Small, but Mighty! – Crucial P310 M.2 2230 2TB SSD Review
Conclusion – The Fastest M.2 2230 SSD
Higher speeds without compromises – The Crucial P310 SSD is a killer product for compact devices
Crucial’s new P310 SSD is a small, but mighty SSD. No other drive claims performance levels that push against the limits of PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots within the M.2 2230 form factor. As such, this drive is virtually peerless at the time of writing. With its Micron 232-layer NAND and Phison E27 SSD controller, this drive puts the stock storage options on Valve’s Steam Deck and ASUS’ ROG Ally to shame. That makes this compact drive an ideal option for portable gaming devices like these, and other M.2 2230 compatible systems.
As of now, the P310 is the fastest and most storage dense M.2 2230 SSD on the market. That may change in time, but for now this drive is virtually peerless. 2TB of storage is a big deal for devices like the ROG Ally and Steam Deck, especially given the size of some modern PC games. While this SSD has its limitations, none of them are dealbreakers, and of them are problems that are always present in high capacity M.2 2230 SSD.
As a QLC-based SSD, this drive can struggle if users write to this SSD over extended periods of time. This is not a common occurrence for the vast majority of PC users, making it a non-issue in reality. Unless you plan to rewrite this entire SSD in a single session, this will not be a problem for you. Simply put, you will not be able to download games fast enough to make this happen. This SSD is targeted at games with systems like the ROG Ally, MSI Claw, Lenovo Legion Go, or Steam Deck. Those users will be downloading games and playing them. For this use case, QLC NAND is not an issue. Beyond that, you simply cannot buy a 2TB M.2 2230 SSD that doesn’t use QLC NAND.
An excellent upgrade option for handheld gaming devices
Simply put, the Crucial P310 is an excellent upgrade option for any user of an M.2 2230 compatible device. It’s the fastest M.2 2230 available at the time of writing, and that speed doesn’t come with any real compromises. It makes the stock SSDs in devices like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally look slow, and it provides much faster loading times than any MicroSD storage expansion option. This SSD will give your portable gaming device a storage speed boost, and is a much better storage upgrade than upgrading your device with a large MicroSD card.
Crucial has effectively maxed out the storage potential of the M.2 2230 PCIe Gen 4 form factor with their P310. As of now, it is the best storage upgrade option for compatible devices. For that reason, this SSD deserves the OC3D Enthusiast Grade Award.
You can join the discussion on Crucial’s P310 PCIe 4.0 M.2 2230 SSD on the OC3D Forums.
