INTRODUCTION
Gen5 SSDs represent the most aggressive jump in consumer storage performance to date, pushing PCIe bandwidth into territory that routinely exceeds 10 GB/s and demanding far more from controllers, cooling, and system design. They’re fast, power‑hungry, and built for workloads that thrive on extreme parallelism. Sitting in that new performance tier is the latest EXCERIA PRO G2 2TB Gen5 M.2 NVMe SSD by KIOXIA.
KIOXIA is a world leader in memory solutions, dedicated to the development, production and sale of flash memory and solid-state drives (SSDs). In April 2017, its predecessor Toshiba Memory was spun off from Toshiba Corporation, the company that invented NAND flash memory in 1987. KIOXIA is committed to uplifting the world with "memory" by offering products, services and systems that create choice for customers and memory-based value for society. KIOXIA's innovative 3D flash memory technology, BiCS FLASH™, is shaping the future of storage in high-density applications, including advanced smartphones, PCs, automotive systems, data centers and generative AI systems.
The EXCERIA PRO G2 is currently available in three capacities (1/2/4TB) and is based on the SM2508 NVMe 2.0 controller by Silicon Motion (6nm lithography) which KIOXIA has paired with their very own BiCS8 218-layer 3D TLC NAND flash and 2GB of LPDDR4X DRAM (2133MHz/4266MT/s) for the 2TB model. The Silicon Motion SM2508 NVMe 2.0 controller features an quad-core ARM Cortex R8 CPU with support for 4 PCIe lanes of 32Gb/s data transfer speed (Gen5 x4), 8 NAND channels with a speed of up to 3600MT/s per channel and packs various technologies including end to end data path protection, programmable firmware interface, SRAM ECC & CRC parity, Innovative LDPC ECC engine, embedded programmable RAID, real-time full-drive AES 128/256bit encryption, hardware SHA 256/384 and TRNG, secure boot for FW authentication, built-in smart clock-gating mechanism (highly efficient power consumption), ONFI 5.0 and Toggle 5.0 support and TCG Opal 2.0 compliance. Moving to endurance KIOXIA reports an MTTF of 1.5 million hours and an TBW of 600 for the 1TB capacity, 1200 for the 2TB capacity and 2400 for the 4TB capacity. Finally, KIOXIA covers the entire EXCERIA PRO G2 line with a 5-year limited warranty.
SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS
KIOXIA uses the same box lately at the front of which we see a large product picture under their logo and over the drive capacity and speed.
Form factor, warranty, type of flash, warning labels and a sticker with the serial numbers and barcodes are all at the rear.
Just the EXCERIA PRO G2 2TB and a quick start guide are in the box.
THE EXCERIA PRO G2 2TB
The EXCERIA PRO G2 2TB is a single sided M2 2280 Gen5 SSD.
KIOXIA equips the EXCERIA PRO G2 with a sticker made of graphene and copper.
Underneath that sticker we find the SM2508 NAND flash controller by Silicon Motion, 2GB LPDDR4X DRAM module by NANYA and two BiCS8 218-layer 3D TLC NAND flash modules by KIOXIA.
On the opposite side there's just a sticker with the capacity of the drive, several warning stickers and its serial number and barcode.
The SM2508 NAND flash controller was officially released in April 2024 and so it's not among the latest models designed to "combat" high temperatures (evident with thermal imaging during my tests).
SSD UTILITY
The SSD Utility by KIOXIA allows you to monitor and even tweak your drive so I do recommend using it.
The summary page showcases the current drive health, temperature, allocated capacity and interface type.
You can check online for possible firmware updates from the corresponding tab.
SMART details are also available for people who may want to dive more into the drive.
Several details about the drive are also available via the software.
Finally, you can use the SSD utility software to format and/or secure erase the drive.
TEST BED
TESTING METHODOLOGY
I've been using pretty much the same testing methodology for PCIe 3.0 Gen3 and PCIe 4.0 Gen4 SSDs for far too many years now, so I decided to "tweak" it for PCIe 5.0 Gen5 models. Needless to say, Gen5 M.2 NVMe SSDs will be tested using one of my latest test rigs (Intel Core Ultra 285K / ASRock Z890 Taichi Lite) and unlike with both Gen3 and Gen4 SSDs I will not be using the SNIA (Storage Networking Industry Association) 12 hour IOMeter benchmark since it proved to be rather heavy for early Gen5 SSDs (temperature issues). Instead, I decided to use the latest versions of 3D Mark, AIDA64, AS SSD, ATTO, Crystal Disk Mark, HD Tune Pro, HD Tach RW, Performance Test, IOMeter (4k Random Writes / 4k Random Reads – since September 2024 / SNIA Mixed) and Sandra Titanium for performance measuring and ForSpoken for all of you who might be wondering just how well Gen5 SSDs do in regard to Microsoft's DirectStorage API/Technology. Each test will be run a total of 5 times after which the average number will be recorded in each chart.
TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO
TEST RESULTS - HD TUNE PRO / HD TACH RW
TEST RESULTS - AS SSD / CRYSTAL DISK MARK
TEST RESULTS - SANDRA TITANIUM / IOMETER
TEST RESULTS - PERFORMANCE TEST / 3D MARK / FORSPOKEN
CONCLUSION
In the end, the EXCERIA PRO G2 2TB shows why KIOXIA continues to be a trusted name in storage. It offers good all‑around performance, respectable endurance, and a reliable warranty package that reinforces its long‑term value. The trade‑offs are clear, price sits above where it should, and the SM2508 NAND controller by Silicon Motion still gets very hot under sustained load (due to throttling some benchmarks are affected), something our thermal imaging made impossible to ignore (to be fair this model was released in December 2025, it just took long for KIOXIA to send it over). Even so, for users who prioritize stability and brand‑backed durability, it remains a compelling choice.
Currently retailing for USD751 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 385.49Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) it’s clear that KIOXIA needs to work on their pricing strategy, at least when it comes to the EXCERIA PRO G2 line. Cost aside I can’t say that I’ve had any issues with the EXCERIA PRO G2 2TB, performance is good, endurance is more or less what one would expect from a Gen5 drive and the 5-year limited warranty from a company like KIOXIA is certainly reassuring. So, if you’re out for a new Gen5 SSD and you are able to find the EXCERIA PRO G2 2TB for less than what I’ve listed here I strongly suggest considering it.
PROS
- Quality
- Good Performance
- Endurance (1.5 Million Hours MTBF / 1200TBW)
- 5 Year Limited Warranty
- SSD Utility
CONS
- Controller Temperatures
- Price (For Some)
