Crucial Portable SSD X6 and X8 2TB Review: QLC for Storage On-the-Go
by Ganesh T S on October 21, 2020 8:00 AM ESTDevice Features and Characteristics
A comparison of the physical characteristics and the internals is helpful to have prior to looking at the performance profile of the devices.
| SATA-Class Direct-Attached Storage Characteristics | ||
| Aspect | ||
| Upstream Port | USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C | USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C |
| Bridge / Controller | ASMedia ASM235CM + Silicon Motion SM2259XT | JMicron JMS580 + Silicon Motion SM2259XT |
| Flash | Micron 96L 3D QLC | Micron 64L 3D TLC |
| Power | Bus Powered | Bus Powered |
| Physical Dimensions | 68.83 mm x 64 mm x 10.92 mm | 86.7 mm x 61 mm x 10 mm |
| IP Rating | N/A | N/A |
| Weight | 42 grams (without cable) | 35 grams (without cable) |
| Cable | 23 cm USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C to Type-C Type-C to Type-A adaptor sold separately |
20 cm USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C to Type-C 20 cm USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C to Type-A |
| S.M.A.R.T Passthrough | Yes | Yes |
| UASP Support | Yes | Yes |
| TRIM Passthrough | Yes | Yes |
| Encryption Support | N/A | Software (ADATA HDDtoGO) |
The Crucial Portable SSD X6 2TB uses the BX500 SATA SSD platform and adds an ASMedia bridge for the Type-C interface. The other two drives being compared against it use the JMicro JMS580 bridge and a Silicon Motion SM2259XT (DRAM-less) SSD controller for the SATA side of things. All three use Micron flash - the X6 uses 96L 3D QLC, while the other two adopt 64L 3D TLC flash.
The NVMe-class drives all adopt the strategy of placing a M.2 2280 SSD behind the USB 3.2 Gen 2 bridge.
| NVMe-Class Direct-Attached Storage Characteristics | ||
| Aspect | ||
| Upstream Port | USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C | USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C |
| Bridge / Controller | ASMedia ASM2362 + Silicon Motion SM2263 | ASMedia ASM2362 + Silicon Motion SM2263 |
| Flash | Micron 96L 3D QLC | Micron 64L 3D QLC |
| Power | Bus Powered | Bus Powered |
| Physical Dimensions | 110 mm x 53 mm x 11.5 mm | 110 mm x 53 mm x 11 mm |
| IP Rating | N/A | N/A |
| Weight | 101 grams (without cable) | 101 grams (without cable) |
| Cable | 23 cm USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C to Type-C Type-C to Type-A adaptor bundled |
25 cm USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C to Type-C Type-C to Type-A Adaptor |
| S.M.A.R.T Passthrough | Yes | Limited |
| UASP Support | Yes | Yes |
| TRIM Passthrough | Yes | Yes |
| Encryption Support | Software (Windows BitLocker to Go / Apple FileVault) | Software (Windows BitLocker to Go / Apple FileVault) |
The Crucial Portable SSD X8 2TB version carries forward the same internal bridge chip as the 1TB version from last year. The main change is the move from 64L 3D QLC to 96L 3D QLC in the 2TB version. Externally, the drives appear the same. Crucial doesn't provide any hardware encryption support for the drive, a feature available in competing SSDs from the Western Digital stable.
We opted against tearing down the X6 and X8 because it involved more than the usual teardown efforts. The internals (silicon and thermal design) have already been photographed and published on other review sites (X6 teardown, X8 teardown).
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