9.0
Score

Pros

  • All black finish is pretty nice
  • Speeds and the performance are on par to the claims
  • Compact and easy to carry anywhere you go
  • Price to performance ratio, very well balanced

Cons

  • Lack USB C-to-C cable might frustrate some users

Last year, we reviewed the Kingston XS2000, which was this pretty tiny External SSD that could fit effortlessly into anything. That said, earlier this year at Computex 2023, they announced the Kingston XS1000 External SSD – aimed at most consumers and from a price-to-value proposition, this SSD has got to be one of the best ones we have seen this year.

Kingston XS1000 External SSD Review

Looks and Finish

The Kingston XS1000 External SSD comes in a rather simpler package than the XS2000 we reviewed last year. You get the SSD itself and a USB A to C cable. And just looking at that, you know it’s aimed at users who want an accessory where they don’t have to hunt for things that they may have not adapted to. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with a USB-C to C cable or a rubberized casing that protects against drops – but at the end of the day, this SSD’s target demography is different from the XS2000.

Kingston XS1000 External SSD Review

But I have to say, I love the all-black finish of the Kingston XS1000 which looks classy and understated. As for the weight, it’s just 28 grams – pretty light.

Specification and Performance

The Kingston XS1000 comes in two configurations: 1TB and 2 TB. The fact that there are no smaller capacities is pretty nice to see as it fills up pretty fast and the odds of getting a new one are pretty high. The XS1000 uses a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface, which should offer speeds of up to 1050MB/s in reading and 1000MB/s in write speeds.

We tested the Kingston XS1000 with the help of CrystalDiskMark and CrystalDiskInfo and checked out the temperatures and performance. We noticed that the SSD has an idle temperature of 30 degrees and you can see that the count and hours that it’s a new unit we are reviewing here. Now for this benchmark, we used a USB A to C and C to C cable to see the speeds it hits and it’s no surprise that it’s the same.

Kingston XS1000 External SSD Benchmark

The Sequential Read speeds we got were about 1062MB/s and Write speeds of 981MB/s (USB-A to C) 1062MB/s for read speed and 982MB/s for write speeds (USB-C to C). The reason we see consistent speeds with both cables is that traditional USB-A has the potential to carry data at speeds of up to 10Gbps – and it’s very well in the range of its potential. So, regardless of which cable you use to transfer data with the XS1000, performance is going to be consistent.

USB A to C
USB A to C
USB C to C
USB C to C

From a thermal standpoint, the temperatures were well in the manageable range as the idle temperature was anywhere from 30-33 degrees and during the benchmark, we noticed it hit 48-52 degrees. It wasn’t hot but just like any SSDs would get warm, this did too. Again, this varies in what kind of temperature your environment has (in our case, it was about 29 degrees Celsius).

With the XS2000, who is this XS1000 for?

Okay, one of the biggest questions would be, what’s the difference between the XS2000 and XS1000?

While for the most part, both SSDs share similar hardware, it’s the port and the speeds vary. The XS2000 uses a rather niche port standard, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 and there are only a handful number of devices out there that support this port. But with the newer generation motherboards, hitting the market, the odds of stumbling upon a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 are a little higher. The speeds are a lot faster and only restricted to the said port above.

The XS1000, to put it simply, is more consumer-friendly with no need for hunting down niche hardware and that’s always a relief to hear.

Conclusion

The Kingston XS1000 External SSD is priced extremely competitively in the Malaysian market – with 1TB priced at RM 380-400 and 2TB at 580-600. I’d say it’s easily one of the best compact SSDs money can buy and it sure does perform quite alright. You can get it on Lazada or Shopee Malaysia – and with the 12.12 Sale coming soon, expect this to go as low as RM 300 for 1TB and maybe a little more for the 2TB.

If you are looking for a USB Drive type of storage with same kind of speeds, then check out the Kingston DTMAX.


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