MyDigitalSSD M2X Portable M.2 NVMe Enclosure Review

Introduction MyDigitalSSD M2X Portable M.2 NVMe Enclosure Review Internal NVMe drives, those we're used to, but externals are still rare. They exist, but usually, cost quite a premium. Today I'm taking a closer look at MyDigitalSSD's M2X portable M.2 NVMe enclosure (product link). With it, you can turn your old NVMe drive into a portable one. Naturally, you can also turn a new one into it, but it's a great way to utilise the old after an upgrade to something new. MyDigitalSSD M2X Enclosure The M2X enclosure utilises the latest USB 3.1 Gen 2 standard, allowing you to take NVMe speeds with you on the go. It can turn any PCIe M.2 M (M key) solid state drive into an ultra-portable pocket drive. The connection standard allows for transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps which exceeds SATA performance. You won't be able to max out most NVMe drives with it, but every bit helps. The adapter is compatible with 80mm (2280), 60mm (2260), and 42mm (2242) M.2 M form factors, and it is also OS independent. Thanks to the USB power delivery and low power consumption of NVMe drives, the M2X is fully bus powered. That means there's no need to carry any extra power supply with you. JMicron Bridge Controller Inside, it utilises the JMicron JMS583 USB 3.1 Gen 2 to PCIe Gen3 x2 bridge controller. It supports TRIM command for SSD and complies with both of USB Mass Storage Class Bulk-Only Transport (BOT) and USB Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP). With UASP, more simultaneous commands can be sent which allows for a better performance. Casing and Connections The casing is made from durable lightweight aluminium. The choice of material helps with the weight while keeping your drive protected. It also helps with the heat dissipation. When the included thermal pad is used, it allows you to observe an effect of 15 degrees lower temperatures. The material choice and fin design allow this to be possible. MyDigitalSSD includes both a USB-C and a USB-A cable with the M2X enclosure. So whether your system has a Type-C port or not, you'll be able to use it. And for anything else, there are plenty of optional adapters on the market. Feature Highlights Supports 2242 / 2260 / 2280 NVMe PCIe M.2 M SSDs up to 2TB Supports high (double-sided) and low (single-sided) profile form factors Lightweight, shock and crush-resistant aluminium casing Grooved fin heatsink design reduces overheating and thermal throttling USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) speeds with UASP support Fully bus-powered Type-C and Type-A cable included Package and Accessories The MyDigitalSSD M2X enclosure comes in a simple brown box with a sticker. The product itself is pictured and all the features and package contents are listed. The sticker also functions as seal, going around the side and onto the bottom. But there isn't more interesting information here. MyDigitalSSD packed the M2X enclosure adapter with a mini screwdriver and M.2 mounting screw pack for quick and convenient drive installation. There's both a Type-A and Type-C cable included. There's also an assembly diagram included. A Closer Look and Assembly The MyDigitalSSD M2X enclosure is quite simple in itself. The one-piece body is smooth on one side while the other features a set of fins. The aluminium it is made of together with the fin-design help with the heat dissipation of installed drives. There's also a thermal pad included which increases the effect. One end of the drive features the USB-C Gen.2 10Gbps port as well as a pinhole for the LED light. The other end of it has no distinguishable features, only two screws. Taking it apart for SSD installation is quick an easy. Once you removed the end piece, you can slide out the PCB. The internal PCB allows for the installation of 2242 to 2280 modules and in itself, it's quite simplistic. The bottom side has the bridge controller which handles most parts of the bus adapting and connection. Once you've installed your drive, it will look something like this. I used the BPX Pro from MyDisgitalSSD which we also just reviewed. It's a good match. The mounting system is quick and easy to use. Push the ring in around the end of your SSD and secure it with a screw through the bottom PCB hole. That's it, you're almost ready to use your new and speed portable storage drive. If you apply the thermal pad to the SSD, then it might get a bit tricky to insert the whole thing into the enclosure. However, if you're having trouble with that, just try stretching the pad a little. Test System, Software & Methodology The testing of a drive enclosure like this one is straightforward. There are no settings, no software, and no alternate drive modes necessary. I'll install a drive in it, connect it, and benchmark it. Then I'll compare those results to a native drive connection. The only important factor for the installed drive is that it preferably exceeds the enclosures performance rating. That way we are sure to get the best possible results that are possible with the enclosure. Benchmark System Supermicro C7Z270-PG Intel Core i7-7700K Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4 2400MHz (4x8GB) Toshiba OCZ VX500 512GB SSD be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 (1200W) Noctua NH-D15S Software used: AIDA64 Storage Benchmark Anvil's Storage Utilities ATTO Disk Benchmark AS SSD Benchmark CrystalDiskMark Storage Drives used: MyDigitalSSD BPX Pro 960GB M.2 NVMe SSD AIDA64 Storage Utilities AIDA64 is a streamlined Windows diagnostic and benchmarking software for home users. It provides a wide range of features to assist in overclocking, hardware error diagnosis, stress testing, and sensor monitoring. It also has a disk benchmark tool, and that is the one I'll be using. MyDigitalSSD M2X Enclosure Linear Performance The Linear Read test measures the sequential performance by reading all sectors without skipping any. It gives us a view of the drives overall performance from start to end. Random Performance The Random Read test measures the random performance by reading variable-sized data blocks at random locations on the surface of the drive. The Random tests are a combination of both speed and access times as it moves the position before each new operation. Access Times The Access time tests are designed to measure the data access performance by reading small 0.5KB data blocks at random locations on the drive surface. Native M.2 Onboard Connection Linear Performance The Linear Read test measures the sequential performance by reading all sectors without skipping any. It gives us a view of the drives overall performance from start to end. Random Performance The Random Read test measures the random performance by reading variable-sized data blocks at random locations on the surface of the drive. The Random tests are a combination of both speed and access times as it moves the position before each new operation. Access Times The Access time tests are designed to measure the data access performance by reading small 0.5KB data blocks at random locations on the drive surface. Drive Comparison Anvil's Storage Utilities Anvil’s Storage Utilities is a complete benchmark solution used to test any write-able storage drive. It has a variety of settings and options as well as a multitude of tests. MyDigitalSSD M2X Enclosure Native M.2 Onboard Connection Drive Comparison AS SSD Benchmark The AS SSD software determines the performance of Solid State Drives (SSD). The tool contains five synthetic and three practice tests. The synthetic tests determine the sequential and random read and write performance of the SSD. These tests are performed without using the operating system caches. In Sequential tests, the program measures the time it takes to read and write a 1 GB file respectively. MyDigitalSSD M2X Enclosure Native M.2 Onboard Connection Drive Comparison ATTO The ATTO Disk Benchmark performance measurement tool allows to test your storage systems performance with various transfer sizes and test lengths for reads and writes. Several options are available to customise your performance measurement including queue depth, overlapped I/O and even a comparison mode with the option to run continuously. MyDigitalSSD M2X Enclosure Native M.2 Onboard Connection Drive Comparison CrystalDiskMark CrystalDiskMark is a small HDD and SSD benchmark utility that allows you to measure a drive's sequential and random performance. MyDigitalSSD M2X Enclosure Native M.2 Onboard Connection Drive Comparison PCMark 8 Storage Benchmark PCMark 8 Storage benchmark tests the performance of SSDs, HDDs, and SSHD hybrid drives with traces recorded from Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office and a selection of games. You can test any recognised storage device, including local external drives. Unlike synthetic storage tests, the PCMark 8 Storage benchmark highlights real-world performance differences between storage devices. MyDigitalSSD M2X Enclosure Native M.2 Onboard Connection Drive Comparison Final Thoughts Pricing At the time of this review, the M2X portable USB 3.1 M.2 NVMe enclosure is available on Amazon for $39.99 in the US. It hasn't arrived in the UK yet. Conclusion MyDigitalSSD is mostly known, surprise surprise, for their SSDs. Their accessories shouldn't be overlooked though as we've seen today. The M2X enclosure allows you to turn an NVMe SSD into a high-speed portable drive. This isn't the first time the company released portable enclosures, they have done so in the past with those who also were utilised for their portable drives. You might remember the OTG series or Boost series. Naturally, the performance doesn't equal that of an internal drive. That's a given. We have 10Gbps battling against 32Gbps. Still, it's faster than SATA3 can do and it's the best we have of a common connector type. Still, we get great results with 850MB/s scores. The enclosure itself is well constructed. The aluminium makes it resistant and helps with the heat dissipation. The extra added fins are another thing that can help with the heat. MyDigitalSSD also included a thermal pad which further helps with the transfer of heat from the SSD to the enclosure. The tiny enclosure is bus-powered and compatible with any system. It comes with both Type-A and Type-C connector cables which makes it compatible with close to anything. MyDigitalSSD even bundled a tiny screwdriver with the enclosure. Pros Good build quality USB 3.1 Gen.2 10Gbps Type-C interface Type-C and Type-A cable included Maxes out the 10Gbps USB connection with ease Everything included, inclusive a thermal adhesive pad Cons It can be tricky to push the SSD into the enclosure when the thermal pad is attached "MyDigitalSSD's M2X NVMe enclosure allows you to take your high-speed storage on the go. Mount up to a 2TB drive and get 850MB/s performance throughput." Thank you MyDigitalSSD for providing us with this sample.