The Sharge Disk Pro 2 is a portable USB-C SSD enclosure that also works as a small HDMI dock, USB hub and magnetic phone accessory, according to hands-on testing by The Verge’s Sean Hollister. That makes it more ambitious than the usual little metal box for a drive, with the useful caveat that ambition still has to obey power budgets.
Sharge is selling the device through Kickstarter in two versions: Disk Pro 2 Ultra and Disk Pro 2 Lite. The Ultra is the higher-spec model, with HDMI 2.1 output rated for up to 4K at 144Hz. The Lite uses HDMI 2.0 and tops out at 4K at 60Hz, according to the report.
The unit is roughly the size of a deck of cards and includes built-in magnets using the MagSafe layout, so it can attach to an iPhone, some Android phones, or another surface with an included stick-on magnetic ring. It accepts user-supplied M.2 SSDs, including 2280, 2242 and 2230 sizes, with capacity support up to 8TB.
What is the Sharge Disk Pro 2?
The Sharge Disk Pro 2 is an external solid-state drive enclosure with extra ports bolted into the same gadget. It can add HDMI video output, USB-A, SD and microSD readers, and USB-C passthrough charging to a laptop, phone, tablet, handheld gaming PC, Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch or Switch 2.
In Hollister’s testing, one USB-C cable connected a MacBook Pro to a second external display, four storage sources and 80W of USB-C power delivery. Android and USB-C iPhone devices also recognized the installed SSD and displayed through HDMI. On an iPhone, the setup enabled 4K60 ProRes recording to external storage, although that use case exposed the device’s limits.
The enclosure itself uses a 10Gbps USB connection, so it is not chasing the fastest external SSD enclosures now available. With a 1TB Lexar NM710 SSD, Hollister reported average write speeds around 700MB/s during 100GB and 195GB transfers.
Where the power math gets annoying
The Ultra model can run from as little as 1.5W of USB-C bus power, while the Lite needs 5W, according to Sharge. Leo H., a Sharge marketing manager, told The Verge that the Ultra can pass only 3W from a phone or laptop to the installed SSD when running that way.
That was not enough for every workload. Hollister reported that the Disk Pro 2 shut down after starting ProRes recording on an iPhone 15 Pro and during a large transfer on a Galaxy S25 when using the Lexar drive. Adding an external USB-C charger or battery solved the issue in his test, allowing more than five minutes of 4K60 ProRes recording.
Switch support also comes with conditions. The Verge found that the dock worked with both the original Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, but Sharge said Switch 2 currently needs an 85W or higher USB-C PD charger attached while the company continues firmware work. The display also took a long time to appear on a TV, similar to some other third-party docks.
- HDMI output reaches 4K144 on the Ultra model, with 4K120 and HDR also reported.
- Variable refresh rate did not work in the Steam Deck test, even with a VRR-capable TV.
- A daisy-chained USB hub supported a mouse, keyboard, headset, monitor and webcam for several days.
- The monitor occasionally went black for about a minute, roughly once a day, in that setup.
Sharge appears to have fixed several complaints from earlier Disk models. The new version has a detachable cable, built-in magnets, less awkward port placement, a quieter default fan profile, a fan-off option, and a switch that no longer cuts drive power mid-transfer. The drive bay still uses screws, which is less convenient than a tool-free design.
Cooling mattered more for comfort than speed in one test. A 195GB transfer took 4 minutes and 55 seconds with the fan at full power and 5 minutes 5 seconds with the fan off. Without the fan, Hollister said the metal sides became too hot to handle comfortably.
The Disk Pro 2 Ultra is listed at $75 for Kickstarter early backers and $89 at retail. As with any crowdfunding campaign, paying early is not the same thing as buying finished stock, even though The Verge notes Sharge has a solid shipping record across prior projects.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
