Drevo X1 Pro 256GB SSD Review

Introduction & Closer Look

We not only love seeing the latest and greatest here at Play3r, but we also love seeing products from new kids on the block; innovation and new designs not only increase competition, but new is good, right? Drevo isn’t just a new brand to the market, but the team behind it also launched the online store ArmYourDesk. So what product are we looking at today? Well the title does indeed say the Drevo X1 Pro 256GB SSD and that’s exactly what we have on the Play3r test bench; Pro by name, pro by nature? Let’s take a look and see what we’re dealing with…

The X1 Pro SATA3 SSD only comes in a 2.5mm form factor and from the front looks pretty stylish. The SSD features a black colour scheme with a sticker label with the vital information which contains the model number, branding, the capacity and even goes as far as listing the read and write speed performance; I’m not too sure whether or not I find that acceptable for a retail product to state on the product itself.

The overall dimensions of the X1 Pro 256GB SSD 100 x 69.7 x 7mm and the drive are available in 2 capacities; 128GB and 256GB.

Controlling the dual Micron 128GB 6XB2D memory chips is the Silicon Motion SM2258XT controller; this is the exact controller that WD uses in their Green SSD range. It’s not exactly the highest spec controller on the planet, but Silicon Motion are a reputable and top brand in the NAND/SSD controller market, so it’s nice to see Drevo using top quality components inside their SSDs.

On the flip side, we have the obligatory sticker which contains the specifications and relevant details such as model number, branding, warranty information and even the working temperatures. This is notably the X1 Pro series and not the regular X1 which obviously shares a similar name; the Pro features a better spec and slightly higher capacities.

The Drevo X1 Pro SSD uses the SATA3 (6GB/s)interface which gives the drive a theoretical maximum performance of up to 600MB/s; obviously, this is theoretical and I have yet to see a single SATA3 SSD actually hit the bandwidth limits.

Let’s take a look at the Drevo X1 Pro specifications and then the Play3r SSD test bench setup so see how it compares to previously tested storage drives here at Play3r…

Specifications

Brand: DREVO
Series: X1 Pro Series
Type: 2.5-Inch SSD Solid State Drive
Interface: SATAIII (backwards compatible with SATAII, SATAI)
Capacity: 128GB/256GB
Read/Write Speed: Seq Read Speed Up To 560M/S, Seq Write Speed Up To 500M/S
Size: 100 x 69.75 x 7 mm
TRIM: Support

Test Setup & Performance

Test Setup:

CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K @ 4.5GHz
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i V2 AIO
Motherboard: ASUS Z270 Maximus IX Apex
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Elite 32GB 3000MHz (4x8GB)
PSU: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 1000w
OS: Windows 10 64 bit

Methodology:

All benchmarks are done on a fresh install of Windows 7 Professional 64-bit that is fully up-to-date with Windows Updates to ensure that the performance reflects a real-world scenario and not that of a tweaked benchmarking system. Every benchmark runs for a total of three times and then an average is taken of those results.

Benchmarks:

AS SSD – 4K read and write speeds & sequential read and write speeds
4.75GB Transfer Test – Time taken in seconds to transfer files to and from the SSD; fastest and quickest drive wins!

Performance:

AS SSD

4.75GB Transfer Test

Conclusion

Our first product from Drevo has been a relatively interesting one because, in all honesty, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Drevo isn’t an entirely new brand to me and I have been aware of them for at least 6 or so months; this is why I wanted to not only personally see some of their products for myself, but share my experiences with you lot (the readers of Play3r). The X1 Pro SSD has a lot going for it, but does it have enough to deserve an award today? Let’s find out…

Performance

With the performance actually being stated on the front of the SSD itself, it has some bold claims to live up to and unfortunately, I didn’t manage to achieve the rated speeds of 560/500MB read and write speeds respectively. In our testing using the AS SSD benchmark, I only achieved read and write speeds of 511/437MB/s respectively and although it’s not a bad showing, it only sits middle of our graphs as it stands. Performance is comparable to Samsung’s 840 EVO which is now currently 2 generations old; still, it’s not bad performance and it’s exactly where I would expect performance to be on a budget Silicon Motion controller.

Design

I have to be quite frank here, I actually like the overall look of the X1 Pro SSD and a particular highlight is the large yellow lightning bolt in the middle. Of course, there isn’t much you can really do with an SSD in terms of looks outside of the 2.5mm format and casings between SSDs are virtually identical other than colour and the sticker. Internally a lot of the space inside the casing is wasted, but this isn’t too much of a problem as a lot of SSDs only use half the 2.5mm form factor casings supplied. One thing I really don’t like however is having the rated performance figures on the actual drive, this is fine for packaging but it’s a little garish actually stating it on the product; would you want your new gaming laptop having projected 3DMark benchmark figures next to the logo? You would probably opt out…

Value

Probably the strongest aspect of the Drevo X1 Pro 256GB SSD is the value and coming in at £69.99 currently at Amazon UK, it remains one of the cheapest and best value 256GB SSDs on the market. This is great if you’re looking for around 256GB and have a strict budget and with a 3-year warranty, it does represent excellent value. If the warranty had of been lacking, I probably wouldn’t have scored it so well in value, but due to the potential foothold on the market, I’m pleased to present Drevo with our value award for the X1 Pro 256GB SSD!

Final Thoughts

Although the performance is relatively average across the board and the design isn’t going to set your heart into overdrive, the value shown by the X1 Pro 256GB SSD is exceptional and pulls this SSD from the cusp of being middle of the road to something actually worth purchasing. Of course, brand snobs may turn their nose up at a new brand and that can sometimes be the case, but there’s absolutely no question in my mind that the Drevo X1 Pro 256GB SSD is fantastic bang for buck and despite the budget controller used, it’s certainly worth the money spent!

You can purchase here in the UK here – http://amzn.to/2obLabz
You can purchase here in the US here – http://amzn.to/2nWG95F

I would like to thank Drevo for sending the X1 Pro 256GB SSD in for review.