Cavalry Storage Pelican 64GB External SSD Review

Packaging and Accessories / First Impressions

The Pelican SSD comes in a very low tech clamshell plastic holder and while not in the same class as the OCZ’s, G.Skill’s or Patriot’s line of SSDs this packaging scheme does afford a very good view of the drive and offers some protection. Unfortuantely, the protection is limited to mainly anti-scratch measures but as SSD are extremely shock proof it is more than adequate for the task at hand as long as you work within its limitations.

On the positive side, all the necessary specifications are listed on the back, and this clamshell was NOT heat sealed together.


Since the Pelican is an external storage solution it comes with the necessary mini-USB cable; albeit only an 8 inch one. In our particular case, the cable which accompanied this unit was defective, which can happen to any company and we won’t be holding it against Cavalry. It was quickly replaced by a known good one…which as a bonus was also longer than the included cable.


On first glance, this device really does look like many other SSDs out there. Heck, if you removed the labels off this drive and literally and other one that we have reviewed, there would be no easy way to tell them apart if you just looked at the top or bottom of the case.

In an effort to make the case different and without adding extra cost to the manufacturing process the top panel of the Pelican is slightly raised and then the regular looking label (with all the pertinent information on it) is applied to this raised area. It’s a subtle distinction and one that we really had to look hard to find. Honestly, calling this a generic black 2.5” SSD case would be a fair assessment and quite accurate as well.


While the Pelican looks awfully similar to darn near most SSDs out there, if you look at the connector end of the drive, the mini-USB port sticks out like a sore thumb. This little connector is the “Secret Sauce” which transforms this drab and plain looking SSD into an interesting external device.

We really wish Cavalry had gone with an eSATA connector or had port coverings for the relatively fragile SATA data and power connectors as they will be the first to be damaged in day to day external usage.


Don’t get us wrong, we like the idea of being able to plug this drive directly into a system and transfer files at SATA speeds but we think an external eSATA connector would have made a heck of a lot more sense. To our way of thinking (and we freely admit we are PC enthusiasts and thus biased) more people are likely to plug an external storage device in via USB or eSATA than take the time to yank the case door, find a free SATA and power cable and plug it in and then reboot the system. While the Pelican’s iteration feels a lot like a hack or mod rather than a truly ground up redesign, it doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. After all, as the old saying goes ‘if its stupid, but it works….it AIN’T stupid."

All in all, we do have a few nit picks about the exterior design choices Cavalry Storage made, but nothing really stands out as seriously sub optimal. We are even more intrigued with this drive than we were when we first heard of it albeit it’s more a cautious or reserved interest than before. We probably wouldn’t want to use it in a laptop as that would not be playing to its obvious strengths and would in fact be a waste, but we think this little guy may have some serious road warrior storage potential. Let’s take apart this drive and see what makes it tick!