SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD - Disassembly

Ever wondered what's inside that external SSD? I disassembled my SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD and reassembled it. Spoiler: It still works as well as before.
Correction: Inside is a M.2 SATA SSD, not NVME.

Link to the SSD

[atarifan]

I'd like to point out there is a V1 and V2 of this drive. V1 is what you have in video. V2 shell was slightly redesigned to be even harder to open without damage, probably because people kept shucking the drive and returning them empty, where an average retail store can't tell it's been opened or tampered with. V2 also uses NVME with M key rather than SATA with B key, those drives will not work in most SATA adapters. My V2 reached around 2, 500mb/sec when I shucked them and put in my computer's built in PCIE M.2 slot which is far faster than USB 3.0 or SATA is capable of.

PS please don't rip Sandisk or your retailed by shucking drives and returning empty shells. Otherwise future drives would be released with integrated USB port and not M.2 port and be un-shuckable like Western Digital portable hard drives are.

[samgee]

POV: You leave your SSD at the sleepover (rookie mistake)

[HYXHost]

I just stripped mine after seeing how easy this was to do. Currently installing Windows on a server PC due to this! Thank you for the video, PS: anyone wanting to try this... there are only two strong adhesive pads on the back of the SSD stopping you from removing it. Gently remove those with a PLASTIC pick or some sort of plastic pry tool and you should be fine.

[ScottGrammer]

It may be that 99% alcohol will loosen that adhesive. It looks to be double-sided foam tape, and if so, 99% alcohol is your friend. Soak it well with a couple of cotton swabs full of the stuff, then wait about 10 seconds. Then start peeling! The alcohol will not hurt the drive or other elecronics.

[meolive]

So apparently it's a WD Blue SN560E, which is a bit odd as WD only seem to sell 550's and 570's at retail. The only reference I can find to an SN560 is an upcoming m.2 2230 drive. So although it looks like a "standard" 2280 m.2, it seems like this is a specific m.2 that's designed for external SSD use? Maybe low power draw or something?

[artysanmobile]

All that wrap does a great job of spreading heat. The advantage of a purpose-built solution.

[NIGHTOWL-jfzt]

Thank you so much for this. I always wanted to know but didn't want to chance breaking mine.

[TheAntarcticaProject]

I have an issue where videos from my Sandisk Portable 1TB drive freeze for 5-7 seconds at random intervals. I've tried switching ports, cables, and even formatting the drive, but the issue persists. This never happened with my previous HDD, and my PC has Thunderbolt and 3.2 ports.

[endlessoul]

Exactly what I was looking for! Thanks!

[christysarai-tkpq]

Thanks for the video. I wanted to know if one can replace the M.2 NVSE SSD with a faster one. Will the newer M.2 SSD from some other brand work with this "Enclosure"?

[snich]

try to remove the SSD and use it on a computer as boot drive. Also, try other SSDs with the adapter.

[WrvrUgoThrUR]

Grateful you "destroyed" yours so we could see what was inside🙏I'm actually watching this on a MacBook with an attached 1TB/2000mpbs version of this drive that I boot into a Mojave system from/with. It's running Mojave flawlessly.

[Bertie_Ahern]

I made my own 'extreme' case for an old internal SSD I had. I used an empty milk bottle for the casing, some bits of old rubbery pleather material for the cover, and a 1/16" foam lining to absorb shocks.

[CarolaClavo]

Thank you for this video! I have a 250 GB disk just like this and the connector was failing, like it only connected when plugged and twisted in a certain way. So I wanted to unmount it and see what was going on even though I have no idea of soldering anything! But I didn't know where to start until I found your video. I found out the connector was strongly attached to the board, it had to be a different thing. May the connector be a little loose inside? Well, I used some pliers to make it a bit tighter to hold the connector properly and now it works again! It's stays connected no matter what. Thanks!

[junk]

I think you might be able to remove the adhesive tape with floss. ;) I would love to see the performance inside a desktop b/c USB is limited to roughly 500 MB/s (USB 3.1 gen1) or 1000 MB/s (USB 3.1. gen2).

[TimmyTodd]

Can you remove the M.2 Drive from the Power board or is it sodered on?

[mohammadzakarneh]

I have the same drive but suddenly not working. windows shows ( no media ) and mac not recognizing it.. any idea how to solve this issue?

[fromthesnow]

perfect, I'm sold. it was between this and the Samsung T7 external ssd and I'd much rather have my data backed up on this sandisk m.2 drive than on the proprietary junk inside that samsung casing. thanks for the video!

[RadOo]

I like the idea with off the shell drive and just having some USB controller from NVMe or SATA

[georgebranchaud]

Did you cover the component side with a new piece of electrical tape before placing the internals back in the case? I would have, for safety's sake, just like you replaced that rubber ring.