The Crucial X8 is the company's first portable SSD, and it can definitely impress. Unlike many competing vendors, Crucial opted for a clean, understated design that will look professional no matter the meeting you bring it to, or which device you pair it with. In order to ensure maximum hardware compatibility, Crucial pre-formatted the X8 with the exFAT filesystem because NTFS is only supported on Windows devices, which would complicate things for Mac users. I think that's a very reasonable decision—our performance testing shows negligible differences. NTFS does have the advantage that it has TRIM support, which exFAT lacks. Considering this isn't an internal SSD that will see heavy usage I'm not concerned with that. Actually, a lot of people reformat their external storage from time to time to "delete all files", which will automatically TRIM the whole drive.

Performance of the X8 is excellent because of the support for the fast 10 Gbps USB 3.1 interface, which has now been renamed to USB 3.2 Gen 2. In our testing we measured sequential speeds of up to 1000 MB/s, but these can only be reached when running several file copy operations at the same time. For the more realistic use case of one copy operation, we achieved 750 MB/s, which is still plenty fast, faster than any mechanical HDD or SATA SSD can provide data. This means the Crucial X8 is best paired with fast storage on the host system.

Another scenario is to use the X8 as a simple way to expand the storage of your computer, gaming console, or laptop. Here, the Crucial X8 is an ideal choice because it maximizes performance. For example, we tried a SATA SSD on a dirt cheap USB adapter and saw only a fraction of the Crucial X8's performance. However, funneling data through several buses doesn't come without a performance hit. Our benchmark results include performance measurements for the Crucial P1 (which is essentially the same SSD) connected to the native PCIe M.2 NVMe interface—with significant speed ups. This isn't surprising because the Crucial X8 has a more much complicated data path: CPU - PCIe - USB Host controller - USB-C cable - ASMedia USB-to-PCIe Bridge - M.2 NVMe SSD.

Still, until more widespread proliferation of USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps), I can't think of a better solution to upgrade your storage, especially if you don't have the know-how of installing a new drive into your computer (it's easier than you think) or simply don't have the physical space for it. PCs and modern game consoles can use externally attached USB storage as they would internal storage; i.e., you can install games/apps on it and even run them from USB—another easy way to expand storage.

I would definitely like to see a longer cable included, as the current one is quite short. Most desktop computers have their 10 Gbps USB port(s) at the back, so a 25 cm cable means you'll be crawling under your desk several times. What I'd also like to see is some sort of LED indicator for power and activity—not too bright, though. Finally, adding some official IP water-proof/resistance rating would definitely help strengthen confidence in the drive while giving it a unique selling point. Looking at the disassembled X8, it should be easy enough, just installing a rubber gasket should be sufficient. I'd also like to see bigger capacity options, building a 2 TB or 4 TB model should be easy for Crucial; there's plenty of physical space inside the case.

Pricing of the Crucial X8 is very reasonable, with $130 for the reviewed 1 TB variant. Buying the Crucial P1 SSD alone currently costs $105, add $30-$50 on top for a USB enclosure and the Crucial X8 almost always ends out the better deal. If physical durability is important for you, definitely consider the Crucial portable SSD—it is built like a tank thanks to its single-piece metal shell. What also matters is Crucial's support and the 3-year warranty, which you won't get if you buy the components separately.