The Crucial X9 stands out primarily for its compact size. This portable SSD is roughly the size of a standard SD card, making it an ideal travel companion. For those who regularly carry large files, this option is very practical. The drive slips easily into a pocket or bag without taking up much space.
The bundle includes the drive and a USB-C cable. This cable is particularly important, as it ensures maximum performance from the device. It’s crucial to keep it safe. In most cases, using a generic cable will likely limit transfer speeds.
Crucial X9, performance and transfer speeds
The Crucial X9 boasts read and write speeds of up to 1,000 MB/s. This speed is a reasonable standard for a portable SSD in this range. Indeed, this throughput makes it suitable for a variety of professional uses. The SSD can be used for video editing directly from the external drive. For a 2.3 GB video file, the transfer takes only a few seconds. Furthermore, playback of multimedia content is smooth. This responsiveness is due to the consistent transfer rate the drive maintains during read operations. Therefore, this SSD is particularly well-suited for content creators who need to access or edit large files on the go.
Cross-platform compatibility
The Crucial X9’s primary advantage lies in its versatility. It works natively with MacBooks equipped with USB-C ports, Windows PCs, and recent Android devices. Furthermore, it’s compatible with the latest iPhones featuring USB-C connectivity. By formatting it as exFAT, it can be used with modern operating systems: iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows. If you’re someone who regularly works across multiple devices, this drive quickly becomes indispensable. The ability to transfer photos and videos from a smartphone and then retrieve them on a computer for editing significantly simplifies workflows.
Crucial X9: Robustness and design for mobile professionals
Thanks to its compact size and light weight (65 x 50 x 10 mm and approximately 32 grams), the Crucial X9 is a natural companion for photographers, videographers, and mobile professionals. Furthermore, it is shockproof, vibration-resistant, and drop-resistant up to 2 meters. With its IP55 rating, it is dustproof and waterproof. Like traditional USB flash drives, it is ultra-portable but with superior capacity and performance. This external SSD positions itself as a modern storage solution. As mentioned earlier, its small size is a major advantage. Compared to a conventional hard drive or even some competing SSDs, its footprint remains minimal.
Verdict
The Crucial X9 strikes a good balance between performance and portability. Speeds of 1000 MB/s are more than enough for most everyday uses and even for demanding tasks like light video editing. The 1TB capacity offers ample space for archiving documents, multimedia projects, and system backups. For all these reasons, it’s the obvious choice for anyone who prioritizes portability.
| What we like |
|---|
| – Fast transfer speeds up to 1050 MB/s – Robust polycarbonate casing, shock and drop resistant to 2 meters |
| What we like less |
|---|
| – High price compared to traditional hard drives – No hardware data encryption |
