Crucial X9 Pro Portable SSD Review

The Crucial X9 Pro is designed for performance-seeking creators who need a fast and light portable SSD to store photos and videos. The X9 Pro is Crucial’s newest portable SSD release alongside the more powerful X10 Pro.

We were very happy with the Crucial X6 and Crucial X8 which we reviewed a few years ago, so we are interested to see if this legacy will continue with the X9 Pro and X10 Pro. The newer X9 Pro has better performance, but the X6 and X8 still hold up today and are great options if the X9 Pro is too pricy.

Crucial X9 Pro Portable SSD

The main difference between the Crucial X9 Pro and X10 Pro is the interface. The X9 Pro supports a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface while the X10 Pro supports the USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 interface. We are not trying to discount the 3.2 Gen 2 interface, it’s still great for most purposes, but the Gen2x2 interface offers twice the speed.

Reads and writes are claimed by Crucial to be up to 1050MB/s for the available 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB drive. Inside, the Micron TLC NAND is paired with an SM 2320 ASIC.

A big selling point is the drive’s small size and low weight, only measuring 65 x 50 mm and 1.34 ounces respectively. This is smaller and lighter than most competitors on the market. While arguing that a tiny form factor is a big selling point might sound a little silly, some pros carry a dozen or more portable drives in their bag. In those cases, every mm and ounce adds up. If users are dedicated they can even connect the Crucial X9 Pro to their keys without it looking super ridiculous.

Crucial also highlights the durability of the drive. Crucial claims it can survive falls up to a 6.5-foot drop. The drive is also water and dustproof up to IP55. It’s also resilient to extreme temperatures, meaning you can take this drive just about anywhere.

The Crucial X9 Pro Portable SSD ranges from $80 to $240 on Amazon and comes with a 5-year limited warranty.

Crucial X9 Pro Portable SSD Specifications

4TB/2TB/1TB capacity
Read speeds up to 1,050MB/s
Write speeds up to 1,050MB/s
Micron TLC NAND
Silicon Motion SM2320 ASIC
USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface
IP55 water/dustproof
Up to 6.5–foot/2–meter drop proof
Shock/vibe and extreme–temperature proof
5–year limited warranty

Crucial X9 Pro 2TB Portable SSD Performance

For our review, we tested with a Lenovo ThinkStation P520 Workstation. We are testing the 2TB drive in this review. For comparisons, we’re including the Samsung T7 Shield 2TB portable SSD and the SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD V2 1TB drive. Both are in a similar class as the Crucial X9 Pro.

As usual, the Blackmagic test is up first. The Crucial X9 Pro Portable SSD (2TB) recorded 957.9MB/s read and 901.7MB/s write, which is a bit under what Crucial quoted, but this is a single-threaded test that won’t push the drive to its full capabilities.

Disk Speed Test	Crucial X9 Pro 2TB	Samsung T7 Shield 2TB	SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD V2 1TB
Write	901.7MB/s	936.5MB/s	950.4MB/s
Read	957.9MB/s	893.8MB/s	920.6MB/s

The next test is IOMeter 1 thread. For 2MB sequential speeds, the Crucial X9 Pro showed 873.5MB/s read and 803.3MB/s write. 2MB random read and write speeds were 876.38MB/s and 729.1MB/s respectively. In our 4K tests, the Crucial X9 Pro reached very impressive levels of 4,507 IOPS read and 18,102 IOPS write.

IOMeter (1 Thread)	Crucial X9 Pro 2TB	Samsung T7 Shield 2TB	SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD V2 1TB
Seq 2MB Write	803.3MB/s	804.9MB/s	921.5MB/s
Seq 2MB Read	873.5MB/s	804.63MB/s	861.4MB/s
Random 2MB Write	729.1MB/s	804.72MB/s	836.2MB/s
Random 2MB Read	876.38MB/s	766.30MB/s	853.7MB/s
Random 4K Write	18,102 IOPS	14,383 IOPS	17,053 IOPS
Random 4K Read	4,507 IOPS	4,046 IOPS	5,034 IOPS

When upped to 4-threads (which puts a heavy workload on the SSDs), the results were much closer to what Crucial quoted. Sequential 2MB read and write were 1,039.2MB/s and 975.5MB/s respectively. Random 2MB read was also 1,039.2MB/s but the random write was lighter at 871.2MB/s. Our 4K tests were once again very impressive, with random 4KB read/write reaching 15,278 IOPS and 65,700 IOPS.

IOMeter (4 Thread)	Crucial X9 Pro 2TB	Samsung T7 Shield 2TB	SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD V2 1TB
Seq 2MB Write	975.5MB/s	1,019.62MB/s	1,020MB/s
Seq 2MB Read	1,039.2MB/s	1,041.57MB/s	1,040MB/s
Random 2MB Write	871.2MB/s	1,019.38MB/s	870MB/s
Random 2MB Read	1,039.2MB/s	1,020.00MB/s	1,030MB/s
Random 4K Write	65,700 IOPS	39,356 IOPS	66,585 IOPS
Random 4K Read	15,278 IOPS	17,342 IOPS	18,787 IOPS

Conclusion

The Crucial X9 Pro Portable SSD brings impressive performance for its price range of $80 to $240. This storage solution is tailored toward pro users who need extra space for photos and videos, with a moderate investment. With a weight of only 1.34 ounces and its small size, this should be convenient for most people.

Looking at pricing, the price of the Crucial, Samsung, and SanDisk drives are all similar. In terms of performance and price, it really doesn’t matter what users choose, buyers will want to make their decision on other factors. Something that does differ though is the size of each drive. The Crucial X9 Pro is by far the smallest and lightest drive. Size and weight can start to add up when someone like a professional photographer has a bunch of these SSDs for storage. In this category, the Crucial SSD is the clear winner.

In this band of portable SSDs, there are a lot of options that will all perform pretty similarly and there’s little price variance. Most buyers will pick the drive from their favorite brand, or the one that they enjoy the aesthetics of. We can’t argue against this decision process. When it comes to the Crucial X9 Pro specifically, it’s a strong contender and should be a popular companion for enthusiasts who appreciate the tiny size and lightweight profile.

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9 months ago

Ethan Beeler

Ethan Beeler is a Business Economics student at Miami University who possesses an unwavering love for technology. With a particular interest in the inner workings of cloud computing and the applications we utilize on a daily basis, Ethan is driven by a deep curiosity to understand the IT infrastructure that powers our digital world. He combines his passion for technology with a strong analytical mindset and a desire to explore the intersection of technology and business. Eager to stay ahead of the curve, Ethan actively engages with the latest tech advancements and seeks opportunities to apply his knowledge in real-world settings.