Crucial X8 1TB Portable SSD Review

TweakTown's Rating: 90%

The Bottom Line

The X8 puts Crucial in the driver's seat offering one of the best drives for price/performance currently on the market.

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Crucial has long been a leader in SSD technology due to its connection to Micron. That said, for the longest time, the Lexar brand catered to consumers the portable flash solutions that came from the minds of Micron. With the discontinuation of Lexar and subsequent sale, Crucial has risen to take on these tasks offering their first portable SSD, the X8.

Starting from the top, the X8 is a custom form factor that sits somewhere between a 2.5" drive and m.2. We do have aluminum chassis with over-molded endcaps and branding above in a glossy black strip.

Connectivity is offered via USB-C with 10Gb/s support, and capacity options include 500GB and 1TB models, each offering a healthy 1050 MB/s according to marketing performance. Supported systems include; Windows 10, macOS, PS4, and Xbox One.

MSRP of the Crucial X8 in the 1TB capacity reaches $164.99 with a three-year warranty.

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Packaging of the X8 offers compatibility and performance along the bottom with capacity and an image of the drive above.

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The back offers performance in several languages.

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Unboxing, we have the drive and USB-C cable that includes an adapter for Type-A devices.

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As mentioned, the drive features an aluminum chassis with a silicone over-mold on the ends to aid with grip. At the top, we have Crucial branding.

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The end houses the USB-C connection for the drive.

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For testing, I started with CDM, as we always do. This gave us 941 MB/s read and 892 MB/s write. 4KQ1 gave us 40 MB/s read, which is quicker than most internal SATA SSDs.

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Adding in ATTO, we see performance take off around 64K and level out at 256K.

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Price v Performance was quite good for the Crucial X8. The 1TB capacity managed 97.9% just behind the aging T5, and with a $10 US price drop would take the top spot quite easily.

Closing this review, the X8 is a fantastic start for Crucial in the portable SSD market as the drive takes advantage of its full Gen 2 connectivity to offer solid performance. That said, build quality is always first, and the X8 does provide there too. Crucial says the drive is tested to withstand a 7.5-foot drop, and I, also, can confirm the drive works past a 10ft drop.

Performance didn't quite reach that elusive 1050 MB/s, but we did conquer 941 MB/s read and 892 MB/s write; the quickest we have seen to this point on our new test system. Further testing showed solid performance between 64K and 2M file sizes per ATTO and a top-notch price/performance rating of 97%, which could easily be taken to the top as prices drop over time.

As for pricing, the X8 is perfectly planted in the 1TB market. At $164.99 for the 1TB capacity, there aren't too many 10Gb/s to compete.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair VIII Formula X570 (buy from Amazon)
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (buy from Amazon)
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB 2x8GB DDR4 3600 (buy from Amazon)
• Cooler: Corsair Hydro H60 (buy from Amazon)
• Case: Corsair Carbide 275R (buy from Amazon)
• OS Storage: Corsair MP600 1TB (buy from Amazon)
• Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (buy from Amazon)
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 (buy from Amazon)