Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Compact housing with IP55 certification
- With removable protective rubber cover
- For Windows, Mac OS and Chrome OS
- 5-year manufacturer’s warranty
Cons
- Relatively warm under load
- Rare USB-C interface standard
Our Verdict
If you’re looking for a portable SSD, you can hardly go wrong with the Kingston XS2000 Portable SSD 1 TB. Superior speed, handy format and shock-proof casing – all at an attractive price.
The Kingston XS2000 external SSD has been available for a while. But it’s still worth a test. With USB 3.2 Gen2x2, it comes with a USB-C interface standard that is still rare and theoretically enables fast 20 gigabits per second.
At the same time, the mobile storage medium is available in an astonishing number of capacity variants – more precisely with 500 GB and with one, two or four TB – which is not a matter of course in this device category.
In the tested variant with 1TB of storage space, the external SSD costs $78.99/£80 at the time of testing – an extremely fair offer. Other capacities (500GB, 2TB and 4TB) have RRPs of $74.99/£49.80, $214.99/£142.79 and $449.99/£260.39 respectively.
You can buy the XS2000 direct from Kingston (and the US store)as well as retailers such as Amazon, Amazon US, Box, Ebuyer and B&H Photo.
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Performance
Ideally controlled, the Kingston XS2000 Portable SSD 1TB really gets going during reading processes. In the test, it already proves this in the benchmark runs with the tool Crystaldiskmark (CDM), which we use in different versions. With CDM 6, the data rates are high at a good 1975 MB/s for reading and 1742 MB/s for writing. However, they remain below the 2000MB/s limit that the manufacturer promises as maximum performance on the packaging.
However, the external SSD can even surpass this performance mark in the test runs with CDM 7 and 8. In the interaction with both tool versions, it achieves a good 2088 MB/s. The write rates improve, even if they are still too high. The write rates improve, albeit less strongly, to 1858MB/s (CDM 7) and 1829MB/s (CDM 8). The read performance remains the same in the practical runs.
When transferring DVD video, the Kingston XS2000 even sets a new top value in the test field with a good 1206 MB/s in reading. The write rate is a good 724MB/s. This seems to be far below the read result. However, the comparison in the test field shows that this result is also a top performance.
The Kingston model achieves a similarly high performance when copying the MP3 package, which consists of over 1000 small song files and, as experience shows, keeps the test candidates very busy. With a good 727MB/s, the external SSD once again achieves a very high read rate. Even if it cannot maintain this level in writing, the data rate of over 453MB/s is an absolutely good result.
The Kingston XS2000 Portable supports the very fast USB 3.2 Gen2x2.
IDG
Design & Build
From the outside, the high performance of the Kingston XS2000 Portable SSD 1TB is not obvious. The case is extremely handy and consists of aluminium top and bottom sides with plastic side edges. Even if you put the included black rubber cover over it, you won’t have any problems placing the mobile storage device in your trouser pocket. Even without this additional protection against falls, the external SSD is armed against dust and water splashes thanks to IP55 certification.
The manufacturer limits the scope of delivery to the bare essentials: in addition to the rubber cover, the package only contains a relatively short USB-C to C cable of around 30 centimetres. There are also no programmes for monitoring the SSD or encrypting data on the data carrier. Instead, free technical support and a five-year warranty are included – the latter point is comparatively generous.
Flexible Use
The Kingston XS2000 Portable SSD 1TB is formatted exFAT out of the box. In addition to Windows, it also works with the Mac OS, Linux and Chrome OS operating systems. Even when the mobile drive is heavily loaded, the energy hunger does not increase excessively. We measured a medium value of 2.31 watts. However, the case temperature is somewhat higher. Under load, it reaches a good 36 degrees Celsius in the test.
Verdict
If you are looking for an external NVMe SSD for the USB 3.2 Gen2x2 standard with impressive performance, the Kingston XS2000 Portable SSD 1TB is the right choice. In the test, it even set some new records. In addition, it is easy to take along thanks to its compact format and comes with suitable protection mechanisms against external influences such as shocks or moisture.
In view of the very reasonable price for the mobile drive, you won’t even make a mistake if you don’t yet have a USB-C port on your PC that meets the maximum requirements.
This review originally appeared on PC Welt.