OWC Envoy Express - The First Bus Powered Thunderbolt NVMe SSD Enclosure

The OWC Envoy Express

Weighing less than 100g, the OWC Envoy Express is an ultra-compact, high-performance storage device perfect for editors to work from anywhere. It’s currently available for pre-order at an early price of $68 and only requires you to add the M.2 NVMe SSD of your choice. OWC claims the Envoy Express is a world first, however, there are other NVMe SSD enclosures that have been on the market for some time. So “world first” seems to be not much more than a marketing catchphrase for anyone that doesn’t know.

Your Choice of SSD and Capacity

The OWC Envoy Express is compatible with any 2280 M.2 NVMe SSD now and in the future. This allows you to easily swap out the SSD for a larger capacity without having to replace the whole drive. Currently, M.2 NVMe SSD’s are available up to 4TB for around $850 and 2TB SSD’s can be found for between $230 – $250. If you only need 500GB, you can find compatible SSD’s for well under $100.

OWC Envoy Express Thunderbolt NVMe SSD enclosure opened showing a OWC SSD inside.

OWC Envoy Express Thunderbolt Certified NVMe SSD Enclosure with OWC SSD. Image credit: OWC

As far as value is concerned, buying an OWC Envoy Express and an SSD of your choice is still only about competing with other external SSD options of similar capacity. You can have an OWC Envoy Express with a 500GB SSD that delivers up to 1553MB/sec for around $150. This is a bit more than a 500GB Samsung T5, or T7, but those are USB 3.2 Gen 2 and support only up to 540MB/sec and 1030MB/sec respectively.

Compact and Screen Mountable

OWC Envoy Express attached to Macbook Pro Screen. Image credit: OWC

While all external SSD drives are compact, the OWC Envoy Express is a bit smaller than most. OWC includes a mounting adhesive that can be used to mount the Envoy Express to the back of a laptop screen. The adhesive can be removed easily without damage to either surface.

Realistically, the OWC Envoy Express is not quite as groundbreaking as they would have you believe, but it is another great high-performance storage option from a reputable brand at a reasonable price. It gives you the flexibility to put whichever SSD inside you want and upgrade the capacity in the future.

Are you using external SSD storage? What do you think of the OWC Envoy Express? Let us know in the comments below.