Portable storage drives aren’t the flashiest of components – you’re not likely to go bragging to your friends about your latest 1TB external SSD like you would one of the best graphics cards – but, if you use your PC a lot, they’re one of those things that can increase your quality of life significantly. Especially if they’re small and capacious, like Crucial’s new X6 portable SSD.
This “tiny drive with tremendous space” comes with either 1TB or 2TB capacity, this storage crammed into its 0.43-inch x 2.71-inch x 2.52-inch dimensions, weighing only 39g (1TB) or 42g (2TB). We’re talking about an external, speedy, 1-2TB SSD that you can hold in the palm of your hand and carry in your pocket.
Spec-wise, the Micron 3D NAND memory drive can interface over USB 3.1 (Gen 2) type C connections, but it’s also compatible with USB 3.2 Gen 1, USB 3.1 Gen 1, and USB 3.0 connections. Its sequential read speed is rated up to 540MB/s, which is about the same as you can expect from an internal SATA SSD, for reference. That’s pretty damn great for an external drive, let alone one this small.
Crucial has also expanded its X8 SSD range with a 2TB version, which is smaller and less portable than the new X6, but has quicker read speeds (1,050MB/s) and is more durable. The X8 has been around for a while, though, and this version is just one with increased capacity.
The Crucial X6, which, according to Crucial, “delivers impressive performance in a size comparable to most wireless earbud cases and weighs less than a set of keys”, has many uses. Teresa Kelley, vice president and general manager of Micron’s Consumer Products Group, tells us that, “Whether working remotely, staying home with family, preparing for a virtual class, or getting out for an adventure, storing and accessing digital files has never been easier – even without an internet connection or access to the cloud.”
Crucial mentions a few ways you might use this external drive, such as for taking your important files wherever you go, providing on-the-go access to lecture and presentation files, and backing up, preserving, protecting, and encrypting content. We’d also add that external drives are useful for transferring files to new operating system installs (after building a new PC or upgrading the storage drive in your existing rig, for example), and for installing and using a portable operating system on the drive.
The Crucial X6 is also drop-proof up to 6.5-feet “on a carpeted concrete floor without impact to data on the drive”, and is “resistant to shock, vibration, and extreme temperatures”. All in all, then, we’re looking at a capacious, durable, lightweight, speedy, portable addition to Crucial’s storage lineup with the X6 SSD.