchmark again? When I plug my Acasis into the OWC Thunderbolt 4 dock that has a 4K display attached to it, I believe some of the upstream/write bandwidth is reserved for the 4k display's 14 Gbps bandwidth requirements. The write speeds of the Acasis go down to about 2100-2200 MB/s when it is plugged into the dock with a 4K display attached to it vs when it is directly connected to my M1 Mac getting the speeds you're seeing in the video. I'm curious what the impact would be on faster drives like the Zike.

[@MikeFaucher]

There are some limitations in using the dock, and I did test this configuration with my Sonnettech Echo 20 Docking station and saw about 2400-2600. There are some losses, but it was still faster by a small margin. Thunderbolt/USB 4 has limits on write speeds more than read speeds. Thanks for the feedback.

[@LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLing]

I preorder the same ZikeDrive in July, waited a while but finally received it, and it does feel premium. My cable stays in place. It seems great but it will not work on Windows 11 through thunderbolt. Works fine on Windows 10 and MacOS. Zike has been very helpful but it seems to be a software issue and there isn't much they can do about that. Truly a shame as I wanted to use it as a external boot drive to run Windows 11 on my iMac

[@MikeFaucher]

Interesting, I will look more into that. Thank you very much for the feedback and will try and replicate the issue. I assume you downloaded the laster Intel thunderbolt?

[@LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLing]

@@MikeFaucher I tried the most recent Thunderbolt 4 driver, an older Intel Thunderbolt 3 and 4 driver, and the original Thunderbolt driver from Bootcamp. When I uninstalled all Thunderbolt drivers, the drive would work, but was slow. I assume it was reading the drive as a normal USB device. I've seen other's complaining about similar issues in windows 11 with Thunderbolt devices, which is why I believe it's a software issue and not necessarily the Zike Drive.

[@MikeFaucher]

@@LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLing Thanks for the detail. I will definitely check this out.

[@Wlad1]

@@LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLing Have experienced the same problem as you. Not only applies to ZikeDrive, but all other ASM2464-USB4 enclosures as well. Now, 4 months later - do you perhaps have an idea now how to solve the problem?

[@LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLing]

@@Wlad1 I bought a USB 4 enclosure and it worked with Windows 11 running externally but it was not nearly as fast as Zike Drive, so I ended up scrapping the whole idea and I sold my iMac. The Zike Drive is great as an external storage device for windows 10, and windows 11 if you avoid thunderbolt but it was becoming too frustrating so I gave up on it.

[@richardahlquist5839]

Thanks for the review! Shame it looks like Zike messed up their site.

[@MikeFaucher]

What did you find with their site? It seemed to work for me.

[@carolinarcs]

Got this unit recently. Super fast , But I notice that it stays on When ejected... It is constantly Blinking while online even after backup is complete. Has anyone else found this issue on IMAC M3?

[@MikeFaucher]

I am running this on the M2 as my daily driver and have not seen this on either M1 or M2.

[@michaelelwert4184]

I also bought the Zykedrive with a 2 tb Module from Fikwot. I use it on my new Macbook Pro M3. I am wondering why it is getting so hot, without having any data transfer on my computer.....is this normal?

[@MikeFaucher]

Heat and NVMe alway go together and is normal. The SSDs themselves will hit 70 degrees C under use even with a heatsink like the one the ZikeDrive which is pretty robust. Annoying but not harmful. Great question.

[@michaelelwert7014]

@@MikeFaucher thank you so much. Good to know that this is normal and not a defect on the Zykedrive or the ssd.

[@carolinarcs]

I just posted the same issue but, with that comes constant writing or ? ( blinking ) it also does not stop when ejected.

[@prayers8929]

I'm using a brand new 980 pro 2T ssd drive like you, and same enclosure. But I'm only getting 1277.1 for the write and 1995.5 for the read speeds. What do you think could be the issue? I used the original cable that came with it, but only got 575 write and 780 read speeds. When I changed the cable it got me the first speeds that I mentioned.

[@MikeFaucher]

What computer are you using this on? Is is plugged into to Thunderbolt or USB 3?

[@prayers8929]

@@MikeFaucherI’m using the MacBook Pro with the M1 Max Chip and it has 3 Thunderbolt 4 ports.

[@MikeFaucher]

@@prayers8929 Are you by any chance running a hub?

[@prayers8929]

@@MikeFaucher no, and when I formatted it to ExFat I got 1341.9 (write) and 2341.1 (read) speeds. Then I tried formatting it to APFS and I got 2011.9 (write) and 3123.2 (read) speeds. Still nothing compared to the results you got.

[@MikeFaucher]

@@prayers8929 The only other thing is if something is running on your system that is impacting performance. Software, virtualization, or other things can impact performance.

[@wigman1962]

I am using Samsung 990 Pro + Zikedrive on M1 Ultra. The result is writing 2000mb and reading 3000mb. Its not good enough

[@MikeFaucher]

You have almost the same configuration and I have hear some feedback of the same results. Make sure you are not plugged into a dock and others have said the latest Sonoma update addressed for them. I have not been able to replicate the issue on my end and have been getting great speeds. Keep me posted if you find out anything. Thanks for the feedback.

[@wigman1962]

@@MikeFaucher Thank you a lot for the hint to update my system to the latest Sonoma. The new result is writing 3150 and reading 3100 :) I am happy with that improvement

[@steved693]

Can you recommend a cable

[@MikeFaucher]

The ones have used and know they work are these: OWC (amzn.to/49oCPY0), Cable Matters (amzn.to/45XcL3l), and Ankers (amzn.to/3QotW8b). Currently all my connections and testing is being done with OWC cables and have become my favorite.

[@SimonsTechLab]

Have you tried this with the 990 Pro or the WD equivalent?

[@MikeFaucher]

No, but I doubt it would be much better as we are reaching the limits of the PCIe interconnect, which, if I recall, is around 3000/s. I do not have one otherwise, I would try it. The speed tests were from a 980 pro which should be much faster than this, and were used to see if the enclosure controller would be different. Good point though. Thanks.

[@SimonsTechLab]

@@MikeFaucher Understandable. I have been recommending the ZikeDrive since they started shipping, but need to find the sweet spot for which internal drive to recommend other users. We have 980's, WD SN850X and just got some 990's to do some more testing.

[@MikeFaucher]

@@SimonsTechLab Curious how you 990 will test. Please let me know.

[@SimonsTechLab]

@@MikeFaucherFYI I don't normally use that BlackMagic Disk Speed Test since it isn't very configurable. Anyway, I ran it on an M1 Max just to give you something closer for comparison. 5GB stress screenshot shows Samsung 990 Pro formatted APFS at 4935MB/s Write 5349MB/s Read. I had to double check my internal SSD wasn't selected by accident! Most other tests showed slower speeds, not sure if BM's Disk Speed Test is an outlier.

[@MikeFaucher]

@@SimonsTechLab Truly impressive. I guess I need to try one out. Thanks for the feedback.

[@jinraigami3349]

Which format are you formatting your SSD to?

[@MikeFaucher]

I used ext4 or APFS. THEY SEEM TO BOTH WURK WELL. Are you NAC or windows?

[@jinraigami3349]

@@MikeFaucher I refer to the speed you get in the video. Most of the video I saw with exFat on Mac, ZikeDrive only deliver around 1,600-1,900mbps speed.

[@MikeFaucher]

@@jinraigami3349 There are a lot of reasons for this. The SSD, the cable (needs to be T4 certified), and what MAC you are using. Are connected directly or through the hub. My guess is the drive itself. Can you provide this information I might be able to provide more help.

[@jinraigami3349]

@@MikeFaucher Can you tell me about your setup to make it reach that speed on Mac?

[@MikeFaucher]

@@jinraigami3349 I used a Samsung 980 Prop 2T in the Zike Drive plugged directly into the USB4/Thunderbolt port of my MAC Studio. Pretty basic setup. I did make one mistake in what I said before, and I used APFS volume for my last test. Hope that Helps

[@OneBadAssDJ]

I mean i have the Acasis Pro and the ZikeDrive speeds aren't that much faster.

[@MikeFaucher]

Thanks for the feedback and sharing your results. It is an overall great device and has become my daily driver.

[@soapa4279]

I just got this enclosure and I’m a little disappointed. I’m getting maybe 2950 read and 3000 write. On another drive the JEYI on amazon, I got 3200 read and 3100 writes. Yeah it’s not a huge difference but for the price it’s not what I expected. Also physically it’s just really big.

[@MikeFaucher]

What type of SSD are you running.? Are you running through a dock? I did a full review on it again this past week and it was consistent at 3400 with Samsung 990 Pro.

[@soapa4279]

@@MikeFaucher Samsung 980 Pro 2TB. Directly connected to my M1 Max 14" MBP I did see some other people running the 990 Pro and getting faster speeds, that might be part of it.

[@MikeFaucher]

@@soapa4279 I have a 980 and was getting 3100 and 2940, so it sounds like you are getting what you are supposed to with that drive. Every drive is a bit difference.

[@KrzysztofKotulaFotografiavideo]

I wolud like to buy Jeyi , Can you say something about? Wich one is better for you ?

[@mariotopez]

Mine is not even recognized on my mac

[@MikeFaucher]

What drive did you put in the enclosure? Are you using an M1 or M2 MAC? You may have a bad SSD or enclosure. I tested with 4 different macs and it worked in all of them, Can you provide a bit more detail?

[@mariotopez]

@@MikeFaucher Thank you very much for caring but it was a dumb mistake from my side 😅, i didn't plug the SSD inside the enclosure all the way in.. Works perfectly fine now sorryy😶‍🌫

[@MikeFaucher]

@@mariotopez I'm Glad it worked out. It happens to everyone at one time or another. Good luck, and thanks for letting us know.

[@xdarshan]

You should also check out the HyperDrive Next. It's USB 4 and doesn't have built-in cable nonsense.

[@MikeFaucher]

Thanks for the feedback. I do have one on order and will do a comparison video when I complete testing it.

[@cuzzoni]

Price seems a bit steep for an enclosure - plus the slot to hold the cable seems like a big waste of space, I'd rather the enclosure was smaller - I would love a video comparing some thunderbolt and usb 4 cables - as well as the fastest usb A cables as my desktop pc only has one usb c port

[@MikeFaucher]

Thanks for your feedback and I will consider the cables video. Cables are becoming a major issue in many cases.

[@TR-zx2kj]

Constant disconnecting (2021 MacBook Pro w M1 Pro. WD Black 850X AFPS format). The case keeps disconnecting because of loose socket and short 3" cable. Zike already seemingly acknowledges the problem with their customer support stating in an email to me "We are already preparing to produce long USB 4 high-quality cables certified by USB-IF to give supporters one more choice." They didn't offer to send me their new "high-quality" cable to replace the low-quality malfunctioning cable they shipped. Furthermore, Zike wants me to pay return shipping to China rather their California address, from where it shipped to me. Again, quote: "We can provide a full refund for your 2 orders, but we cannot provide a shipping label for your refund reason, I must clarify on what occasion shipping labels are used, when the product you received has quality defects We can provide shipping labels." What are my chances of actually getting my refunds for the two enclosures processed? With this product and this kind of customer service, it's unlikely that Zike (Satechi) will seriously compete with ACASIS.

[@MikeFaucher]

Good point and thanks for sharing that. I rarely if ever use packed cables but this one was particularly useless. Thanks for the feedback.