30 OCTOBER2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE392
Small files
Largefiles
Huge files
0% -50 Reference + 50 + 100
Seepage82forperformancedetails
CAPACITY500GB•COST PERGIGABYTE12.4p•
INTERFACENVMe•CLAIMED READ2,300MB/s•
CLAIMED WRITE940MB/s•WARRANTYFive yearsRTB•
DETAILSuk.crucial.com•PART CODECT500P2SSD8
SPECIFICATIONS
677MB/s
1,160MB/s
1,703MB/s
CRUCIAL P2
★★★★★
£62•Fromwww.amazon.co.uk
THECRUCIALP2soundsliketheultimate
replacementforwhatwasalreadyagreatSSD,
theP1(Shopper 37 3).Notonlyhasitswapped
fromquad-levelcell(QLC)NANDmemoryto
faster,moredurabletriple-levelcell(TLC)
memory,it’salsoevencheaperthantheP1
waswhenitlaunchedin2018.
BACK FORROUNDTWO
Indeed,theP2doesn’tmakegrandioseclaims
of world-beatingpower:it’sacost-effective
upgradeforPCandlaptopownerslooking
to makethefirstmoveawayfrompurely
mechanicalstorage.Andit’spriced
accordingly:thesmallest250GBmodelis
19.8p pergigabyte, andthe500GBand1TB
modelsrampupthevalueconsiderably,at
12.4pandjust10.1prespectively.
However,thisputsitinthefiringlineof
the WDBlueSN550(Shopper386),another
excellentbudgetSSD,whichmatchestheP2’s
officialmaximumreadspeedof 2,400MB/s.
What’smore, thisfiguredropsascapacities
getsmaller:the1TBmodelisratedatthefull
2,400MB/sbutthe500GBversion,which
we’retestinghere,comesinat2,300MB/s,
whilethe250GBmodeloffers2,100MB/s.
That’samildshame,butnothingcompared
to thebizarrewritespeedfigures.The1TB
modelisclockedat1,800MB/s,whichsounds
goodforacheapNVMedriveevenifit
doesn’tmatchtheSN550’sequivalent
1,950MB/s–butthenthe500GBmodelis
onlyratedat940MB/s,whichisn’tjusta
huge dropbutisactuallylowerthanthe
250GBmodel’s1,150MB/s.
AstheSN550reacheditsstatedspeedsin
CrystalDiskMark’ssequentialbenchmarks
and thensome, thissetusupforsome
disappointmentwhenitcameto testingthe
P2.Andyet,itmanagednotonlytosmash
its officialspeednumbers,butcomfortably
passtheSN550too, producingasequential
readspeedof 2,508MB/sandasequential
writespeedof1,856MB/s.We double-
VERDICT
Afast NVMe SSD forminimal cash, though the hardware you get might be agamble
50 0GBSSD
checkedCrystalDiskMark’ssettingsand
re-rantheteststo makesurethiswasn’tan
error,butsimilarresultsonrepeatruns
confirmedtheP2canrunmuchfasterthan
Crucialitselfsuggests.
Italsooverperformedinthe4Krandom
tests,scoringa446MB/sreadspeedanda
346MB/swritespeed.Theseweren’ta
particularstrengthoftheSN550–eventhe
oldP1wasfasterforbothreadandwrites
–butit’sworthnotingthattheP2isbyfar
the fastestof thethreedrives.
Itwasn’tasfastinourmorerealisticfile
transfersbenchmarks,butstillmanagedto
beatthelowlywritespeedgivenby its
manufacturer.Inthehugefiletest,for
example,itaveragedawrite speedof
1,634MB/s,notfarbehinditsalsoimpressive
1,771MB/sreadspeed.
WRITE LIGHTNING
Thelatterfellsignificantlyinthelargefiles
test,endingupat1,008MB/s,thoughthisisn’t
farofftheSN550’s1,061MB/s.Writespeeds
were, again,apleasantsurprise,averaging
1,311MB/s,beatingtheSN550’s1,110MB/sby
amuchwidermargin.
Lastly, theP2wasmuchfasterthanthe
SN550inourmostdemandingsmallfiles
tests.Whileitstoppeddefyingexpectations
longenoughforspeedsto plummet,asthey
usuallydointhisparticularbenchmark,its
751MB/saveragereadspeedand602MB/s
averagewritespeedmakefornoticeably
swiftertransfersthanontheSN550.
Thisisallveryappealing–whowouldn’t
wantsuchhighperformanceatsucha
rock-bottomprice?–thoughthequestion
remainsof whyexactlytheofficialspeed
figuresaresomuchslowerthanwhattheP2
isactuallycapableof.
Theanswer,itturnsout,isbecausewhile
theP2isinitiallymakingthatswitchtoTLC
memory,Crucialwantstokeepopenthe
possibilityof producingaQLCversiontoo.
Thiswouldmeanlowerspeedsandlower
endurance,intermsofterabyteswritten,
than withTLC–soCrucialhaspublished
these specswiththeexpectationthatthey’ll
applytoQLCmodels.Inotherwords,the
companywouldratherundersellTLCnow
thandialdownperformancespecsto make
wayforQLClater.
POTLUCK
Thegoodnewsisthat,atthetimeof writing,
youcanbuytheTLCversionoftheP2–just
aswe’vetested–anditshouldoutperform
the SN550.However,Crucial’sapproach
also meanswecan’treallycommita
recommendationto thepermanenceofprint.
Our500GBsamplearrivedinwhatseemsto
bestandardretailpackaging,andthere’sno
indicationof whatkindofmemoryitusesor
whattheofficialreadandwritespeedsare,so
it’sworryingthatapotentialbuyercouldend
upwithoneof twodistinctproductswithout
anywayofknowingwhichiswhich.
IfCrucialdoesgoaheadwithitsdual
manufacturingplans,itwoulddowellto make
abundantlyclear–inpackagingdesign,retail
listingsandgeneralmarketing–whichflavour
ofP2you’regoingtoget.WithTLC,it’sa
fantasticbargain,buttheissueofQLCisa
giganticquestionmark,andyoujustdon’t
havethatuncertaintywiththeSN550.
JamesArcher
