SK hynix and HLDS revive the optical-era Super Multi brand for mainstream flash products – new PS5 Slim cooler and higher-capacity external SSDs also shown

SK hynix
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

At its suite here at Computex, SK hynix showed off a  Haechi H02 SSD cooler for the PS5 Slim, a 2TB model of the Beetle X31 portable SSD (to be available both in silver and gold finishes now), and a limited edition of the Tube T31 stick drive, one of the best flash drives, with art that depicts characters from the game “Lies of P.”

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

It also seems that SK hynix and Hitach-LG Data Storage (HLDS) are deepening their partnership. The two companies collaborated on the development of the Tube T31 and its PS5 coolers, and HLDS has developed its own branded flash.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

The companies plan to use the flash in mainstream storage products, like SATA and M.2 SSDs and external storage drives. Some of these products will be branded Super Multi, a name from the heyday of LG optical drive days.

Some of these example drives are labeled solely with Super Multi logos, while others feature SK hynix and Super Multi branding. So it seems, unlike Plextor, at least one optical drive brand is still alive and kicking, with the help of one of the biggest names in DRAM and solid-state storage.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Packaging for the upcoming PCIe 5.0 SK Hynix Platinum P51 M.2 drive was also shown, promising read speeds of up to 13,500 MBps and writes of up to 11,500 MBps. The drive is set for launch in Q4 of this year, but the company was just showing off the box.

Matt Safford

After a rough start with the Mattel Aquarius as a child, Matt built his first PC in the late 1990s and ventured into mild PC modding in the early 2000s. He’s spent the last 15 years covering emerging technology for Smithsonian, Popular Science, and Consumer Reports, while testing components and PCs for Computer Shopper, PCMag and Digital Trends.

  • t3t4
    This makes no sense!
    SSD's have nothing to do with optical anything.... It's like you're holding a bannana up to the world but then start talking about bowling balls!? Oh, and I just bought another optical LG multi drive last week, the optical "era" is far from dead!
    Reply