2.5" Team Group CX2 SATA III 3D NAND Internal Solid State Drive: 1TB $33, 2TB $66 + Free Shipping

It's insane to see the prices plummet like they are. Computers and older game consoles are gonna get some decent upgrades soon.

Recently purchased this. Phison S11 controller and 96-layer Micron TLC NAND. 1TB version only writes ~7GB before cratering to ~60MB/s. The PNY CS900 has the same controller but 96-layer Kioxia TLC and writes ~20GB before dropping to ~90MB/s. The Silicon Power A55 (which has scary reviews!) uses the SMI 2259XT controller and 144-layer Intel QLC. I have not fully tested it yet but it seems to have a comparatively massive pSLC cache. Write speed still hadn't dropped even after 50GB of writes on the 512GB model.

I wonder how the EX2 version will do in transfer test. It is little bit faster than CX2 spec wise and $9 more expensive.

You're right, the official specs for the EX2 are slightly better. I generally don't pay any attention to the "up to" numbers on SATA drives. They're all going to claim numbers close to the limit of the SATA3 bus but it isn't a good indicator of real world performance. Even if they were accurate, what good are they when the drive can't maintain them for even 20 seconds? That's not an exaggeration.

I would be interested in testing and seeing what's inside an EX2 but I can't justify spending that much on something that's probably little, if any, different or better. I've bought a number of Team Group flash products recently and they've proven to be slow and unreliable. If I buy more, I'll probably experiment with other brands.

If my tests are representative of these products in general, I just can't see any justification for buying the CX2/AX2 lines. The PNY CS900 is nearly the same price, has literally identical components (besides the NAND) but performs substantially better. I also view PNY slightly more favorably than Team Group, not that I haven't had some dog-slow PNY products. At least I haven't had any PNY drives lose data, even after sitting unused for years.

At present, the bargain bin SATA drives I'd be most inclined to recommend are the PNY CS900 and the ADATA SU655. I've also had good luck with Micro Center's Inland Pro drives but I haven't bought any since pre-pandemic times and it's possible they've changed. Those drives also used the Phison S11, paired with Kioxia/Toshiba NAND, similar to the modern PNY CS900. DIShonorable mention goes to the Crucial BX500 and Team Group CX2/AX2. I haven't formed an opinion on the Silicon Power A55 yet but the horrible reviews and the fact that it's QLC make me very nervous. However, it does seem to have a much larger pSLC cache.

For anyone willing to spend a bit more, I'd recommend the Crucial MX500. It's vastly superior and presently my top pick for SATA drives.

Thank you for the write-up. A lot of the technical terms and specs are over my head, but a top pick is a top pick.
I'm looking at getting a SATA SDD for an older iMac I 'inherited' and was looking at the Crucial MX500 and the Samsung 870 EVO. I think they were pretty evenly matched, except the Samsung had a higher TBW value, which I guess is a measure of longevity?
Do you have any insights into the MX500 vs. 870 EVO?
TIA!

You're right, the official specs for the EX2 are slightly better. I generally don't pay any attention to the "up to" numbers on SATA drives. They're all going to claim numbers close to the limit of the SATA3 bus but it isn't a good indicator of real world performance. Even if they were accurate, what good are they when the drive can't maintain them for even 20 seconds? That's not an exaggeration.

I would be interested in testing and seeing what's inside an EX2 but I can't justify spending that much on something that's probably little, if any, different or better. I've bought a number of Team Group flash products recently and they've proven to be slow and unreliable. If I buy more, I'll probably experiment with other brands.

If my tests are representative of these products in general, I just can't see any justification for buying the CX2/AX2 lines. The PNY CS900 is nearly the same price, has literally identical components (besides the NAND) but performs substantially better. I also view PNY slightly more favorably than Team Group, not that I haven't had some dog-slow PNY products. At least I haven't had any PNY drives lose data, even after sitting unused for years.

At present, the bargain bin SATA drives I'd be most inclined to recommend are the PNY CS900 and the ADATA SU655. I've also had good luck with Micro Center's Inland Pro drives but I haven't bought any since pre-pandemic times and it's possible they've changed. Those drives also used the Phison S11, paired with Kioxia/Toshiba NAND, similar to the modern PNY CS900. DIShonorable mention goes to the Crucial BX500 and Team Group CX2/AX2. I haven't formed an opinion on the Silicon Power A55 yet but the horrible reviews and the fact that it's QLC make me very nervous. However, it does seem to have a much larger pSLC cache.

For anyone willing to spend a bit more, I'd recommend the Crucial MX500. It's vastly superior and presently my top pick for SATA drives.

You lost data on which brand drive that sat unused for years? TeamGroup?