Kingston has enjoyed a couple of years with M.2 now, with the launch of the SM2280 range. The 120GB version came first, followed some time later by the 240GB we have to review in this instance.
Not a huge amount has changed with regards to this model, but there’s still a lot to appreciate from this slightly older M.2 example.
The Kingston 240GB SSDNow M.2 is a standard M.2 form, hence the 2280 model number, meaning it measures 22 x 80 x 3.5mm, while weighing 7.3g. In terms of technology used, the Kingston 240GB SSDNow uses a Phison PS3108-S8 SATA-3 controller – again, another SATA 6Gbps controller and not the newer PCIe controller.
Features include a firmware-based power loss protection technology to maintain data integrity in the event of a total loss of system power. According to the Kingston specifications, the drive makes sure that the data in the cache is constantly flushed to the NAND, so any loss of power will result in a marginal loss of data, better aiding the drive to recovery once the power is restored.
There’s also a power saving feature hard-wired into this Kingston model, with measured power consumption of 0.06W when idle, 0.1W average, 1.01W maximum read and 3.08W maximum write. And the life expectancy is rated at one million hours.
Support for TRIM and S.M.A.R.T. as well as Intel’s SRT polish off an otherwise well-specified storage device, although it doesn’t feel quite as well technology-supported as the Samsung 850 EVO. However, our ATTO benchmark showed some surprising results. The read speed for the 8192KB transfer test came back with 554MB/s read and 533MB/s write, both of which beat the Samsung model by 4MB/s and 16MB/s respectively.
The smaller 4KB transfer recorded a read speed of 323MB/s and a write speed of 251MB/s, which evened out the scores somewhat, with these numbers being less than the Samsung 850 EVO.
As before, in the real world, Windows 10 booted extraordinarily quickly, about the same as the Samsung. And as before, the OS and everything we ran felt quick and responded as one would expect from a decent SSD.
The extra 120GB on top of the Samsung model is certainly more beneficial. While you could get away with the 120GB Samsung as a lone storage device in a system by the skin of your teeth, the 240GB Kingston left some breathing space for gaming, media and the usual office-like duties. However, to be fair, you’ll probably need a good terabyte as a secondary drive for the future.
The Kingston 240GB SSDNow M.2 is a good NAND storage device for both laptops and desktops. A decent enough capacity combined with good read and write scores makes this one to consider for your next upgrade. At just £100, it’s not too badly priced either, although newer systems will probably benefit from a more modern PCIe controller rather than the original SATA 6Gbps.