INTRODUCTION

   M.2 PCIe NVMe solid state drives (SSDs) may offer blazing fast read and write speeds but their 2.5" SATA III (6Gb/s) cousins still own a good chunk of the market. The why is simple, both old laptops and desktops are compatible with them and so they are pretty much the easiest, cheapest and fastest upgrade both consumers and even professionals can get for their outdated systems. Still with the SATA III standard already saturated by 2.5" SSD models released several years ago manufacturers are simply not that interested in the development of newer ones. As a matter of fact Lexar is among a handful that have recently released such models and today i'll be testing their NQ100 960GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s SSD.

   For more than 25 years, Lexar has been a trusted leading global brand of memory solutions. Our award-winning lineup includes memory cards, USB flash drives, card readers, solid-state drives and DRAM. With so many options, it’s easy to find the right Lexar solution to fit your needs. All Lexar product designs undergo extensive testing in the Lexar Quality Labs with more than 1,100 digital devices, to ensure performance, quality, compatibility, and reliability. Lexar products are available worldwide at major retail and e-tail stores. For more information or support, visitwww.lexar.com.

   The NQ100 line of 2.5" SATA III (6Gb/s) SSDs is currently available in 240/480/960GB variants and features Lexar's very own DM928 DRAM-less NAND flash controller (rebranded Maxiotek MAS0902?) together with 4 Micron 3D QLC NAND flash memory modules. In terms of available technologies, the drive sports S.M.A.R.T. drive performance and health monitoring, LDPC error correction, TRIM function, NCQ, thermal throttling, active garbage collection and DevSleep (power saving). As for endurance Lexar reports 84TBW for the 240GB variant, 168TBW for the 480GB variant and 336TBW for the 960GB variant and covers the entire NQ100 line with a 3-year limited warranty.