{"id":1309369,"date":"2025-09-01T14:17:37","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T14:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/Gfhddd5akAiRAV8CT4hWWM"},"modified":"2025-09-01T14:17:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T14:17:37","slug":"crucial-x10-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/crucial-x10-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Crucial X10 review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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You see that front-panel USB-C port on the fancy Fractal Design Terra<\/a> Mini-ITX case? That\u2019s a USB 3.2 x2, and if you plug it into a standard USB 3 header on a motherboard the system chucks an error and won\u2019t boot. That\u2019s my experience, anyway.<\/p>\n

So it was with some trepidation that I picked up the Crucial X10, wondering if I would be able to squeeze every last delicious drop of bandwidth out of its exotic USB connection. USB 3.2 x2 (20 Gbps) seems like a slightly odd choice in a world where phones have 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Type-C connectors and PCs have 40 Gbps USB4 ports on them, as well as the multi-lane data highways that are the modern flavours of Thunderbolt. It\u2019s faster, sure, but many PCs aren\u2019t going to be able to make the best use of it, and real speed freaks are going to be looking at USB4 or Thunderbolt drives to force multiple gigabytes through the wires in mere seconds.<\/p>\n

Happily, USB 3.2 x2 is part of the USB4 spec. Unhappily, it\u2019s only an optional one. So if your USB4 vendor has decided not to flick the switch or connect the wire or perform the ritual or whatever it takes to turn it on, you\u2019re out of luck. I found that USB4 on an Asus ROG Strix X870-I Gaming Wi-Fi<\/a> was capable of running the X10 at something approaching its maximum speed, and Thunderbolt 4 from a gaming laptop was a little bit faster still.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not exactly an expensive drive compared to the dedicated USB4 and Thunderbolt options, such as the chunky SanDisk Extreme Pro USB4<\/a> or the beast-like LaCie Rugged<\/a> Thunderbolt 5 drive, but if your USB-C ports top out at 10 Gbps then you\u2019re not going to get any additional benefit from the X10 over something like the Crucial X9<\/a> or Seagate Ultra Compact<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Crucial X10 specs<\/div>\n
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Capacity:<\/strong> 1 TB – 8 TB (2 TB tested)
Connectivity: <\/strong>USB 3.2 x2 Type-C
Dimensions: <\/strong>65 x 50 x 9.91 mm
Weight:<\/strong> 32 g
Price:<\/strong> $155<\/a>\/\u00a3151<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

So IF<\/em> you can make the best of it and IF<\/em> you want to spend a little bit more than a 10 Gbps SSD, the X10 can make a lot of sense. It runs twice as fast as the standard USB 3.2 drives, and if you\u2019re transferring a lot of data\u2014such as, picking an example at random out of thin air, backing up hundreds of gigs of game downloads from a device with a paltry internal SSD\u2014you\u2019ll see the lovely Windows file copy window disappear much faster.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not going to give you any benefits if you\u2019re downloading straight to it, as even 10 Gbps outstrips average internet connections by a long way. Moving large folders to and from other fast drives is its forte, and with up to 8 TB of storage available, you\u2019ll be able to fit a lot of games on it. Don\u2019t expect miracles, however. Its maximum speed is still slower than a PCIe 3.0 internal SSD. Its only benefits come in comparison to other portable drives.<\/p>\n

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Crucial has seen no reason to change the design it settled on for the X9 SSD, only changing the colour for the X10. The X10 is blue, and only blue, though there’s an X10 Pro model that comes in black and comes with a metal casing rather than a plastic one. This makes it a bit heavier, though not by a large amount. And a bit more expensive too, though not by a large amount. You might want the metal drive if you\u2019re taking it up mountains or across deserts as part of a wildlife documentary crew, but for most indoor uses the plastic one will be fine. It\u2019s IP55 ingress resistant and will take a 2-metre drop, though it\u2019s important to note that this is onto carpet, and harder floors may do some actual damage.<\/p>\n