Review Crucial X10 Portable SSD (4TB) review: 20 Gbps, up to 8TB

[Admin]

Crucial’s latest X10 portable SSD is faster and roomier than its predecessors, but USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 feels dated now that USB4 is readily available.

Crucial X10 Portable SSD (4TB) review: 20 Gbps, up to 8TB : Read more

 

[cia1413]

I didn't see it in the article, but my experience is that usb 3.2 gen 2x2 drives only run at 10G speeds in usb4 and thunderbolt ports. Im sure there are some somewhere that run faster but every mac I have tried 2x2 drives on are only 10G and that really makes them 10G drives that might work at 20G for someone else.

 

[Extent8958]

I thought I was going blind staring at the sustained write performance chart. As of 7/1/2025, the X10 is not even in the chart at all. Only the X10 Pro 2TB is included, which matches the described starting speed but not the cratering performance down to ~300MB/s. Please update the chart to actually include the reviewed drive.

 

[Extent8958]

I didn't see it in the article, but my experience is that usb 3.2 gen 2x2 drives only run at 10G speeds in usb4 and thunderbolt ports. Im sure there are some somewhere that run faster but every mac I have tried 2x2 drives on are only 10G and that really makes them 10G drives that might work at 20G for someone else.

Thunderbolt 4 doesn't support a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20Gbps) mode. It falls back to 10Gbps. So yes, Thunderbolt 4 devices will only get half the maximum performance out of this drive. USB4 has a 20Gbps mode, but AFAIK the signaling is different than USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, so isn't guaranteed to work (unless the host controller has done something special to support it).

The great thing about these kinds of drives is that they are absurdly tiny compared to a 2280 M.2 NVMe drive in a beefy enclosure. But for maximum performance, and flexibility to reach maximum performance with a given machine, you are way better off with a decent USB4 M.2 enclosure and a decent 2280 M.2 NVMe drive to stick in it.