CONCLUSION

   Since the only other M.2 NVMe SSD in our charts using the SM2262EN NAND flash controller by Silicon Motion is the KC2000 1TB by Kingston a comparison to the Pilot-E is unavoidable. Still comparing a 1TB model with a 500GB is not the ideal scenario (higher capacities usually outperform the lower capacity variants) and as you can tell from our charts the Pilot-E is outperformed by the KC2000 in most of our tests. Still with performance levels coming close and even surpassing 3000MB/s in reads and 2300MB/s in writes (in some of the tests that is) and with an endurance/durability number of 350TBW (not to mention an MTBF of 1.5 million hours) the Pilot-E indeed belongs in the high-performance league.

   Price is an area where Mushkin has always done well and with a price tag currently set at USD71.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and at around 77Euros inside the EU the Pilot-E 500GB M.2 NVMe drive is priced roughly 15-20% less compared to similar models. Bottom line even though the Pilot-E is far from the fastest M.2 NVMe drive out there currently it does combine very good performance levels with even better endurance/durability numbers and is priced just right which is why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Performance (Up To 3000MB/s Read & 2300MB/s Write)
- 3 Years Warranty
- Endurance / Durability (350TBW)
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Thermal Throttling (During Our SNIA Tests)