Thursday, December 30th 2021
PSA: Kingston NV1 SSD Comes with a Hardware Spec Lottery: TLC or QLC, SMI or Phison
Kingston NV1 is an entry-level M.2 NVMe SSD that comes at extremely tempting pricing of just $85 for the 1 TB version. Read all about it in our detailed performance review of the 1 TB variant. After our testing, when we peeled the label for component photography, we discovered that our drive combined a Silicon Motion SM2263XT DRAM-less controller, with 96-layer QLC NAND flash by Micron Technology. This went against every other review of the NV1 we read so far, which points to a combination of a Phison E13T series controller, with either TLC or QLC NAND flash, depending on the drive capacity. This makes our review probably the first instance of an SMI+QLC combination.
We did some digging, and are drawn to the origins of the NV1. Launched in March 2021, the drive adopts a strategy by Kingston to only advertise the performance and endurance numbers that are possible with any drive hardware combination. An AnandTech article from the time references how the drive, much like the A400 SATA SSD, comes in a number of controller+flash combinations. These include the SMI SM2263XT, or Phison E13T; and NAND that's either TLC or QLC. This uncertainty in hardware specs means that when you to go shop for an NV1, you can only expect the worst (i.e. QLC flash).
Update Dec 30th: As one of our readers pointed out, you can identify the Phison and SMI versions of the NV1 without breaking the package. This is illustrated in the second picture below, just look for the shiny controller (SM2263XT) or the capacitor arrangement (Phison E13T). Pictures on shop websites will probably not reflect this as most will either use a stock image provided by Kingston, or shoot the photo once and never update it.
Source:
Tech Critter and B2G (images)
We did some digging, and are drawn to the origins of the NV1. Launched in March 2021, the drive adopts a strategy by Kingston to only advertise the performance and endurance numbers that are possible with any drive hardware combination. An AnandTech article from the time references how the drive, much like the A400 SATA SSD, comes in a number of controller+flash combinations. These include the SMI SM2263XT, or Phison E13T; and NAND that's either TLC or QLC. This uncertainty in hardware specs means that when you to go shop for an NV1, you can only expect the worst (i.e. QLC flash).
Update Dec 30th: As one of our readers pointed out, you can identify the Phison and SMI versions of the NV1 without breaking the package. This is illustrated in the second picture below, just look for the shiny controller (SM2263XT) or the capacitor arrangement (Phison E13T). Pictures on shop websites will probably not reflect this as most will either use a stock image provided by Kingston, or shoot the photo once and never update it.
24 Comments on PSA: Kingston NV1 SSD Comes with a Hardware Spec Lottery: TLC or QLC, SMI or Phison
I think i'll stick with WD, Samsung, Micron and Kioxia (vertically integrated brands who make their own stuff instead of just shopping around for components). Not that they're innocent either but at least they seem a lot more reliable in terms of keeping with what they advertise.
I was only aware of ADATA and now Kingston.
In my country, 2TB NV1 is roughly $200 which is the cheapest 2TB NVME drive you could buy here though the endurance is pretty pathetic with only 480 TBW.
As a comparison, 2TB Adata SX8200 Pro is $293 and 970 Evo Plus is $355 here.
I was actually thinking to buy 2 of them and using one as big ass usb drive with an enclosure.
Samsung updated the 970 EVO Plus controller from the older Phoenix to the newer Elpis (which is used in their 980-series drives) and to a different/repackaged version of the same 96-layer NAND. This resulted in better performance when writing data under 115GB but slower writes after that because of the revised SLC cache. For the general consumer, I think that it was an overall positive change because home users are not writing more than 115GB in one go usually.
That said, this isn't as bad as what Kingston have done in that every 970 EVO Plus produced after the change would have the updated components rather than being a lottery of getting either an older or newer component combination.
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/samsung-seemingly-caught-swapping-components-in-its-970-evo-plus-ssds/
www.tomshardware.com/features/crucial-p2-ssd-qlc-flash-swap-downgrade
Kingston has been the OG when it comes to SSD bait and switch.
Someone needs to bring up a standard spec for companies to meet, this bait and switch is bullshit! I'd hoped the PS5 using a standard m.2 and "requiring" a minimum speed would help solve this but doesn't seem like it.
I'm only buying from main manufacturers (WD, Samsung, Micron, Kioxia), they also have been caught doing the same BS but have been more reliable than the rest at least (Samsung for example, in the recent 970 Evo debacle was a single change and kind of a toss up in performance other than niche cases, Adata/Kingston have basically changed the entire product, that should be illegal!)
Will add them to the do-not-buy list.
Phison E13 + 500GB Kioxia BICS4 TLC: www.bilibili.com/video/BV1B54y1j7Ty
Phison E13 + 2TB IMFT N18A QLC: www.bilibili.com/read/cv11191198
Although E13-based NV1 is common, SM2263XT-based NV1 also exists:
Silicon Motion SM2263XT + 1TB IMFT N18A QLC: www.bilibili.com/read/cv11808272
If Kingston does not break the 'rule' that only using QLC on capacious SKUs, that won't be too bad. But, the 'rule' itself is fragily.
On the higher end models with bigger margins, there i think there is no excuse for them not to segment the product if the components change. Just make another SKU.
They invented the SIMM (in the late 80s), and have been running the business on autopilot ever since - they are no better to buy from than any other worthless reseller (put them in the same class with crap like ADATA)
ESPECIALLY swapping TLC for QLC. QLC when filled up is HDD levels of slow shit.