Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB Solid State Drive Review

We mentioned earlier that we’ve had a few solid state drives pass through our hands lately and they all differ in many ways, though a lot of consumers won’t see this at first glance. Simply put, they all look the same, even when you open it up, we find a PCB with some chips and a controller, so users automatically assume that they are all very much of a muchness. You’d be wrong, as it all depends on the task in hand and the memory and controller both play a part in giving you different results.

You could spend thousands on a PCI-Express based SSD which would give you performance like no other, but depending on what you’re going to use it for, would you really notice a difference? Half the time, the answer would be no, and you’d be better of saving some money and buying yourself something pretty instead.

This is where the M4 comes into play, as it doesn’t lie or give you any over indulgent figures but instead, sticks to the truth and at a very attractive price too. A lot of SSDs on the market claim to give you speeds of up to 550MB/s read and up to 500MB/s write but this is never the case. Crucial tell you that it does 500MB/s read and 175MB/s write. Now, this may not sound amazing compared to some other drives on the market, but saving yourself £60 for something you may not even notice certainly gets you listening.

Though Crucial market these speeds, in all of our tests saw above and beyond this with 520MB/s read speeds and 200MB/s write speeds, meaning that the user will be even happier knowing that they’ve got something extra than what the marketing and sales documents stated.

Where this drive really comes alive is its value, and at £148.94 for the 128GB model, you’re certainly going to be happy with your purchase. The fact that Crucial keep on top of things in terms of firmware also gives you the piece of mind that you know you’re getting the latest, current version and retailers even let you know of this fact, before you buy it.

The M4 is definitely a rival to the abundance of SandForce driven SSDs on the market, that are tried and tested, and we hope that by looking at the 128GB model, it gives a clear understanding of why you don’t need to spend the extra money to get the same results, in certain circumstances, but as with any purchase, it’s all down to personal preference and what’s the right product for you.