Crucial X9 Pro review

Finest Costs At the moment: Essential X9 Professional

$79.99

$113.82

It has been 4 years since Essential launched one of the vital in style transportable drives, the X8. It was adopted a 12 months later by the cheaper X6, and between them, they’ve set a normal for strong transportable drives that different manufacturers have struggled to match.

Weaknesses of those merchandise had been the shortage of {hardware} encryption and solely a three-year guarantee.

These points have been addressed within the new X9 Professional and X10 Professional, which introduce modern styling and enhanced performance to the X Sequence lineup. This evaluation covers the X9 Professional, and I’ll cowl the X10 Professional very quickly.

Whereas there have been practical and beauty adjustments to those drives, not every little thing has modified. The utmost learn efficiency of the X9 Professional is dictated by USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10gbit/s), just like the Essential X8 and near the bigger capacities of the Essential X6.

Subsequently, a legitimate conclusion is perhaps that the X9 Professional will substitute each earlier X Sequence drives and supply a brand new entry-level possibility beneath the X10 Professional.

Sitting alongside the present merchandise, it supplies new and enhanced options which may justify a premium worth. However the pricing equation of this product is already skewed by the dramatic drop within the NAND Flash modules used for this storage.

When the X8 first arrived in October 2019, the 1TB mannequin value $164.95/£149.99. And 4 years later, that a lot cupboard space prices solely $89.99/£82.79 on the X9 Professional, or virtually half as a lot.

Not a lot else in PC expertise has gone down this a lot, however is it the one motive for purchasing this new tackle a traditional transportable SSD?

Design & Construct

• Compact
• IP55
• No USB adapter

The brand new X9 Professional strikes away from the black aluminium lozenge idea of the X8 and embraces a extra nuanced type that resembles a stable block of silver steel that’s had the perimeters rounded off by a milling machine.

In a single nook is a gap that appears prefer it permits the drive to be placed on a lanyard, though none is supplied for that goal. Besides as soon as I powered up the X9 Professional, I realised the outlet was the place the exercise LED resides.

Unsure this was an important plan as a result of the LED is on the angled a part of this gap, and the instructions it’s clearly seen are very restricted. These in a brightly lit room may by no means discover it’s on or off. I did word that it’s a little simpler to see on the black X10 Professional than on the silver X9 Professional.

The underside of the drive has a tender rubberised coating that stops the SSD from sliding round on the desk or damaging the floor. The supplied USB-C cable is 23cm lengthy, a bit longer than those that got here with the X6 and X8.

What’s lacking that was on the X8 is a USB-C to USB-A adapter. That’s an adjunct that was faraway from the X6, and isn’t included with both the X9 Professional or X10 Professional. Given the meagre value to Essential within the quantity of an adapter, that it didn’t embrace one free of charge is regrettable.

Alongside the drive, in both 1-, 2- or 4TB capability, a brief USB-C cable and a few guarantee and repair documentation in 20 languages. This paperwork doesn’t cowl any operational or use elements of the product, assuming that this gadget is successfully a plug-and-play gadget that doesn’t want detailed directions.

The place the X8 felt substantial and in a position to stand up to being crushed, Essential made few claims about exactly what the enclosure might deal with. Fortunately the X9 Professional is now formally IP55 rated for water and dirt ingress safety and a particular drop top. That score and the prolonged guarantee interval supplied with it helps the assertion that the X9 Professional is extra sturdy than its predecessors.

Aside from the penny-pinching by Essential, the large takeaway from the X9 Professional is how mild it’s. At simply 39g, it’s a lot lighter than the 148g X8 and nearer to the 42g X6.

Essential makes a lot of the resilience of the drive in its product info, highlighting its score to outlive a fall from 2M (6.5ft).

You may marvel what onerous and doubtlessly damaging floor does it fall in these checks? The small print reveals that it’s a carpeted ground and never concrete. Frankly, if one thing made from steel with no transferring elements weighing 39g couldn’t deal with falling two meters onto carpet, it in all probability wouldn’t be a recommendable buy. It’s one thing each the X8 and X6 would have undoubtedly survived.

However, I did discover that the packaging contained in the field is much less protecting of the X9 Professional than the X6 field, and due to this fact Essential may suppose that it might take extra abuse on its journey to the client.

For these unfamiliar with the IP score scheme, IP55-certified gadgets usually are not waterproof in the identical manner as you may count on from an costly cell phone. It gives some resistance to water, making it in a position to deal with a rain bathe or very temporary submersion, nevertheless it can’t be reliably taken underwater for any interval longer than a number of seconds.

What the IP55 definition defines is restricted safety from mud, low-pressure water jets from any route and damp and moist climate, so don’t take your X9 Professional for a swim.

Specs & Options

• USB 3.2 Gen-2
• As much as 4TB
• {Hardware} encryption

In response to Essential, the X9 Professional can switch 1050MB/s studying and writing if linked to a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port and about half that should you solely have Gen 1 ports (authentic USB 3.0).

The drive comes preformatted utilizing the exFAT file system, making it readable by Home windows, Mac OS and Linux machines, and the drive comprises no software program. There are HTML pages that hyperlink to some supplied instruments and gives that I’ll cowl within the consumer expertise a part of the evaluation.

Notes within the reviewer’s information instructed us that Home windows customers can receive the very best efficiency if the drives are reformatted to NTFS, however this makes the drive much less versatile in what working programs can perceive that file format. In our testing, the efficiency was not dramatically completely different utilizing NTFS.

One new characteristic is {hardware} encryption. Virtually any exterior SSD might be encrypted, however the overwhelming majority can solely be encrypted utilizing extra software program. To unlock a software program encrypted quantity requires the identical instrument used to create the protected area to be put in on any machine or gadget that it’s linked to learn it.

That may very well be a difficulty should you carry protected knowledge and wish to present it to a different individual.

Conversely, {hardware} encryption occurs at a {hardware} degree within the SSD, is due to this fact way more tough to crack and might be accessed, in concept, with any operation system that inherently understands hardware-encrypted media in case you have the proper password. {Hardware} encryption utilizing 256 AES is safer than software program encryption, and the contents needs to be simpler to entry on different computer systems.

This encryption expertise can be accessible on the SanDisk Excessive Transportable SDD V2,  Samsung T7 Contact and T7 Defend however is lacking from these transportable SSDs on the cheaper finish of the market just like the Essential X8 and X6.

Consumer Expertise

• 1-month Adobe Inventive Cloud included
• Mylio Images
• Essential Storage Govt

Essential has tried to supply some worth added to the X9 Professional proposal within the type of a choice of utilities which can be on its web site that may be discovered utilizing the HTML hyperlinks saved on the drive or a QR code within the packaging. Considered one of these is a month free on Adobe’s Inventive Cloud All-apps plan.

For those who had been considering of becoming a member of the Inventive Cloud and paying Adobe for eternity, then this is perhaps useful because it’s 51.98 a month or $54.99. However there are cheaper methods to get efficient software program.

One other freebie is Mylio Images with its picture administration instrument that’s suitable with Home windows, macOS, Android and iPhone, and Just like the Adobe provide, it is a one-month free entry provide.

The third merchandise is much less of a cross-marketing alternative and one thing genuinely helpful, Essential Storage Govt. A general-purpose instrument for monitoring the well being of your Essential storage gadgets, it might determine firmware upgrades and set up them should you agree. And, it additionally has some features for reformatting drives and modifying SSD cache allocations. These would all be nice issues, however the newest model of the Essential Storage Govt has by no means heard of the X9 Professional (or X10 Professional) and is, due to this fact, of no use till Essential fixes it.

One other product Essential mentions, nevertheless it’s prepared, is Hedge, an automatic backup instrument. That sounds excellent for the X9 Professional, so I hope it’s accessible quickly.

And at last, the Essential Transportable SSD Utility is promised in September 2023 for Home windows and Mac. A easy instrument that may encrypt, lock and unlock the {hardware} safety of the gadget with a password that amenities a backstop to deal with those that get pleasure from encrypting every little thing and forgetting their passwords.

Once more, the main points recommend this may very well be good, nevertheless it wasn’t accessible to incorporate on this evaluation.

Total, I’d conclude that the software program aspect of the Essential operation was blindsided by the pace at which the {hardware} was made prepared and launched and is now making an attempt to catch up as rapidly as attainable.

Efficiency

• As much as 1050Mb/s
• No quicker than X8

For this evaluation, Essential supplied me with a 2TB X9 Professional, although in line with a Essential written reviewer’s information, the pace variations between this and different capacities are tiny.

Essential said that the X8 learn efficiency was 1050Mb/s, and the X9 Professional matches that pace on learn but additionally on write. A write pace for the X8 was by no means quoted, however I beforehand clocked a 2TB mannequin at 961MB/s.

In our testing, the X9 Professional managed round 966MB reads, and 970MB/s writes within the CrystalDiskMark 8.04 Actual World profile. That makes it barely higher than the X8, and far superior to the X6.

What’s vital to grasp is that the SSD inside can undoubtedly run quicker than the 1050MB/s learn and write pace, and the limiting issue is the USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface bandwidth.

Nonetheless, even inside the confines of the accessible bandwidth, the X9 Professional is a wonderful drive, although in a number of checks, it trailed the X8, however not considerably.

These checks additionally supplied knowledge from the X6, Seagate One Contact 1TB, SanDisk Excessive V2 1TB, Samsung T7 Defend 1TB, WD MyPassport SSD (2020) 1TB and OWC Envoy Professional Mini 1TB. And, to indicate what USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 drives, I additionally included the Corsair EX100U and the Essential X10 Professional.

Whereas it was by no means going to compete with the Gen 2×2 drives, the X9 Professional was on the very high or close to that place throughout the board. It additionally didn’t reveal a large efficiency decline after I threw a 64GB file at it utilizing the AJA System check, which occurs on some drives.

Total, the X9 Professional is a good performer for those who don’t have Gen 2×2 or Thunderbolt connectivity.

Value & Availability

With NAND reminiscence costs at an all-time low, Essential made the logical option to keep away from any capacities beneath 1TB, providing that measurement, 2- and 4TB as all of the choices. It could be good to see an 8TB mannequin, however Essential hasn’t reached that NAND density as but.

The perfect place to purchase the X9 Professional is the USA, as at launch, this product was discounted considerably throughout all capacities. Unsure what the principles are about reductions within the USA are. However in Europe, you’re not supposed to indicate a excessive worth after which a decrease discounted one if it was by no means on sale on the greater worth.

Nonetheless, Essential averted that challenge in Europe by not making use of the low cost to UK and EU prospects on the X9 Professional or X10 Professional. But, Essential has at the very least discounted the X8 and X6 to European prospects.

The costs are $89.99, $159.99 and $289.99 for the three capacities within the USA. You should buy it from Essential, Amazon and Andorama.

Within the UK the X9 Professional is £82.79, £147.59 and £267.59 respectively for the three capacities. You should buy it from Essential, Amazon, Box and Ebuyer.

Primarily based on present trade charges, the UK X9 Professional prices 34%, 46% and 43% greater than within the US, and with EU pricing, these worth hikes turn out to be 37%, 50% and 47% extra.

That undoubtedly makes the very best place to purchase the X9 Professional the USA, and the worst is the EU, with the UK hardly a discount. In all places, the very best worth per GB is the 4TB possibility, with the worst being the 1TB.

The issue with this pricing is that the 1TB Essential X8 is at the moment simply $69.99 and gives very related efficiency ranges to the X9 Professional, even when it lacks encryption and water/mud resistance. With a $10 additional value within the USA, that’s at a degree the place most prospects is perhaps inclined to take the newer and longer guarantee design.

However within the UK, the distinction is £25.80, and €30.60 within the EU. That makes for a much less compelling argument in these areas.

To check it with different manufacturers, the SanDisk Excessive Professional 1TB is $119.99 direct from Western Digital, the Samsung T7 Defend Transportable is $88.59, and the WD 1TB My Passport SSD Transportable is $81.99, each on Amazon.

Total, the key rivals for the X9 Professional are the unique X8 and X6, although it could be that Essential will section these merchandise out as soon as the retail channels away from current inventory.

Unsure why Essential has so shabbily handled its European prospects with this product, however unsold X8 and X6 inventory in these areas might have pushed these decisions.

Try our chart of the very best transportable onerous drives and SSDs for extra choices.

Verdict

Initially, it was straightforward to see the X9 Professional as a alternative for the X8. Nonetheless, deeper considering suggests it will likely be the brand new X6 when you think about the two-tier mannequin that Essential has beforehand operated. Subsequently, the X8 alternative should be the X10 Professional, not the X9 Professional.

That’s to not say it isn’t higher than the X6 and X8 in some methods, however its launch worth doesn’t make it the plain alternative for the funds acutely aware outdoors the USA (till costs come down). And for these prospects that don’t use encryption or work within the rain, the X8 or X6 are higher offers.

What the X9 Professional gives is a barely quicker writing drive, larger survivability and a five-year guarantee. And the brand new enclosure can be extremely pocketable, even smaller than the X6.

For those who solely have USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports and never Gen 2×2, that is the X sequence drive to personal. Nonetheless, in case you have Gen 2×2 ports, paying extra for the X10 Professional may prevent time on transfers.

Placing the curious pricing selections that Essential made concerning Europe to 1 aspect, our solely different grievance about this product is that the X8 got here with a USB-C to USB-A adapter, and now you should add an adapter. Given how low cost these are to incorporate, passing the associated fee on to the client isn’t prone to make a few of them glad.

Had it included that merchandise and had a worldwide worth scheme much less targeted on one area, I’d be extra enthusiastic in regards to the X9 Professional,  even when it doesn’t provide a dramatic efficiency enchancment over the older X8.

The present pricing of the X9 in Europe will in all probability increase the gross sales of the X8 and X6 somewhat than encourage prospects to get the brand new design, and perhaps that’s intentional.

Specs

• Mannequin No.: CT2000X9PROSSD9
• Capacities: 4TB/2TB/1TB
• Capability examined: 2TB
• Examined sequential efficiency (Learn/Write): 1082/1063 MB/s
• Connection: USB 3.2 Gen 2 utilizing Sort-C
• Encryption: Password + AES-256 Encryption
• Dimensions: 65 x 50 x 10mm (WxHxD)
• Weight: 38g
• Guarantee: 5 years