Crucial X9 Pro review: Still one of the best external SSDs around — with a glaring issue

Micron is one of the largest manufacturers of DRAM and storage modules in the world, and it sells its products to customers under the Crucial brand. The brand focuses on RAM and internal NVMe SSDs, but it also has a decent selection of external SSDs, and the X9 Pro continues to be among its best offerings.

The X9 Pro is available in storage configurations starting at 1TB and going up to 4TB. The 1TB model retails for $97 on Amazon , the 2TB version costs $179 , and the 4TB edition is available for $269 . The pricing is identical to what Samsung charges for the T7 SSD if you're getting the 1TB model, but there are decent savings to be had with the X9 Pro if you want the 2TB or 4TB models.

There isn't much to differentiate the drive in terms of design; the X9 Pro has an aluminum chassis that's built to last, and it has rounded edges and a rubberized back. What I like about the drive is its size; it is one of the smallest external drives you can buy today, and it is inherently portable.

You don't get much in the way of accessories other than a USB-C to USB-C cable, and there's a tiny LED indicator that lights up when the X9 Pro is in use. The drive gets IP55 dust and water resistance, and that's enough to safeguard the device against the occasional spill of water.

In six months of regular use, I didn't see any issues whatsoever with the build quality or design, and the X9 Pro has been flawless in this regard. A key advantage with an SSD over a mechanical drive is the fast transfers; the X9 Pro is able to hit reads of 1,050MB/s and writes of 900MB/s, and it came close to those figures in daily use.

I connected the drive to my Windows machine at times, but an overwhelming majority of the usage was on Android; I transferred thousands of photos and videos from the Pixel 8 Pro , Xiaomi 13 Ultra , and Galaxy S24 Ultra to the drive, and while it had a few connection issues in the beginning, an update solved that problem.

Transfers involving photos in general took a lot longer than videos, and that's true of all drives — you see a noticeable decline in performance once a drive's cache is full. That said, the X9 Pro was reliable throughout, and that's what the biggest consideration in an external SSD.

The drive isn't without fault; the X9 Pro still doesn't have password protection, so you can't lock the drive easily. Crucial said it would add it in an update back when the SSD launched in Q3 2023, but as of July 2024, that hasn't materialized. So if this is a feature you need, you should just get the Samsung T7 instead — Samsung makes it effortlessly easy to lock data behind a password.

Outside of that, there are no issues with the X9 Pro. The external SSD is reliable, has a rugged design that's built to last, and is small enough that you can easily carry it anywhere. It is still one of the best external SSDs if you need a fast drive with plenty of storage, and the 2TB and 4TB models are a great value.

The X9 Pro is one of the fastest external SSDs around, and it delivers the same fast transfers as the Samsung T7 while being a better value.