Essential X9 1TB Transportable SSD – As much as 1050MB/s Learn, PC and Mac, Light-weight and Small with 3-Month Mylio Pictures+ Provide – USB 3.2 Exterior Strong State Drive – CT1000X9SSD902

Small but powerful SSD that’s worth every penny
The Crucial X9 Pro 2TB Portable SSD turned out to be an excellent choice for work and data storage. Its compact size — slightly larger than a credit card — makes it incredibly convenient for everyday use. This SSD not only takes up minimal space but also offers reliability with its IP55 dust and water resistance.The data transfer speed is impressive: I tested it using CrystalDiskMark, and it showed up to 1050 MB/s for reading and around 900 MB/s for writing, which is almost in line with the advertised specs. This greatly speeds up working with large files like videos and photos.The device’s sturdy rubberized casing adds confidence when traveling or using it in challenging conditions. However, the included cable is short, and you need a certified USB 3.2 Gen2 cable to achieve maximum speeds.Overall, this device is perfect for backup, storage, and data transfer. Small drawbacks like the short cable do not overshadow its overall performance. I highly recommend the Crucial X9 Pro to anyone looking for a portable and fast SSD

A very nice SSD
Super small and fast. There’s no noise with this little guy and it was super easy to setup. I’ve had it for a while now and it still works great. Very happy with it!

A couple of not so good
I’ve known the name Crucial for about as long as I’ve been in the computer business yet I can’t say for sure if I ever ordered from them by brand. I do know their reputation is good. I’ve been spending my spare hours cleaning up files on my endless array of hard drives and SSD’s, I just got finished cleaning 205,000 files and I have more to go. One of the pitfalls of being a professional photographer and cinematographer and running a business is managing a lot of data. Today I went to open an often used Excel file and guess what, it was gone. And it was a super important one. So I stopped everything and did something I have meant to do for a long time. Get this SSD to do continuous backups of those things that I absolutely can’t lose, ever. I do have a good manual backup routine, hence all those backup drives but what was missing is being able to keep a history of my work on a daily basisI wanted something small that I could plug in to one of the USB-C ports of my Z2 G9, a very capable workstation. I have three such fast ports so no worries there. I didn’t need anything fancy or a cool belt lanyard or bright colors or lots of fluff ware and I don’t plan to drop it but there are no moving parts so that doesn’t concern me. What I did want is speeds keeping with the latest standards, because why not, and I wanted media that’s as relatively safe as possible, which I will never believe is a hundred percent possible with any storage drive, disk or solid-state. I scoured as many tech articles as I could find and the X9 seems to be one of the most highly regarded there is. I avoid the brand that starts with s because it seems everything I buy from them I regret and I try not to do business with them.THE NEED FOR SPEEDI stay miles away from any discussion having to do with speeds for a gadget like this. It’s all a game with no winner. It’s like saying my brother can run faster than some guy in Cincinnati or my Yugo is faster than yours. There is only one answer to storage media speed – your speed will depend on stuff. Everybody’s computers, phones, files, and everything else are different, and a bench test is just that, unless that’s all you’re going to do with this thing. In real life the speed you get will depend on stuff. Knowing my workstation’s ports can support it I did do a quick test and found that I was able to achieve some fast read speeds. Then in real life I did a full backup using TrueImage and my overall average was about 203 mbps. Any other speedy capabilities of this device were pretty much wasted.OH PLEASEThis is where I air my disappointments. Why is this thing plastic instead of aluminum or magnesium or titanium? What’s inside is three cents worth of silicon, couldn’t they spend another five cents on a decent case? And, what happened to including a basic version of some brand of backup software? I got the impression from their poorly done product page that they were saying they include Acronis, well they do but it is so stripped down that it is for all practical purposes worthless. They push hard on upgrading it, but it’s very clear that Acronis’ target client base is the IT departments of major corporations not us lowly consumers. The upgrade process went terribly, Unlike other software if you don’t pay the annual ransom they deactivate the whole product instead of letting you continue to use it. That subscription includes some questionable virus ware I don’t want or need, automatic renewal and worst of all it is set to allow them and anyone they sell your information to the right to spam you forevermore. And if you change your mind one second after paying for it you’re out of luck, they won’t give you your money back. They also include a three month trial of some photo cloud storage app that I would never use for my client work because of privacy concerns. And oh yeah, they will give you a whole whopping month of Adobe if you give them a whole lot of private information and agree to get their ads pushed to you by email.Storage Executive is another app you can download. I found it of dubious value, it features things that I can already do on my computer without having their app in the way, and by installing it you give them the right to automatically get access to your SSD for upgrades, this also is a privacy concern to me.Although this review is for the SSD, if my intent is to use it as a backup device, I found it was necessary to discuss this company’s poor choices when it comes to their embedded software apps. If you don’t use them this doesn’t apply to you.YES NO MAYBEThe case is very lightweight and angular in shape, and very lightweight. If I bought this as my travel drive I would have been very disappointed that it is plastic. And I may have been disappointed that the included C-to-C cable is only a few inches long. But the cable is good quality, with strong strain reliefs and a robustly braided covering. I used a piece of #M Command tape to mount the drive to the bottom of my workstation where I could leave it permanently plugged in to a dedicated data port on the back of the computer. And I spent the thirty-nine bucks to get a paid version of TrueImage because it works for me. With my x9 mounted out of sight it is always plugged in and backing up, that was my intent when I bought this so overall I am fully satisfied.Despite the things I wish they would fix how can I say no to this thing? It’s a piece of functional gear that I need and it has a job to do. If it ends up not doing that job it goes back and I let the world know, wimple as that.

Small and fast
The only game that didn’t run as efficiently from this external SSD than from the internal was Call of Duty. Because of course that diva of a game would require an install on the local SSD. I mean, it still worked, but texture buffering took a lot longer which was pretty annoying. Everything else ran great. Like 30 other games I tested, including some Playstation 5 ports.

Crucial SSDs are consistently reliable and offer great performance, making them an excellent choice for a variety of uses. Whether you’re upgrading a laptop or looking for external storage, these drives provide fast data access and significantly improve system responsiveness. I’ve even used mine to run games directly from the SSD, and I’ve experienced no issues with performance or lag. Load times are noticeably faster, which makes them ideal for gaming, multitasking, or handling large files. Their durability and affordability make Crucial SSDs a perfect solution for enhancing laptops, especially when upgrading from traditional hard drives. Highly recommended for anyone seeking a cost-effective yet powerful storage option.

Esta unidad SSDes de muy buena calidad y muy alta velocidad. La estoy utilizando en una iMac de 2017 que traía disco duro y funcionaba muy lenta. Reinstalé el sistema operativo en el SSD conectado al puerto USB C y funciona con mucha velocidad aún con los programas de diseño más pesados, casi tan rápido como las nuevas Mac. Es una enorme mejora en el desempeño, particularmente cuando se usa software demandante de recursos. Lo recomiendo ampliamente.