Promise Pegasus2 R2+ Review - Review 2022

The Promise Pegasus2 R2+ ($749 for 6TB) is a versatile desktop-class external difficult drive for both Macs and PCs, with a built-in two-bay RAID array. Information technology combines the speed of two drives to requite you added throughput and 6TB of storage. The "plus" in its name refers to the third drive bay, which comes with a media card reader installed, but that can be swapped out for optional accessories, like a solid-state drive (SSD) Reader pod. The Pegasus2 R2+ ( at Amazon) is non quite as blazing fast as our Editors' Pick for high-end, desktop-grade external drives, the LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 , but it is still worth serious consideration for local backups via Apple tree's Time Machine and for apply when quickly transferring large files from one computer to another.

Design and Features
The Pegasus2 R2+ is built into a blackness, metal box measuring nearly 5.3 past 7.three past 9.8 inches (HWD). At 13.5 pounds, information technology'south somewhat heavy. The RAID array's 2 bulldoze sleds (Promise calls them pods) are readily attainable from the front console, without the locks seen on other RAID arrays like the 8TB CalDigit T4 RAID ( at Amazon) . (While locks assist secure drive sleds from prying fingers, they can likewise slow downward drive replacement.) It's easy to remove either bulldoze sled in seconds. They're hot-swappable in RAID i style, but I wouldn't recommend removing them when they're in the default RAID 0 mode, as that could atomic number 82 to data loss.

A removable CF/SD card reader pod occupies the Pegasus2 R2+'s auxiliary drive bay, which is located above the other 2 bays. You can remove the card reader and use it externally with an included USB 3.0 cable. You tin can also replace it in the third bay with an SSD Reader pod ($49), a 1TB HDD pod ($169), or a CFast ii.0 Reader pod (no pricing announced equally of this writing). This gives you some flexibility while using the RAID assortment for your Time Machine backups or for keeping big file libraries always bachelor.

Swing the drive around, and you find two Thunderbolt 2 ports, one USB 3.0 port, and the jack for the Power cablevision. The power supply is internal, and so you won't have to find a spot for an external power brick, like on the CalDigit T4 RAID and the 12TB LaCie 2big Thunderbolt 2 ( at Amazon) . The Thunderbolt 2 ports tin exist used simultaneously, to daisy-chain the drive to a Thunderbolt display or another Thunderbolt-equipped hard drive. The USB iii.0 port has to exist used solitary, however, so you can't connect the USB port and the Thunderbolt port at the same fourth dimension.

Promise Pegasus2 R2+ (6TB) 1

Two 3TB hard drives in a RAID 0 array yield a 6TB capacity, which is halved if you lot reformat the array to RAID 1. The 6TB capacity is solid, suitable for video scratch files or millions of photos. It's certainly spacious enough for months' worth of backups, and the array is as well useful for belongings large media libraries or for utilize as a work drive on your projects. The Pegasus2 R2+ is formatted for HFS+ out of the box, which is native for Macs running OS X 10.8 or later. You can reformat the drive for Windows PC use, but you need to download and install the necessary driver from Hope's website.

The Pegasus2 utility is also available for Macs and Windows PCs on its website. I was able to monitor the array's status, reformat drives, and bank check bulldoze temperatures in the utility when the Pegasus2 R2+ was connected to an Apple iMac 21.five-inch with 4K Retina display( at Amazon) via Thunderbolt 2, but not when it was connected via USB 3.0, every bit the latter doesn't support the auxiliary bulldoze bay. The drive comes with a 2-year warranty.

Performance and Toll
The Pegasus2 R2+ was a fast performer in our tests using the Thunderbolt 2 interface. Information technology scored quite well on the Blackmagic Disk examination, which measures throughput speeds, at 374MBps read and 332MBps write. Information technology lagged a bit behind the Caldigit T4 RAID, which scored more 500MBps on the same test in each direction. The Pegasus2 R2+ performed similarly to the LaCie 2big Thunderbolt 2 (404MBps read; 358MBps write), and it outscored the 6TB LaCie d2 Thunderbolt two ($679.90 at Amazon) (208.7MBps read; 210.6MBps write). That said, the LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2, our Editors' Choice for loftier-cease, desktop-course external drives, is the champ, with one,135MBps read and 1,099.1MBps write speeds, thanks to its internal SSDs, though y'all will accept to pay only under $ane,300 for that performance.

The Pegasus2 R2+ has a $749 list cost, which translates into about $0.12 per gigabyte. Single-mechanism drives like the 6TB LaCie d2 Thunderbolt 2 are a much better value at about $0.08 per gigabyte, and the college 12TB capacity of the LaCie 2big Thunderbolt 2 also comes to $0.08 per gigabyte. The CalDigit T4 RAID is more flexible with 4 drives, but it is more expensive, at nigh $0.20 per gigabyte. The LaCie Fiddling Big Deejay Thunderbolt 2 is priced dearly at $1.29 per gigabyte, only its SSDs give you lot blazing functioning that justifies the toll, specially if y'all deal with a lot of mission-critical information.

Unfortunately, the Pegasus2 R2+'s performance on our tests over USB iii.0 is more consistent with slower USB 2.0 drives. It scored 41MBps read and 38MBps write on the Blackmagic test. Also, as I mentioned earlier, the Pegasus2 utility couldn't monitor the drive'southward condition when connected via USB. Consider using the Pegasus2 R2+ over USB 3.0 just when you have to transfer data to a system that lacks a Thunderbolt port, like most Windows laptops or the Apple tree MacBook .

Conclusion
The Hope Pegasus2 R2+ is a speedy RAID drive that offers some flexibility, thanks to its extra drive bay and USB 3.0 connectivity. If y'all need a big-capacity backup drive, then it'due south a capable, versatile option that delivers enough of utility in its pattern and features. Even so, the LaCie Piddling Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 remains our Editors' Choice for high-end, desktop-form external hard drives, thanks to its blazing speed that fully utilizes the Thunderbolt 2 interface.