CONCLUSION

   When Crucial announced that the new BX300 series of SSDs was going to use their new MLC 3D NAND flash we knew right from the start that it would surpass their TLC 3D NAND based MX300 line in pretty much every possible way. Today and after finally getting our hands on the BX300 that’s quite obvious by just looking at our charts. In terms of durability both the BX300 480GB and the MX300 525GB (this is the closest capacity model of the MX300 series) share the same MTBF of 1.5 million hours and the same 160TBW. Unfortunately the BX300 is currently not available in capacities over 480GB (for example the MX300 is also available in 525GB/ 750GB/ 1TB/ 2TB) nor is it also available in the M.2 form factor so we do hope Crucial will change both in the months to come.

   Surprisingly enough although the new BX300 series uses 3D MLC NAND it’s priced quite aggressively and almost identically to the MX300 series. To be more exact the BX300 480GB SSD currently retails for USD144.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 135Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) while the MX300 525GB retails for USD149.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 148Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Of course the MX300 525GB offers roughly 45GB of storage space more compared to the BX300 480GB but the second offers better performance so it’s up to consumers to choose what they need more. That being said the BX300 480GB clearly performs its MX300 counterpart and that’s more than enough for us to give it our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality / Durability (160TB TBW / 1.5 Million Hours MTBF)
- Very Good Performance
- Features (NANDXtend / Static Data Refresh / SLC Caching / DevSleep/ eDrive Support)
- Crucial Storage Executive Software
- 3 Year Warranty
- Price

CONS

- Available Capacities (120/240/480GB)
- Not Available In The M.2 Form Factor