With the XS1000, Kingston offers a compact external SSD with absolutely decent performance for its category. And above all, a rather advantageous price compared to its competitors.
After a very high performance XS2000, Kingston released this year a new ultra compact external SSD with a slightly lowered technical sheet, as well as its price: the Kingston XS1000. Does its very small size hide a speed monster? We wanted to test all of that.
Technical sheet
- Capacity: 1 TB, 2 TB
- Interface: USB Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 2
- Transfer speed: up to 1050 MB/s read, 1000 MB/s write
- Dimensions: 69.54 x 32.58 x 13.5 mm
- Weight: 28.7g
- Color: black
The Kingston XS1000 SSD was given to us by Kingston for the purposes of this review.
Design
The great strength of Kingston’s latest external SSD is its small size: with its 7 centimeters in length and 3 in width, it fits into all pockets and cases, so much so that you would be afraid of losing it. This is obviously an asset, especially since he is very discreet with his black plastic dress adorned with a Kingston logo.
The SSD doesn’t offer any additional protection against drops, either on the ground or in water, but it seemed sturdy enough for everyday use. Note that the included cable is USB-C to USB-A, so if you have a computer that no longer offers a classic USB port, you will be forced to use another cable or adapter.
Source: Brice Zerouk for Frandroid
Source: Brice Zerouk for Frandroid
We regret this choice a little, especially for MacBook users. Good point however, the cable is very short and therefore not bulky.
Software
For its various SSDs, Kingston provides software on its official website, Kingston SSD Manager. The latter offers fairly basic functionalities in an interface from another era.
You will be able to check the health of your SSD, the space used, its lifespan as well as all the information such as its serial number or firmware version.
Honestly, the software didn’t seem very useful to us as it stands and can’t hold a candle to suites like Samsung Magician or WD Drive Manager.
Performance
In terms of performance, Kingston’s external SSD is doing very well with a reading speed very close to the 1050 MB/s promised by the manufacturer and a writing speed slightly lower, around 930 MB/s (compared to 1000 MB/s). /s theoretical). We are limited here by the USB 3.2 Gen 2 standard but if you want to double this performance, you will have to upgrade to the more expensive XS2000.
Obviously, to achieve these speeds, be sure to plug the SSD into the correct USB port, but also use cables intended for file transfer and not for charging. You will be amazed at the differences that can be observed depending on the cables.
Our other test consists of copying a large file (here, one of the Baldur’s Gate III installation files) to evaluate its speed in real conditions. And it is true that the performance observed is uneven, with a stability that is sorely lacking: if the copy starts at around 800 MB/sec, it is very variable, with drops down to less than 100 MB/sec. s. Kingston has therefore not pampered its cache which seems to saturate very quickly for such operations.
Price and availability
The Kingston SX1000 SSD is available from 82.90 euros in its 1 TB version and 119.90 euros in its 2 TB version. At this price, we advise you to go directly to the 2 TB model for peace of mind of spirit.