Kingwin EZ-Clone USB 3.0 Adapter Review

In the 20+ years Kingwin has been around, they have provided a multitude of PC accessories, power supplies, and thermal solutions. Today, we’ll be looking at one of their new USB 3.0 hard drive adapters that comes with a special twist. In addition to being a USB 3.0 to IDE/SATA adapter, it can also clone a hard drive without the use of a computer. Sound intriguing? It sure does to me. Let’s find out what this little device can do and whether or not it’ll be a worthy addition to your PC peripherals.

Specifications and Features

Here are the specifications for the Kingwin EZ-Clone as provided by the Kingwin website. The unit supports drive capacities up to 3 TB and cloning IDE to SATA and SATA to SATA. It does not support cloning SATA to IDE. USB 3.0 connectivity is available when using the unit as a HDD to USB adapter.

The features are quite extensive for such a small device, which make it a very unique piece of hardware. Here is the bullet point list of those features, also courtesy Kingwin. Of note here is the simplicity of drive cloning, which is accomplished by simply pressing a button. The unit is also compatible with Windows and Mac systems, and no driver installation is required.

• Model: USI-2535CLU3 (EZ-Clone)
• External USB 3.0 to Dual-SATA & Single-IDE Clone Adapter
• Standalone Disk Duplicator with One-Touch Clone Button (no PC needed)
• Supports 2.5” and 3.5” IDE and SATA Drives (SSD or HDD)
• Compatible with SATA I/II/III (1.5/3.0/6.0 Gbps)
• SATA Drive Hot-Swap Capability
• Supports Hard Drive up to 3TB disk size
• Dual output power supply with standard 4-pin power output and new SATA power output
• Up to 5 Gbps Data Transfer Rate in USB 3.0 port
• Compatible also with USB 2.0 (480Mbps) port
• USB Plug-and-Play Capability
• 2 Drive LEDs and 4 Clone Progress LEDs
• Screw-less and Easy-to-Connect Design
• Windows & Mac OS Compatible (no driver installation needed)
• Includes EZ-Clone 2.5” IDE bridge board adapter, 4-pin IDE power cable, USB 3.0 cable, 12V DC power adapter, and User Manual (SSD/HDD not included)

Packaging/Accessories/First Look

The attractive box front and back give you a good idea of what the Kingwin EZ-Clone is all about and provide a list of basic specifications and features. The box sides are pretty much identical and are reserved for product branding.

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Inside the box, you’ll find a cardboard sleeve that holds the main unit and user manual. Below that are the accessories packed with the kit. The accessories include the following items.

• Kingwin EZ-Clone Main Unit
• AC Power Adapter
• USB 3.0 Cable
• 4-Pin Molex Power cable
• 3.5″ IDE to 2.5″ IDE Adapter Board
• User Manual

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A Closer Look – Cloning

Having a closer look at the main unit, we can see the source and target SATA connectors, along with the IDE source connection on the left. The EZ-Clone also supports connecting 2.5″ IDE drives by using the enclosed adapter board. The blue button in the middle will start the cloning process when pressed. The row of LED lights indicates when drives are connected and the progress of the cloning operation. The two outer lights illuminate red, and the four center lights illuminate blue. On the back, you’ll find the on/off switch, the AC adapter’s power connection, USB cable connector, and the auxiliary power connector for the included 4-pin Molex cable.

The cloning process is a snap to complete and works great. Above, I cloned a 160 GB SATA HDD to a 1 TB SATA HDD, which took about 40 minutes to complete. The extra capacity on the 1 TB drive shows as an unallocated partition, but using Windows disk management allows you to quickly extend the partition and use all the available capacity. Quick and painless cloning at a touch of a button, nice!

Closer Look – HDD to USB 3.0 Adapter

The Kingwin EZ-Clone can also be used as a HDD to USB 3.0 adapter, and two drives can be accessed simultaneously. NOTE: You cannot connect to the IDE Source and SATA1 Source at the same time. Only the IDE drive will be detected if both source drives are attached at the same time. Connect the SATA drive to the SATA2 Target interface to access IDE and SATA drives at the same time. Otherwise, you can hook two SATA drives to the SATA1 Source and SATA2 Target ports to access two SATA drives at the same time.

I hooked up a couple of 3.5″ SATA HDDs to the EZ-Clone and connected the unit to a computer’s USB 3.0 port. Both drives were recognized quickly and showed up in the “Computer” window. Transferring files between the two HDDs connected to the unit worked great, and file transfers to either drive from any other location worked as expected too.

For a quick test, I ran ATTO Disk Benchmark to check performance. The first run of ATTO was on the WD Green drive shown in the picture above. The second run of ATTO was performed on a Samsung 840 Pro SSD. Obviously, the performance numbers were much better using the SSD.

Conclusion

The Kingwin EZ-Clone is a nifty device that works as intended and has a lot of versatility. The cloning feature works terrific and is about as easy as cloning drives can possibly get. The less tech savvy person, who may be intimidated by cloning software, will appreciate this device for sure. While it is true the cloning process takes longer than what can be done with a PC and its accompanying cloning software, the advantages here are that no PC is required and the ease in connecting drives to this unit rather than having to install them in a PC. It’s as simple as connecting two drives, hitting the blue button, and go!

When used as a SSD/HDD to USB 3.0 adapter, the ease of use remains intact. No drivers are required; and in our case, the connected HDDs were immediately recognized and available for use. Again, simple and straightforward.

As far as pricing goes, the unit is available at various eTailers for around $39.95. Considering everything the EZ-Clone can do, I think that’s a heck of a bargain. A device like this can be a valuable tool in anyone’s PC arsenal, especially when HDD swaps are required or additional storage drives are needed. Ease of use, price point, and great versatility all add up to to the Kingwin Ez-Clone being Overclockers approved!

Click the stamp for an explanation of what this means.

–Dino DeCesari (Lvcoyote)