In my restless dreams, I see my backlog and ask, “Why are you playing the Silent Hill 2 remake? AgainWell, I have to sort out all these endings before Alan Wake 2 gets the Lake House expansion, right? I haven’t run out of space on my challenging drive. “Ah,” my backlog says (I encourage you to imagine the Megazord situation), “Just buy the Crucial X9 Portable SSD — Amazon has a great deal on the 2TB model.”
Hopping onto my computer, I see it’s true: Amazon is selling the Crucial X9 2TB portable SSD at its lowest price since April, starting at $120. Not only does this mean a 20% discount off the MSRP, but it’s a better price than a similar spec price Samsung T7 Shield (currently costs $60 more on Amazon).
If you feel the need for speed, the Crucial X9 may eat some of the competition’s dust, but not enough to make me not look longingly at that saving. If you just want to put your backlog somewhere, $120 is a decent price for 2TB of space for games to play. Although you probably shouldn’t expect Crucial X9 to transfer any of these vast game files quickly.
That said, it’s far from a crappy aged disc. In our tests, the Crucial X9 maintained a maximum rated speed of over 950 MB/s for over eight minutes. While other drives can easily exceed this speed, this only applies to much shorter bursts.
In other words, let’s say you spend five minutes transferring data at a speed of 950 MB/s. After those five minutes, you’ve still transferred 285GB – which is more than brisk enough to hide or take all your favorite independent files with you. Generally, this is decent speed for most operate cases.
While its speeds are restricted in part by the older USB 3.2 Gen 2×1 port, that also means it’s likely to be compatible with a wider range of devices and desktops than the newer generation. Combined with the nice casing, this also makes it an attractive candidate for storing games on the go. Are you going on a long trip to meet family or friends? Share the terror together!
Plus, the X9 is only a few dollars more high-priced right now is the slower, older brother of the X6. The Crucial X6 remains our top budget pick for game storage, but it’s challenging to argue with the better speed X9 for literally only $3 more. Perhaps the scariest story this season will be that of sibling rivalry…
