Crucial - X10 2TB External USB-C SSD - Blue

I added the Crucial X10 Pro to my kit for offloading files from my Sony A7C II, and it’s a beast. The 2,100MB/s read speeds are incredibly fast, making it possible to edit 4K video directly off the drive without any lag on my MacBook or iPad Air M3. It’s surprisingly small—about the size of a credit card—and the aluminum build feels very premium. I also appreciate the IP55 rating for dust and water resistance, which is great for peace of mind when I'm out doing street photography. If you’re a creator who needs speed and portability, this is easily one of the best drives on the market.

This external drive is remarkably tiny for the 2 TB it holds! It will easily fit into even the smallest pocket of a laptop sleeve (or bag). I reformatted the drive from the exFAT it comes with to NTFS, and then performed some speed tests. I connected it to a fast USB-C port on my computer and obtained a speed of ~1000MB/s, consistent with what most others have found. This is fine for my needs. I use this drive to make backups of my laptop. I highly recommend this drive!

This hard drive is great, it's very fast on Time Machine and also really light

I love my new X10 2TB external USB-C SSD - Blue. fast transfers and uploads

The Crucial X10 2TB USB Portable Solid State Drive (SSD) (Model CT2000X10SSD9) is a new model in the Crucial product line with large capacity, a compact and lightweight profile and a specification of up to 2,100 MB/s sequential read speed. Crucial does not provide a specification for a claim of sequential write speed for this drive. The Crucial X10 is available in several other storage capacities which are 1TB, 4TB, 6TB and 8TB models. All of the X10 drives have the same specifications, other than capacity. In addition to the very impressive read speeds claimed by Crucial, they all have a USB 3.2 Gen-2x2 interface (SS 20), rated for 20Gbps. USB 3.2 Gen-2x2 uses two lanes of 10 Gbps (standard USB 3.2 Gen-2) to achieve the 20 Gbps rate. Crucial, whose parent company is Micron, is a well-established and well-respected manufacturer of flash memory and SSD consumer products. I have purchased Crucial memory for several years, and the factory installed SSD in one of my laptops is a Crucial SSD. I have also been using a similar model, the Crucial X10 Pro SSD for a couple of years. Those drives continue to perform reliably after years of use. The case of the Crucial X10 appears to be fabricated of blue plastic, unlike the X10 Pro which has an anodized aluminum case. The case has chamfered edges all around its circumference. There is an integral lanyard hole in one corner (although no lanyard or clip is included). The X10 drive lacks the drive activity light that is present on the X10 Pro. The overall dimensions are a very compact 2.6” (65 mm) long x 2” (50 mm) wide x 0.4” (10 mm) thick. The only apparent opening for potential admittance of dust or liquid is the single USB-C connector port, and the device carries an IP 65 rating for water and dust resistance. A rating of IP 65 indicates that the unit is Dust Resistant and protected from water jets (but not powerful water jets or any submersion in liquid). This IP rating is superior to that of the X10 Pro drive which carries an IP55 rating. Crucial claims that the X-10 can withstand a drop of up to 9.8 feet / 3 meters on a carpeted floor without impact to data, but there is no reference to testing certifications or standards in support of that claim. The Crucial X10 weighs only 1.3 oz (37 g). It is both lightweight and compact. Furnished in the box with the Crucial X10 is a 9” (22.8 cm) long USB-C to USB-C cable. There is no USB-A cable or adaptor included. I find the short 9” cable to be inconvenient and limiting; a few more inches of cable would be nice. The multi-language printed insert which is also included in the package, provides nothing more than the terms of the Crucial Warranty, and the Crucial website URL for support. The Crucial X10 carries a three (3) year warranty (the X10 Pro has a 5 year warranty). Portable SSDs are extraordinarily convenient and useful for many purposes. Video content producers and photographers find them to be essential. Given their large capacity and high data transfer rates they are ideal for those purposes as well as data backup and storage, and notably, for use as a portable file store when using multiple computers, and particularly when travelling away from home or primary workplace. I rely heavily on portable SSDs for those purposes. The Crucial X10 is well-suited for working with large files and applications. The fast read/write speeds facilitate my transferring large image files and video files and also allows me to edit and work with those files directly on the Crucial X10 using Adobe Creative Cloud applications. The fast Crucial X10 makes even video workflow tasks efficient. I work with multiple computers, with lots of large files and numerous resource demanding applications. I am very reliant on external, USB SSDs for using my data files across multiple computers. Additionally, it is essential for me to have complete portability. On any given day I take the laptop or tablet that suits my needs, accompanied by the external USB SSD, or multiple SSDs that I need for the day and resultantly have complete flexibility and portability. An important aspect of the selection criteria for portable drives can be data security. When I am on the go with a laptop and external SSD, it is crucial that my data remains secure. The potential for compromised or exposed sensitive or private data, through loss or theft of the drive is a critically important consideration, particularly when travelling. Regrettably, the Crucial X10 does not offer any physical security, such as a biometric fingerprint reader, nor does it offer any logical security such as encryption. The Crucial X10 is preformatted in exFAT, which is appropriate for Windows PCs, Chromebooks, Macs and many gaming systems. It can easily be quick formatted to NTFS if desired. The X10 can be used with multiple platforms including Windows, Mac, Android, iPad, PC, Linux, Xbox and PlayStation gaming consoles. Crucial’s drive management application named Storage Executive, is available for download from the Crucial website. Crucial provides links with which to download short trials of Adobe Acrobat Pro, mylio photos or Acronis backup. The 2,100 MB/s sequential read speed advertised for the Crucial X10 is an excellent specification, however a write speed specification is not provided by Crucial. Those high data transfer rates are only achievable when the attached computer is equipped with a USB 3.2 Gen-2x2 (20 Gb/s) (aka SS 20) or faster interface. My primary laptop, which I used for benchmarking the X10, has Thunderbolt 4, 40 Gbps ports, therefore I hoped to see speeds approximating the advertised 2,100 MB/s sequential reads. Data transfer rates were measured with Crystal DiskMark 8, with the best speeds measured at 994.26 Mb/s Sequential Reads and 995.69 Mb/s Sequential Writes on different tests. I benchmarked using both of my Thunderbolt 4 ports and I utilized the short USB 3.2 cable that Crucial supplied with the X10. Obviously, the data rates that I obtained are not slow, but they are only about 50% of the expected speeds based on Crucial’s specifications. Evidently the controller for the Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 ports in my relatively new laptop, while being backside compatible with USB 3 Gen 2, does not support Gen 2x2 (SS 20) and is only supporting 10 GB/s USB 3.2. The Crucial X10 does become slightly warm when attached to a computer and generates heat in proportion to activity when it is actively in use. Large data transfers generate palpable, but not uncomfortable or concerning levels of heat. Typically, this type of drive employs a layer of PCM (Phase Change Material) to somewhat mitigate the heat generated by active use (presumably encapsulated paraffin wax). Overall, the Crucial X10 2 TB Portable SSD is excellent! It offers large capacity, extremely fast data transfer rates if your computer supports USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, and a compact and lightweight profile. Even with 10 GB/s speed limitations attributable to my laptop’s USB interface, I find it to be an excellent drive for photography and videography. The Crucial X10 appears to be physically durable, and based on my prior experience with other Crucial drives, including the X10 Pro, I am confident that it will be very reliable. The very compact dimensions and very light weight of the drive is very attractive. The Crucial X10 2TB Portable SSD is certainly worthy of serious consideration and I am comfortable with recommending it!