With the advent of M.2 SSDs, the availability of fast storage options for portable devices is now the new norm. Today in our Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD review, we will discuss the need for a fast, reliable and easy-to-use SSD in today’s world.
A lot of competition is out there, but thanks to Kingston’s new SSD, the fastest consumer NVMe SSD so far. Kingston has become even better in terms of the development of their products. Now, they have the edge in the SSD market.Moreover, the abundant supply of SSDs circulating in the global market means that SSDs are now more affordable than ever. This also means that you are getting the fastest speed available by Kingston, but are paying less; in other words, more value for your money.
Now, let us take a closer look at our Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD review. We’ll give our first-hand insights and initial impressions regarding this newly released SSD we just can’t wait to unpack.
Let’s start with the Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD’s packaging.
Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD Packaging
This section of our Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD review talks about how the product looks fresh out of shipping, and all the things you can find inside and labelled on the packaging.
The packaging is as clean as it gets: simple, minimalistic, and straight to the point. All the important information you need to know is readily available in plain sight.
You can see the storage capacity (we have the 1 TB version). And of course, the SSD itself takes centre stage, proudly displayed under a layer of transparent plastic.
We can also see on the upper right corner that it’s 45x faster than a regular HDD, a huge selling point of this new Kingston drive.
At the back, all the important information is displayed in different languages. Things like the limited warranty, additional notes, recycling logos, the bar code and the like can be found here.
Just like all SSDs from Kingston, this product can be easily opened, but at the same time feels secure and protected while sealed and packed inside this airtight packaging. All you need is a pair of sharp scissors.
Inside the box, you can find a code for the Acronis True Image HD Software Activation Key, the software for which can be found here. It’s a merged software suite where you can back-up the entire disk drive or its partitions, generate bootable media from drives and duplicate your operating system; among others.
This software is an optional and highly recommended feature. Everything you need to know from proper installation, system requirements, and product activation can be found in the link above.
Moreover, you can find more information about the Acronis True Image HD Software here.
Let’s now go to Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD’s design and functionality!
Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD Review – Design and Functionality
This part of our Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD review tackles one of the most important aspects of an SSD: its design and functionality.
First of all, the KC2500 looks premium with a matte black PCB finish and a label that compliments the background. It also supports data encryption, ideal for business use and storing and protecting sensitive data from a potential data breach.
As for its weight and dimensions, the SSD weighs around 10 grams, with the dimensions being 80mm x 22mm x 3,5mm. Also, if you take a look below the SSD, there are no chips visible, meaning this can be fitted inside a PC or laptop quite easily, with the M.2 configuration.
When it comes to portability, it is lightweight and very thin, perfect for when you have a limited amount of space, say inside a laptop. The Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD will fit just fine with just about any laptop with an M.2 slot.
Let us now check under the hood. The newest addition to Kingston’s line of SSDs delivers powerful performance with the most recent 96-layer 3D TLC NAND and Gen 3.0 x 4 controller.
Combining these features means that it cannot only deliver the fastest speeds but also do it consistently over a long time.
Moreover, the Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD can deliver read speeds of up to 3,500 MB/s, and write speeds of up to 2,900 MB/s.
As for overclocking, 96-layer BiCS flash can now be clocked higher through the firmware than what was attainable before. This is due to its maturation.
The Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD also includes a plethora of support software, like the aforementioned Acronis True Image HD Software, and the Kingston SSD Manager, which we will discuss in more detail later on.
Key features of the Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD
In this section of our Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD review, we will list all of the features included with the product.
These features are crucial to the overall experience of getting the Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD and we highly recommend checking these out before buying the SSD. Here they are:
Unparalleled Speeds
The Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD can deliver read speeds of up to 3,500 MB/s, and write speeds of up to 2,900 MB/s; above average for an SSD of this class.
Various Storage Capacity
This is more than enough storage for all of your storage needs, whether it be for visual media use, video or photo editing, for gaming, or general use such as saving photos and videos.
Depending on your needs, you can choose from the following storage capacities: 250GB, 500GB, 1 TB and 2TB. We have the 1 TB version, which we think is already more than enough for our files.
Sleek and Lightweight Design
With the brilliant space management done by Kingston engineers, they’ve managed to create a thin storage solution for all of your portable needs. This can be as easily installed in a laptop as you would in a gaming PC.
It also functions the same as any other SSD. Moreover, its thinner profile is better than that of HDDs, which are bulkier and slower in comparison.
Support Software (Kingston SSD manager)
Kingston has an application that allows control of your SSD in more ways than ever before. When installed, the application allows you to check the firmware, no need to get any files, all you need to do is to refresh. This makes the updates a hassle-free process.
You can also see the temperature of the SSD, the power-on hours and the SSD health percentage and health overview. By clicking the health tab, you can further expound on the details. The information is always readily available to those who need it. No need to call an IT specialist for this one.
Security Suite Support
Kingston offers options for a more secure hard drive. If you check the security tab, you can see things like the vendor/model number, and the serial number of your SSD.
You can also keep your data safe and secure with Kingston’s self-encrypting drive, file encryption being a key to today’s ever-growing cybersecurity. This makes sure your drive is immune to forms of cyberattacks and potential data breach if it is holding sensitive information.
These are pretty cool features for an SSD indeed! Now, let’s go to our Kingston KC2500 NVME M.2 SSD review’s Specifications.
Specifications
We’ll now give an overview of the Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD’s specifications.
Form Factor
For the form factor, the SSD sports an M.2 2280 form. It also has an NVMe PCIe Gen 3.0 x 4 Lanes interface.
Controller
For the controller, it is an SMI 2262EN, with a 96-layer 3D TLC NAND. Its encryption runs on XTS-AES 256 bit.
Read and Write Speeds
The read and write speeds are as follows: 3500 MB/s and 2500 MB/s respectively. The Random 4K Read/Write clocks in about 375,000/300,000 IOPS.
Power Consumption
The Power Consumption is around 0.003 watts when the device is idle. On average, it’s 0.2 watts. As for the maximum wattage for reading and writing, it is 2.1 W and 7 W, respectively.
Storage Temperature
The storage temperature is about -40C, to around 85C. While the operating temperature range shortens, now ranging from 0C to 70C.
DimensionsIts dimensions measure 80 millimetres in length, 22 millimetres in width, and 3,5 millimetres in depth. The last measure particularly gives it its signature slim profile. It weighs around 10 grams, light to the touch.
Operating Vibrations
Its operating vibrations peaks at around 2.17G, or 7-800Hz, while non-operating vibrations peak at around 20G, or 20-1000Hz.
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
Its MTBF is 2,000,000 or 2 million hours. Do take note though that this number is not as meaningful compared to HDDs. It’s because SSDs lack the moving parts that cause mechanical failures found in HDDs that age over time.
Warranty/Support
Lastly, the warranty/support is limited to a 5-year warranty with free technical support.
In case your SSD encounters any issues, you can always rely on Kingston’s technical support for assistance.
There you go. We’ll now discuss our personal thoughts and experience in the next section of our review.
Hands-on with the Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD
This part of our Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD review tells our experience when we got our hands on the product for the first time.
After unpacking the SSD, we immediately installed it on our gaming rig for testing. All we did was unscrew one screw for the NVMe slot, place the SSD, and screw it back in securely.
Using the KC2500 showed some impressive speeds. If you are upgrading from an HDD for example, you will notice a huge difference in speed. This is especially evident when booting up your system or playing a video game. The difference in speed is very noticeable.
For triple-A games, the loading times were significantly faster, and the rendering of faraway objects churned out faster with this, compared to an HDD and even some SSDs.
Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD Review Summary
Putting together all of the small details and the bigger picture of what we’ve discussed in our Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD review, we can see that the Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD is not only a solid contender for other SSDs out there due to its raw speed, but also a solid, well-rounded SSD overall.
Given all of its additional features, it should be no surprise that the Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD is being seen as one of the best replacements out there for an HDD or even an SSD. With its slim profile, a myriad of additional support software, and the fastest read/write speed yet by Kingston, the Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD is a solid addition to the Kingston SSD lineup.
It’s also a solid purchase for sure for those who need a high-performance, portable, affordable, and easy to install storage option.
We hope you found our review for the Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 SSD helpful. It can be found and bought on their website here.
