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Plug the Crucial X8 Portable SSD into your PS4 or Xbox One and expand your gaming world. With up to 2TB of storage, you’ll spend less time deleting files and more time in the game.
Latest firmware may be required for operation. For more information, see https://crucial.com/support/x8 Despite TRIM not being explicitly mentioned in the CrystalDiskInfo report, we were able to activate it on the X8. Otherwise, the reported S.M.A.R.T attributes are similar to the ones obtained for the other external SSDs in the same class. Testbed Setup and Testing Methodology Crucial goes about building the X8 in a familiar way by connecting to a computer via USB-C. A supplied 25cm cable is suitable for newer systems, while for everyone else, we commend Crucial for also including a USB-C-to-A adapter. Write speed and temperature are two important and inter-related metrics for external devices. Official write specifications are only part of the performance picture. Most SSDs implement a write cache, a fast area of (usually) pseudo-SLC programmed flash that absorbs incoming data. Sustained write speeds can suffer tremendously once the workload spills outside of the cache and into the "native" TLC or QLC flash. We use iometer to hammer the SSD with sequential writes for 15 minutes to measure both the size of the write cache and performance after the cache is saturated. We also monitor cache recovery via multiple idle rounds.Unleash your creative energy in the field with the Crucial X8 portable SSD and Apple’s iPad Pro. Add up to 2TB of capacity to your tablet instantly. Curate, edit, and export multi-stream video without your computer or an internet connection. Seamlessly works with popular video-editing software like LumaFusion. Acting as a proxy in understanding speed when moving or installing games, there is little difference between the best and worst here. Inside, Crucial uses 64-layer QLC NAND allied to a four-channel Silicon Motion SM2263 controller bridging over to USB. X8 opts to include the version using DDR4 memory – there is another relying on the Host Memory Buffer (HMB) interface for buffering duties – but do appreciate sequential speed is capped at 10Gbps, even though the controller and NAND can run faster in a PCIe-attached M.2 NVMe environment. From the graph above, you can see that most of the tested SSDs performed similarly (except for the HyperX Savage EXO, which shows its SATA roots here), but the X8's scores were a touch higher than most of its rivals. Only the SanDisk Extreme Pro came close. PCMag Drag-and-Drop Test
We haven’t seen an SSD of any type drop to that low of a write rate in several years, basically since the dawn of TLC. Note, too, that this was the 1TB capacity drive. The 500GB model will likely drop out of cache at the 90GB mark. Housed within the casing is essentially a Crucial P1 SSD with modified firmware. The P1 is Crucial’s entry-level NVMe SSD that is powered by a Silicon Motion SM2263EN controller and features Micron’s 1TB 64L QLC NAND. Because QLC NAND has slow direct to flash speeds, Micron programmed in a dynamic pseudo-SLC write cache to speed up write performance. And, since the X8 is a portable device, the firmware on the internal SSD needed to be modified to suit the tasks, so, Crucial made the write cache a bit larger. Available in 500GB and 1TB size capacities, the Crucial X8 isn't quite as stylish as Samsung's T7 Touch, but its rounded edges, plain design and anodized aluminium body still makes it feel like a premium bit of kit that won't get dented or chipped when you're out and about. Indeed, Crucial claim you can drop the X8 from a height of 2m (albeit onto a carpeted floor) without causing any damage to your files and data - although quite how well it will fare on a concrete or wooden floor isn't stated. The Crucial X8 also edged ahead of the T7 Touch in AS SSD's traditional 1GB 4K random speed test, too. It couldn't quite match the peerless speeds of the T5, admittedly - if only because, much like the T7 Touch, switching to USB-C made absolutely no difference to the overall speed of the drive in this instance - but it still came pretty damn close, managing a random write speed of 37.7MB/s and a random read speed of 23.8MB/s. The latter is pretty much equal with the T5's 23.2MB/s result, but the T5's random write speed of 40.7MB/s still remains the fastest result I've seen so far for an external SSD.
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iPadOS 13 required for the Crucial X8 to work with iPad Pro devices with USB-C port. For more information, see https://crucial.com/support/x8 From a performance viewpoint, the X6 and X8 fall under different categories that are referred to here on as SATA-class and NVMe-class. Under the SATA-class devices, the Crucial Portable SSD X6 is pitted against the following external SSDs that were reviewed earlier: The Crucial X8 flew past the Samsung T7 Touch when I moved over to USB-C as well, completing the ISO test in an even nippier 562MB/s (1.91 seconds), the Program test in 297MB/s (4.73 seconds), and the Game test in 420MB/s (3.29 seconds). Compare that to the T7 Touch's results of 501MB/s (2.14 seconds) for the ISO, 128MB/s (10.96 seconds) for the Program and 325MB/s (4.25 seconds) for the Game test and the Crucial X8 has it beaten hands down.
To test this, I used AS SSD's copy benchmark, which involves transferring three different file types from my OS drive to the X8 – an ISO folder consisting of two large files, a programs folder with lots of little files, and finally a game folder that’s made up of both big and small files. The price of flash-based storage devices tend to fluctuate quite a bit over time. However, the relative difference between different models usually doesn't change. The table below summarizes the product links and pricing for the various units discussed in the review. SATA-Class External Flash Storage Devices - Pricing Form meets function with the Crucial X8. Built with a unibody core of anodized aluminum, the case not only looks and feels great, but dissipates heat efficiently to maximize performance.Crucial's X8 hangs in there with the best during our sequential tests. It delivers very responsive performance under random workloads, too. With the X8's random 4K QD (queue depth) 1 read speeds being at least one-third faster than the competition, it's no wonder the X8 performs so well when we hit it with the easier workloads. It's a responsive SSD with strong low-queue depth random read and write performance, which is important because this workload models normal light usage. Sustained Write Performance, Cache Recovery, and Temperature MB/s speed measured as maximum sequential performance of device as measured by Crucial on a high performance desktop computer with Crystal Disk Mark (version 6.0.2 for x64). Your performance may vary. Comparative speed claims measured as maximum sequential performance of similarly situated portable SSDs, mainstream portable HDDs and mainstream USB flash drives from vertically-integrated manufacturers selling under their own brands as of June 2019. A similar drive with a Thunderbolt 3 interface might outperform the X8, but as far as USB-connected devices go, this is about as fast a drive as you're going to see at this price point. We ran a series of benchmark tests on both Macs and PCs and were more than pleased with the results. (On the PC side, we used our standard Intel X299-based storage testbed, with a motherboard-hosted USB 3.1 Gen 2 USB-C port. On the Mac side, we used a 2016 MacBook Pro and used the provided USB-C cable with one of the laptop's Thunderbolt 3 ports.) The X8 consistently scored at or near the top of the heap when compared to other SSDs we tested. This thing is fast, definitely performing at or near its advertised speeds.
Looking closer, there are no activity lights to break up the unibody construction. To the drive’s design credit, the external casing – ending in grippy, rubberised sections that ought to avoid easy marking – does a great job at keeping everything cool; internal temperature rose to merely 48°C after 10 minutes of sequential writing, while the casing ran only five degrees warmer than ambient room level. On the NVMe-class drives front, CrystalDiskInfo provides the following information. NVMe-Class External Drives Information
QLC helps make this a fast, affordable external.
The X6 supports both UASP and TRIM - the two main things to look out for when dealing with SATA SSDs behind a USB bridge. The X6 seems to have a power consumption profile similar to other drives in the set. The 1W+ idling number is a bit too high for our liking when attempting to use the drive with battery-powered devices, but the competition is not much better in any case. Let’s start with some technical data and product features while later, we will show more interesting test results. Both the HP P600 and the ADATA SC680 show signs of a SLC cache. On the other hand, the X6 starts off at around 200 MBps and goes down to around 35 MBps after 240GB of continuous writes. At 195 MBps, the drive already starts off with low expectations, and there is not much to write home about. Compatible Android devices must be able to work with USB Mass Storage over OTG. Operating system updates and reformatting may be required. For more information, see https://crucial.com/support/x8.
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