In today’s fast-paced society, content creators must stay ahead of trends. Portable SSDs now need to offer high read and write speeds, compact design, shock resistance, and durability. In this Kingston XS1000 review, I tested the 2TB RED color version of the SSD.
In today’s digital age, speed and performance are essential for success. This is why portable SSD hard drives have become indispensable tools for content creators, acting as the best external SSD for photographers to help them break through all limits.
Kingston XS1000 Review
Design
The Kingston XS1000 Portable SSD is available in two color variants, black and red. The red model, known as the XS1000R, is the one we are reviewing here, so there’s no need for confusion.
It has a design that impressed me the first time I experienced it because this SSD drive has a compact design with dimensions of length x width of 69.5 mm and 32.6 mm, respectively. Thanks to its small size, I don’t need to spend too much space to store this portable SSD on business trips.
Although it is compact, the Kingston XS1000R portable SSD is designed to be sturdy and has an aluminum shell. In terms of weight, the new Kingston portable SSD weighs only about 28.7 grams. This “lightness” helps to significantly reduce luggage weight, providing maximum comfort for long business trips.
A small indicator light on top of the Kingston XS1000 helps users see whether the hard drive is functioning.
Temporarily leaving the compact and versatile design, when opening the product box, users will be given a USB Type-C to USB Type-A conversion cable and a USB Type-A to USB Type-C converter. This is probably a bit of a pity because if Kingston equipped it with a USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable with standard 3.2, it would probably make users feel much more comfortable and impressed.
Regarding connectivity, the XS1000R supports the USB 3.2 Gen 2 standard, enabling read speeds of up to 1,050 MB/s and write speeds of up to 1,000 MB/s. This allows content creators to process data directly on the hard drive quickly.
Kingston XS1000 review test
Real-World Performance
In terms of performance, in this Kingston XS1000 review, I challenged this 2TB portable SSD with a series of “tough” tests to measure actual speed with software such as CrystalDiskMark, ATTO Disk Benchmark, AS SSD,…
To experience the actual speed of the SSD, I chose the hardware configuration with the following parameters:
- CPU: Intel 13th Core i5-13500
- Motherboard: Asrock Z690 Steel Legend
- RAM: 16GB
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060
CrystalDiskMark
In the first test, I used the familiar CrystalDiskMark software, known for speed testing. The Kingston XS1000R portable SSD achieved sequential read and write speeds of 1,068 MB/s and 996.79 MB/s, respectively. These results are consistent with the manufacturer’s specifications.
In addition, I would like to note that to take advantage of the maximum speed of the hard drive, you should choose a motherboard or laptop with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 standard connection port.
ATTO Disk Benchmark
I continued to test the Kingston XS1000R SSD with ATTO Disk Benchmark software. With this software, the sequential read speed was 935.16 MB/s, and the write speed was 1019.92 MB/s. Both speeds began to peak at I/O sizes of 512 KB and above.
AS SSD Benchmark
Not stopping there, I continued to use AS SSD Benchmark software. I measured the speed of the Kingston XS1000R SSD hard drive. This software will help users monitor the read and write speed with uncompressed data.
According to the measured results, it will have sequential read and write speeds of 995.21 MB/s and 884.55 MB/s, respectively. Although the read and write parameters are lower than the announcement, this measurement will help users better understand the speed of the hard drive.
Although this SSD is aimed at content creators and regular users, I wanted to test it with the Final Fantasy XIV benchmark. I was curious to see how it would perform in that context.
In this test, the Kingston XS1000R SSD hard drive impressively completed all 5 levels with a loading time of about 12.44 seconds. This performance is faster than most SSD hard drives available today.
Next, I proceeded to the final test: checking the actual data copy speed. I selected 20GB of data, including photos ranging from 2MB to 30MB in size. During precise measurements, the Kingston XS1000 demonstrated a write speed of about 670MB/s. This speed exceeds the requirements of most users today.
Final line
Based on the test above, the Kingston XS1000 portable SSD is an ideal choice for users who need a high-speed drive in a compact form, perfect for travel. However, one drawback is the lack of a dual Type-C connector.
The Kingston XS1000 SSD portable hard drive is available in multiple storage capacities, from 1TB to 2TB. Prices start at $74.99 on Amazon.com and £77.64 on Amazon.co.uk, making it easy for users to choose a model that fits their daily needs.
