INTRODUCTION

    In an age where digital content is king, portable SSDs have become indispensable, offering speed, reliability, and sleek portability that traditional mechanical disk drives can’t match. Whether you're a creative professional, gamer or a casual user, fast external storage is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity. Today’s review dives into one such contender in this space, the Exceria Plus G2 portable 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 KIOXIA Exceria Plus G2 portable SSD (currently available in 500GB/1TB/2TB capacities) is a compact powerhouse built for speed and efficiency. Leveraging the USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface (10Gbps), it delivers impressive read speeds of up to 1050MB/s making it ideal for transferring large files, editing media on the fly, or backing up data in seconds. Despite its tiny footprint, this drive packs serious tech under its aluminum alloy hood (MIL-STD-810H 516.8 procedure IV compliant shockproof enclosure), the Phison PS5012-E12C quad-channel controller orchestrates data flow with precision, while KIOXIA’s own BiCS 96-layer 3D TLC NAND flash ensures high-density storage with reliable performance. The PS5012-E12C NAND controller by PHISON comes ready technologies such as SLC caching, StrongECC, SmartRefresh, SmartFlush, low density parity check, end-to-end data protection, thermal monitoring, AES-256 encryption and support for ONFi 2.3/3.0/3.2/4.0 and TCG Pyrite/OPAL. The Exceria Plus G2 really looks like a sleek, pocket-sized solution that doesn’t compromise on muscle but does it deliver as advertised?

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The drive capacity, compatibility, connectivity, and speed are all printed at the front along with a large product picture and of course the company logo.

On the left side of the box, we find the product warranty and bundle contents.

A few words about the product along with its serial number and barcode are printed at the rear.

Along with the Exceria Plus G2 Portable SSD inside the box you'll also find an USB-A to USB-C cable, USB-C cable, and the user manual.

THE EXCERIA PLUS G2 2TB

Measuring just 72mm in length, 40mm in width and 11.8mm in thickness the 42g heavy Exceria Plus G2 is truly tiny.

To have a better understanding about size I placed the Exceria Plus G2 next to the X10 Pro portable SSD by Crucial, Armor 700 portable SSD by Lexar and the Canvio Flex 2025 portable HDD by Toshiba.

The USB-C port is placed on the left side of the aluminum enclosure right next to the activity LED.

Turning the drive over we find numerous warning labels, capacity, electrical requirements, serial number, and barcode.

SSD UTILITY

As with past KIOXIA portable SSDs you can use the SSD utility for complete control over the Exceria Plus G2.

The initial tab of the SSD utility allows you to check the current state of the drive (capacity empty/used, health and temperatures) and the interface of the port it's connected to.

Second tab allows you to check online for possible firmware updates.

Third tab is the smart reading one so this could come in handy to some people as may the SSD details tab (4th one).

From the security tab you can use a password to protect your sensitive data whereas from the secure erase tab you can scrub all drive contents and/or revert the drive.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

    Solid state drives are basically the same as USB flash drives and so we’re using almost the same testing methodology to successfully record achieved read & write performance numbers in our charts*. The benchmark suites used are HD Tach RW (Read Speeds / Long Bench 32mb Zone Testing), HD Tune Pro (Read / Write speeds), Sisoftware Sandra Titanium 2020 (Read / Write speeds), AIDA64 Engineer Edition (Average Linear / Random Read & Write speeds), Crystal Disk Mark 6.0.2 (2GB Read / Write speeds) and finally ATTO 4.00.0F2 (Max Read / Max Write speeds). Every test is repeated a total of 6 times after which the average performance numbers are recorded into our charts (0 = we were unable to complete that test).

    All tests are performed with our main rig running Microsoft Windows 10 Pro installation with all updates installed up to the day we started tests.

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

TEST RESULTS - HD TACH RW / HD TUNE PRO

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA TITANIUM / CRYSTAL DISK MARK

CONCLUSION

    It’s clear from today’s charts that the Exceria Plus G2 2TB portable SSD by KIOXIA may not be the fastest one in the market but it does combine a tiny aluminum enclosure with very good performance levels. The advertised number of 1050MB/s is not sustained and wasn’t even achieved with most of the benchmark suites I use but it could certainly be attainable with some boards (even instantly/maximum). I don’t know why KIOXIA didn’t opt for an USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 model which could go all the way up to 2000MB/s (20Gbps), but my guess is board compatibility and well, that makes sense if you’re targeting most consumers out there (cost would also increase). Capacity is also a small issue for me since 2TB will probably not be quite enough for demanding users (8TB portable SSDs should be available in numbers by now). Also one thing I’ve noticed about KIOXIA SSDs over the years (both internal and portable) is remaining life percentage after wrapping up all my tests which tends to be less than similar products by the competition. Take for example the Exceria Plus G2, I tested the drive for 21 hours after which its life was reported at 94%. Yes, it may stay at 94% for like 2-3 years or so (has happened with past models) but still, it doesn't look nice, so I do hope KIOXIA looks at that (probably just a bug).

    Currently retailing for USD177.82 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 119.90Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) the Exceria Plus G2 2TB portable SSD by KIOXIA is priced well, at least here (USA price could be affected by many things). Overall, I can’t say much about the KIOXIA Exceria Plus G2 2TB that you don’t already know, it’s tiny, fast and packs quite a few interesting features so the Golden Award is in order.

PROS

- Very Good Performance (Up To Around 1000MB/s)
- Compact Shockproof Aluminum Enclosure
- Available Capacities (500GB/1TB/2TB)
- Low Temperatures
- EU Pricing (For Some)
- 3 Year Limited Warranty

CONS

- USA Pricing (For Some)
- 2TB Maximum Capacity (For Some)
- Remaining Life Bug (For Some)