AVACON M.2 NVMe Enclosure, Tool-Free 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 M.2 Enclosure for NVMe PCIe M-KEY M+BKey SSD in 2230/2242/2260/2280, with USB A to C and USB C to C Cable

Product is as described and enabled me to upgrade system hard drive with ease. Very straight forward to use, overall pleased with this item.

M.2 drive fitted in great, after fitting easily secured with a little plastic clip that slides over the end to keep the drive in place. Unfortunately, this little plastic clip, small, yet extremely important, workes itself loose a couple of times and then finally fell off and has been lost, which means the drive keeps coming out of the case now. I've had to secure it with electrical tape, which looks cool but isn't great 2 weeks after youve bought it. I don't want to have to send it back over the fiddly little bit of plastic (the only option) as I need to use the drive.

The media could not be loaded.  Something like this M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure from Avacon really highlights to me how far technology has come in recent years. It wasn’t long ago where my laptop case for weighed down by the laptop’s power brick, the laptop itself and a massive external hard drive (alongside it’s own massive power brick!) and to think we’ve now got super powerful M.2 SSD’s that have both considerable storage space and a very convenient form factor is just mind blowing to me.There’s a lot to like with this enclosure – it doesn’t look bad, has a neat and sleek little case and doesn’t require an external power supple. Once you’ve got the SSD inserted, it’s truly plug and play.It’s got a tool free installation of the SSD, which unfortunately highlights a couple of annoyances with the design. The enclosure can be easily (almost too easily!) opened by simply sliding the back of the frame. Once open, you mount your SSD and insert a rubber “screw” to hold in place. Both the slide back and rubber screw does not make this enclosure well suited for traveling, as chances are something will come loose during long journeys, which is a massive shame as the form factor’s begging to be made use of via travel benefits.The good news is that it is compatible with a variety of M.2 sizes, doesn’t appear to have any heat issues despite only a small grill for airflow and works well via usb-a and usb-c. It would have been great to see some form of “lock” catch in the case to stop the back latch from accidentally being opened while in travel but if you’re planning to just make use of an existing M.2 SSD for some external storage, then this might not an issue for you.

AVACON Enclosure for M.2 NVMe PCIe and SATA SSDThe AVACON enclosure comes in a small colour printed box. Inside is the enclosure, two USB cables one is USB-A to USB-C the other is USB-C to USB-C and a small instruction booklet.The casing of the AVACON enclosure is in three main parts, the outer case which is extruded aluminium, the memory module mount and the end piece and closure for the case.I chose to use a 512GB NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 Internal SSD module to mount in the case. Installing it is simple, the end piece of the case slides off to one side releasing the module mount, allowing it to slide out of the aluminium casing. There is a small plastic rivet that holds down the SSD module, after inserting the module the rivet is pushed into a hole that aligns with the cut-out in the end of the SSD module. Although apparently quite flimsy, this seems to do the job quite well.I have been using this setup for just over two weeks and it has performed faultlessly. I use it for several purposes, for transferring files between computers, for storing downloaded files and as a place to put files to be 3D printed or laser cut. It is connected to a USB3 hub and file transfers are very fast between it and other drives that are USB3 connected.I wasn’t keen on the case being held together by just the slide in end cap but it hasn’t given me any problems yet but it could come off being jostled inside a laptop case. However, I do think it may be a bit overpriced in comparison to some of the competition, a price closer to twenty quid might be more reasonable.

UPDATE: After having this a few weeks I have discovered that the enclosure can be temperamental. If used with the supplied cable it works fine but when plugged into any old USB-C cable connected to my PC it sometimes fails to be recognised. The M.2 drive works fine used in this way in a Fideco enclosure. I have removed an extra star for this behavior and changed the headline and recommendation in the final sentence.================================Rather than carrying around a large, power hungry, delicate hard drive I decided to use an M.2 SSD. I ordered the Avacon enclosure to take the drive. I have another enclosure so have been able to compare the two. The Avacon drive is very compact measuring 94mm x 41mm x 10mm, making it shorter and thinner, although a little wider, than my other one. The enclosure can be dismantled, the SSD fitted and reassembled without the use of tools.I have been very happy with the process of fitting the SSD and the way the enclosure functions. There are trade-offs using a tool less design. Normally, once an SSD has been fitted it is secured with a screw connector. In the Avacon drive this is replaced with a fairly flimsy push-in plug. The plastic plug does the job but I imagine it could be a problem if SSD drives are changed regularly. The way the enclosure is opened is by sliding the plastic end in the direction indicated by an arrow. The instructions fail to warn that the orientation of this end should be noted as if you attempt to slide it back on again the wrong way round it may seem to fit alright but it has not and it will fall off. If it is put back on the same way it was dismantled the end is secure and does not slip off.I have only one criticism about the enclosure which is that it is not supplied with a thermal pad. I had a spare thermal pad which I fitted on top of my SSD prior to putting in the enclosure. This conducts heat away from the SSD to the surrounding metal case and also reduces any tendency for the SSD to move inside the enclosure. This enclosure might interest you because it is toolesss and because of its compact size.