Here we review the OWC Gemini – a dual-drive Thunderbolt Hardware RAID Storage and Docking Solution.
The only drive you need to organise your digital life. Features dual drives and seven ports, taking you from notebook to workstation in seconds.
Features
- Flexible storage options with two bays for 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch drives
- Hardware RAID options for RAID 0 or 1, span, and JBOD (Independent)
- 7 Ports of connectivity
- Frontside SD 4.0 (UHS-II) card reader for easy camera uploads
- 2.5GbE for transferring files up to 2.5x faster than standard Ethernet
- Second Thunderbolt port for daisy-chaining, adding a USB-C device, adding another display, or charging Thunderbolt (USB-C) devices
- 2 x USB 3.2 (10Gb/s) ports for your essential peripherals
- HDMI port for connecting up to an 8K display
- Informative: Separate front panel LEDs for instant drive status
- Innergize enabled: a complete health, performance, and field update management tool when using OWC Atlas SD memory cards with Gemini’s SD reader
- Backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt equipped Macs
- Dante compatible: easy Plug and Play – no software needed – into networks designed for bit perfect audio with super low latency and sample accurate synchronization
- Up to 3 Year OWC Limited Warranty with 1 Year Level 1 Data Recovery
What’s in the Box?
The box contains the Gemini, a Thunderbolt cable, some spare screws and a power supply.
A Closer Look
The review unit we had came pre-installed with 2 x 2TB hard drives, but if you wanted to replace them its as simple as removing two screws and sliding the cover off.
Setting up the OWC
You can set up and configure your Gemini very easily. Connect it up to your Mac (or Windows machine) and then follow the various steps. From here you can configure your Gemini and it will be ready to use in less than a couple of minutes.
Once connected, you will see the OWC Gemini icon on your desktop.
You can also download and use SoftRAID from OWC if you wish.
Final Thoughts
The Gemini is a Thunderbolt 3 RAID enclosure, but it so much more than that.
You can buy the Gemini “empty” as an enclosure, or you can buy it with drive in. Our review model came with 2 2TB hard drives. Adding (or removing) drives is very simple and just involves removing 2 small screws and sliding of the casing. The Gemini will take both 2.5 inch and 3.5 inch drives within its 2 3.5inch SATA 6Gbps drive bays.
The Gemini is quite heavy when it’s populated with drives, so once you’ve played it on your desk it wont move around. The casing is a beautiful gun metal affair with the front panel containing all the lights.
Connecting the Gemini to your Mac using the supplied Thunderbolt cable means you also get an array (no pun intended) of additional ports, something that most Macs are severely lacking. These additional ports include 2 USB A 10Gb/s ports, a 2.5Gb Ethernet port, an HDMI port (giving 8K performance) and an extra Thunderbolt 3 port for good measure for daisy chaining other devices, along with a front facing SD card slot. Also on the rear of the Gemini is a RAID mode switch giving you the option of Independent (JBOD), RAID 0, RAID 1 or Span.
The Gemini’s performance was excellent – in RAID 0, it was incredibly fast, and that was with HDDs and not SSDs. We tested the Gemini using both the hardware RAID options and also using OWC’s own SoftRAID. To be honest, the hardware RAID was easier to use (not the the SoftRAID option was hard, it really wasn’t), and we found the performance using both options was excellent.
The Gemini is configured for use with Mac’s, however you can use it with Windows machines, and the OWC website has additional software to download if that’s what you want to do.
The OWC Gemini comes in a variety of different options, below are the current options and prices at the time of writing this review:
The for review model we received, the 4TB Hard Drive Model preconfigured as RAID 0, the cost is $469.99.
Overall we were very impressed with the OWC Gemini, it’s a very easy to use RAID enclosure that offers a number of expansion possibilities for your Mac. Take a really good look at this one, you won’t be disappointed.
