Macworld - USA (2019-09)

OCTOBER 2019 MACWORLD 35

EXTERNAL STORAGE DEVICE

FLEDGING SHELL

THUNDERBOLT 3:

ROLL YOUR OWN X5

WITH THIS FAST,

PORTABLE NVME

ENCLOSURE

BY JON L. JACOBI

IMAGE: FLEDGING

There’s nothing like generic when it

comes to saving money, be it prescription

medicines or the Shell Thunderbolt 3.

The Shell, a svelte $165 unpopulated (no

drive) enclosure from Fledging offers

about the same performance as

Samsung’s X5 (go.macworld.com/smx5),

but for quite a bit less, depending on

which M.2 NVMe SSD you install in it.

DESIGN AND FEATURES

The Shell Thunderbolt is considerably

smaller than the Samsung X5: 3.75 inches

long, by 1.85 inches wide, by a mere 0.4

inches thick. It’s rendered in solid metal

which is better for shedding heat, a good

thing. At least until you pick the Shell up

after heavy use. It can run startlingly hot

under heavy load.