With Black Friday now upon us, I like to remind myself that sometimes less is more—after all, when it comes to external SSDs, I definitely don't want to be lugging around a hefty brick. So I've always looked at the teeny tiny form factor of the Crucial X10 portable SSD longingly…even though you can only get this dinky drive in a traditional black or fetching blue colourway. Not offering purple is a missed trick, because everyone knows hardware in that hue is automatically better.
Okay, so, perhaps not everyone shares my obsession with lilac—but I know for a fact that compact hardware has near universal appeal. But even better than the Crucial X10 portable SSD's 50 x 65 x 10 millimetre dimensions, is the fact you can get 8 TB of capacity for only $385 at Amazon. That's a small drive with a mighty price for the large capacity you're getting.
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That's more than enough space for a solid chunk of your Steam library (I'm assuming anyone reading this easily has an embarrassment of unplayed riches in the hundreds or even thousands). According to Ian's Crucial X10 review, this portable SSD offers decently nippy transfer speeds—though, if you've not got a USB 3.2 x2 port within reach, speeds can vary wildly over a USB-C connection.
That said, over a Thunderbolt 4 connection you can get a read speed of up to 2003.8 MB/s and a write speed of up to 1933.3 MB/s. That means transferring a 30 GB or so game—such as Arc Raiders—will take less than 30 seconds. While I personally wouldn't recommend actually playing your online games via external storage media, that's still a fast file transfer if you're facing a bit of a storage conundrum or need to play musical chairs with some big game files.
It's worth noting that the Crucial X10 does occupy a weird space in the realm of portable SSDs. A 3.2 Gen 2x2 SSD might seem a little under-kill for new devices that are USB4, while also being overkill for phones which tend to be 3.2 Gen 2x1. However, this external SSD remains a cheaper option than getting a USB4 drive—besides that, plenty of laptops and PCs are still rocking Gen 2x2 ports.
Given this SSD's tiny size and large capacity, it remains a great drive for personal use. Add to that the fact that Crucial X10's IP65 rating means it's got a decent amount of protection against dust and damp, plus drop resistance rated for a fall of up to three metres, and this SSD is ready for most adventures.
For instance, if you've switched on Steam Family Sharing but your beloved relative or bestie is stuck with an abysmal internet connection, you can more easily bring your Steam library to them with the Crucial X10. 'Tis the giving season, after all.
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