Crucial X8 Portable CT500X8SSD9 500 GB

Crucial walks with trump cards

Being a fairly serious player in the memory market (especially operational), Crucial for a long time did not dare to release some really interesting SSD, limiting itself mainly to simple SATA SSDs with a high-speed ceiling of 550 MB / s and slightly faster, but still simple NVMe SSD. All the more surprising for everyone was the announcement of the external solid state Crucial X8, which is built on the basis of the well-proven Silicon Motion 2263 controller, uses 3D TLC NAND memory, and is capable of providing speeds up to 1050 MB / s.

Speed 915 MB / s with linear recording

In real tests and synthetic measurements with CrystalDiskMark, we got plus or minus what we were promised: 915 MB / s for linear writing and 930 MB / s for linear reading. True, it is important to understand here that for such a speed you will need a full-fledged USB-C 3.2 gen2x2 connection that works both ways. If the motherboard in a computer or laptop lacks such a port and only supports the older USB-C 3.2 gen2, or even USB-C 3.2 gen1, then the Crucial X8 will simply have nowhere to overclock. And instead of record-breaking speeds for this class, you will get the standard 450 – 500 MB / s round trip at an inflated price.

Stylish design, rugged chassis and maximum compatibility

I was pleased with the compatibility: without installing any drivers, the disk was quickly picked up by Windows laptops, Macs, and a test Chromebook. Despite the lack of certification, the network also writes that it can work with consoles: PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Although, given its considerable price, this is not an idea, you can get by with a regular hard drive. But for the upcoming PS5 and Xbox Series X, which will constantly lack memory, the Crucial X8 can become a faithful partner. Crucial X8 also liked its appearance: an oblong black body with matte and glossy inserts resembles either a very stylish pencil case or a case for glasses. In terms of dimensions, it is slightly larger than other external SSDs, but this is justified by a strong case that is not particularly afraid of shocks (anodized aluminium base) and falls from a small height.