On paper, it should be one of the fastest portable SSD in the market today with claimed read and write speed up to 2000MB/s. Can this new tiny large capacity device deliver what it claims?
Apart from its claimed blazing read and write speed, the Kingston XS2000‘s small size also caught our attention. If 1TB of data were equivalent to 1 tonne in weight, then you will be carrying a heavy load of data in the form of a stick of ciggy lighter. This will be good news to content creators, carrying less weight and smaller form factor, plus extra durability to give them peace of mind for their content’s security.
Built
Physically, without the rubber sleeve, the Kingston XS2000 is a shiny little box that feels good to hold but doesn’t give you the tough handling feel. Its chassis is made of plastic and (likely) aluminium. It is light – and weighs less than 30 grams. Kingston says that the SSD has been tested to be water-resistant, dust-resistant and shockproof with an included rubber sleeve. Other than a status LED and the data port, there’s not much to mention about its form factor. With the rubber sleeve on, the perception of the ruggedness kicks in, just slightly bulkier.
The XS2000 uses the SM2320, a native USB 3.2 Silicon Motion controller, paired with 3D TLC NAND chips. In the box, other than the usual Type-C to Type-C cable and the sleeve, there are not many surprises within, although we hope to find a USB 3 to Type C adapter packed in.
Performance
The Kingston XS2000 SSD comes with 500GB, 1TB and 2TB storage options. The one we are testing today is the 1TB version. It is big enough for most assignments, the storage space is even on par with some of our desktop editing workstations! With the generous 1TB storage space, we are eager to put it on the read and write test using our office old workstation.
We do not have the USB Type C device to test it with, thus we are using our i7 iMac to run the test with Black Magic Disk Speed App. We plugged the XS2000 SSD into an iMac’s USB 3 port to start running the stress test. The write speed we have got is on average of 416 mb/s which is pretty impressive and acceptable. We believe the speed should be faster if we are using USB-C devices. The read speed is equally impressive at an average of 428 mb/s. As such, the XS2000 didn’t hit any speed ceiling: tests show that it is an above-average performer on USB 3.2 Gen 2. It really, really needs a compatible system to hit its headline speed of 2GBps.
With read and write speed at this blazing speed, the Kingston XS2000 SSD could be used as an external disk to stream videos directly from it. The Kingston XS2000 works on Windows and Mac out of the box instantly.
Another great feature we like is the OTG (on-The-Go) compatibility with our Android devices. To access your files in the XS2000 SSD, you simply connect it to your Android smartphone and start browsing, viewing and editing files, and share them over the internet to anywhere in the world – without even flipping out your notebook.
PRO & CONS
Turn Ons
Impressive read/write speed with a compatible system
Huge storage space
Durable with the sleeve on
5 years warranty
Turn Offs
Requires the right hardware to maximise its potential
Doesn’t feel tough without the sleeve
To conclude, we are impressed with its small form factor and with the rubber sleeve over it makes it macho. The XS2000 is a no-frill storage device with fast speed. The capacity of 1TB holds a large amount of data and is fast enough for external streaming for photos and videos. Available at US$160 (around RM670) for this 1TB version from Kingston official website.
Dimensions
Storage: 1TB
Interface: USB 3.2 Gen 2×2
Read / Write Speed (Max.): 2,000MB/s read, 2,000MB/s write
OS: Most OSes