News Low-Performance External M.2 NVMe SSD Found to Have MicroSD Cards Inside

[Admin]

An underperforming USB Type-C connected M.2 NVMe SSD was discovered by the buyer to be packing slow TF cards, an 'ancient' controller, and a slow interface.

Low-Performance External M.2 NVMe SSD Found to Have MicroSD Cards Inside : Read more

 

[peachpuff]

Surprised its not micro usb...

 

[Scott_21]

Sadly these and many other fakes, especially electronics, can be found on Amazon and eBay, with fake positive reviews and sellers. It's really down to like the article says, too good to be true really is just that. I still use Amazon sometimes for smaller stuff like wires , but, I double check the sellers and the products.

 

[JamesJones44]

Sadly these and many other fakes, especially electronics, can be found on Amazon and eBay, with fake positive reviews and sellers. It's really down to like the article says, too good to be true really is just that. I still use Amazon sometimes for smaller stuff like wires , but, I double check the sellers and the products.

Even if you call out Amazon in a review claiming something is fake Amazon will just take down your review.

I put a 1 star review on a product (deodorant to be exact) the product labeling font, scent, texture and color were completely different than what I have had before or find with local versions of the product from Target and Walmart. It was clear as day the product was either mislabeled or fake. Amazon took down the review saying the information I presented in the review "did not match the description of the product"...

 

[domih]

Even if you call out Amazon in a review claiming something is fake Amazon will just take down your review.

I put a 1 star review on a product (deodorant to be exact) the product labeling font, scent, texture and color were completely different than what I have had before or find with local versions of the product from Target and Walmart. It was clear as day the product was either mislabeled or fake. Amazon took down the review saying the information I presented in the review "did not match the description of the product"...

Same thing here. I got two negative reviews rejected for similar reasons.

When this happens to you, you easily deduce that it probably happens to other customers.

The conclusion is quite clear: you cannot trust the Amazon customer review process anymore (as it was in the early years) because of a clear conflict of interest from the modern Amazon. Amazon wants you to think that the Amazon web site is a happy community, a Lollapalooza-like consumerist place, a no-limit buffet...

...as long as you pay.

I closed my Amazon account years ago.

 

[cryoburner]

Even if you call out Amazon in a review claiming something is fake Amazon will just take down your review.

I put a 1 star review on a product (deodorant to be exact) the product labeling font, scent, texture and color were completely different than what I have had before or find with local versions of the product from Target and Walmart. It was clear as day the product was either mislabeled or fake. Amazon took down the review saying the information I presented in the review "did not match the description of the product"...

Usually these store pages on Amazon cover inventory from multiple sellers though. Just because one seller is distributing counterfeit merchandise (perhaps even without their knowledge), that doesn't mean that applies to the other sellers making the product available through that same listing. So a complaint about counterfeit merchandise might be better suited to a review of the individual seller rather than of the product itself. You didn't actually receive the advertised product, but rather something else in its place, so it's accurate to say that you weren't reviewing the product described on the store page. Contacting Amazon to report the issue and see if you can get a refund would be the thing to do in that case.

 

[JamesJones44]

Usually these store pages on Amazon cover inventory from multiple sellers though. Just because one seller is distributing counterfeit merchandise (perhaps even without their knowledge), that doesn't mean that applies to the other sellers making the product available through that same listing. So a complaint about counterfeit merchandise might be better suited to a review of the individual seller rather than of the product itself. You didn't actually receive the advertised product, but rather something else in its place, so it's accurate to say that you weren't reviewing the product described on the store page. Contacting Amazon to report the issue and see if you can get a refund would be the thing to do in that case.

Oh they did refund it, they just didn't allow the review. BTW it was from a single seller, shipped by Amazon. Wouldn't have mattered Amazon would have taken it down anyway. You can read thousands of similar complaints on Reddit and other sites. It's not an isolated incident. Amazon as a trust worthy distributor ended years ago.

 

[Emperor Crusher]

This is a terrible article. Why? For starters, the title is inaccurate. NVMe is defined as a standard hardware interface for SSDs. The article shows this is a USB C interface, not an NVMe interface. Next, the definition of an SSD is a storage device containing nonvolatile flash memory. The article shows this has 2 SD cards which are nonvolatile flash memory. So, it's NOT "Fake" and it's NOT "NVMe". The corrected title of the article should read "External SSD has MicroSD Cards Inside". OK, so what!?

The article does disclose a terrible drive with an ancient controller chip and a USB 2 interface which nerfs any possible speed benefit from this external SSD. THAT makes sense to write about.

I actually have a very good 64G USB 3.1 SSD sitting in front of me. It has read speeds in the 200-300 MBps range. Write speeds are also amazing and it has an SD style card chip properly soldered to the PCB. Based on Mark's article, I believe he would call this a "fake" SSD, but it's not. Here is a link to the 128G version.

https://www.amazon.com/VANSUNY-USB-Flash-Drive-128GB/dp/B08LGKDG1J?th=1

Inside is a SanDisk iNAND 8521 chip which, according to the SanDisk specs is spot on with the speeds I get experimentally. Blazing speeds for a USB Flash Drive.

https://datasheet.lcsc.com/lcsc/2105241638_SANDISK-SDINDDH4-128G_C2830406.pdf

So, Mark, how about writing an accurate article with an accurate title about a real USB External SSD Flash Drive with some amazing read and write speeds.

 

[wakuwaku]

Moreover, the modern USB-C port was only wired for USB 2.0 data transfer performance.

According to the source report, the counterfeit external SSD victim would have seen device read speeds of 100 MB/s at best.

As most, if not all Tom's Hardware readers would know, USB 2 tops out at 480Mbps, which due to the fact USB 2 is half-duplex, means you should see a max speed of ~40MBps for data transfer speeds. You usually don't exceed 35 based on my experience, but other people seems to have reached slightly higher. The fact that this writer says that a victim would see 100MBps read speeds on a USB 2 device is a big red flag that shows his lack of knowledge of the tech he is writing about. I suggest that this writer go through a standard Tom's Hardware refresher course on all the knowledge that has been incorporated in this site over the years. I mean their AI can do it, why can't you?

 

[Vorador2]

Yesterday i saw on Google an ad about a 16Tb external SSD from an unknown Chinese company. I instantly reported it as false advertising.

And Google reviewed my report and said the ad was perfectly fine.

 

[USAFRet]

This is a terrible article. Why? For starters, the title is inaccurate. NVMe is defined as a standard hardware interface for SSDs. The article shows this is a USB C interface, not an NVMe interface. Next, the definition of an SSD is a storage device containing nonvolatile flash memory. The article shows this has 2 SD cards which are nonvolatile flash memory. So, it's NOT "Fake" and it's NOT "NVMe". The corrected title of the article should read "External SSD has MicroSD Cards Inside". OK, so what!?

It is an "external" drive.
As such, it will have some type of USB port. Here, what looks like USB-C.

It was apparently advertised as external NVMe.
An NVMe drive, in an external enclosure.
NOT 2x microSD cards.

So yes..FAKE.

 

[Dr3ams]

I saw something similar to this on der8auer's YouTube channel. Several external SSD and M.2 drives from unknown companies where purchased, tested and then cut open.

edit: corrected

 

[USAFRet]

I saw something similar to this on der8auer's YouTube channel. Several external M.2 drives from unknown companies where purchased, tested and then cut open.

Yep.

Just like the "16TB" flash drives.

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

At least it had genuine 256gb mSD cards in it though, and it sustained 100MB/s, so if it was something like a "ALLBESTGOODYES 512G $25" (like all those too good to be true products with random names at low prices you see on the web) it's actually better than the average counterfeit with faked capacities.

 

[kyzarvs]

...

I closed my Amazon account years ago.

So with respect, your knowledge is somewhat outdated?

I had one last week - I bought an alarm for the garage that quoted 'free notification app', turned out it was free for 7 days then £29.99 a month. I put a very negative review up, it went into checking for about 30 hours and then was posted and is live now. There are a lot of bought reviews f'sure, but you can post negatively.

 

[DaMegaTaco]

I'm surprised the article didn't mention how common the scan is and how they can be found all over Amazon and other well known sites. Sure experienced computers users know, but plenty of newbies don't.

 

[PaulJackman2023]

I have to admit I was caught out by a too good to be true price on eBay for a 1tb Nvme, after some technical digging n tests it turned out to me a 120gb misreporting its size, I did get my money back. But now I will never do that again, for only £12 more I got a non mainstream brand one on Amazon which is genuine and performs magnificently for under £30. Silicon Power PCIe M.2 NVMe SSD 1TB was on offer at the time at £24.99. So hardly broke the bank. I would suggest to anyone to avoid cheap Chinese sellers on eBay, or apps and websites as it seems to be an ever increasing problem with Nvme fakes. But also I didn't know there are 2 types of device which look identical an NGFF and NVME which are not necessarily compatible with slots they both fit in.

 

[peterblaise]

An underperforming USB Type-C connected M.2 NVMe SSD was discovered by the buyer to be packing slow TF cards, an 'ancient' controller, and a slow interface.

Low-Performance External M.2 NVMe SSD Found to Have MicroSD Cards Inside : Read more

I wonder how it fares on fake testing?

Steve Gibson just programmed up a free quick test:

www.grc.com - /dev/validrive/

www.grc.com

I also use a simple NTFS quick format, it usually fails immediately on fake drives.

Free h2testw is great but time-consuming, precise, though.

What fake tests are other folks using?

.

 

[PaulJackman2023]

I wonder how it fares on fake testing?

Steve Gibson just programmed up a free quick test:

www.grc.com - /dev/validrive/

www.grc.com

I also use a simple NTFS quick format, it usually fails immediately on fake drives.

Free h2testw is great but time-consuming, precise, though.

What fake tests are other folks using?

.

I use the surface tester in Easus Partition Manager which is not free, but as I am my friends n family goto guy for all things techie I bought it, as I often use the clone os function to move their existing install to new SSDs or HDDs. It also has some great recovery tools, I also did the trick where you format the drive and copy massive data across, in my case I usually use my music collection as it takes up 200gb + on its own. But I also tried the above and Crystal and several other free ones, most it was able to trick into believing the lies unless it tried to scan outside the first 120gb at which point the R/W Error rate goes massive and the drive fails {which as I said Easus didn't like the drive from the moment it saw it and my test of just fill the drive as much as u can topped out just above the 120gb which ended up in constant failed to write errors.