We recently shared the exciting news from Corsair announcing the immediate availability of their MP600 Mini 2230 M.2 NVMe SSD devices.
As a reminder, these are super-compact M.2 NVMe storage in 2230 format, i.e. 30mm in length – with standard width for all 22xx NVMe’s of 22mm. They are destined for use in devices such as handhelds (SteamDeck, ROG Ally etc..) but also a plethora of slim tablets such as the Microsoft Surface Pro series and some NUC’s.
The market for 2230 devices
Until now this niche (but fast-growing) market has been very poorly served. Kioxia have historically been the largest quality manufacturer of this storage format, but their BG4/5 drives are hard to obtain as an end-user. The more frequently available options are OEM Dell devices, a Kioxia re-brand, with poor warranties.
Along with limited availability, this more niche segment is also the victim of the pricing consequences of much smaller demand than for larger 2280 drives. A quick search here in France reveals prices for a 512GB unit ranging from €105 to €140, and mostly on ageing PCIe3.0x4 interfaces, with the limited speeds that entails.
NVMe heavyweight Sabrent recently began addressing this growing market with a 512GB PCIe4.0x4 unit available for €105, or €180 for the 1GB model, available since late January. Already very competitive compared to previous offerings, this works out at €0,18/GB. This is almost double the €0,10/GB cost of their larger 1TB 2280 brother.
Teamgroup recently announced their MP44S 2230 drives but no word yet on pricing or availability.
Corsair enters the game
When Corsair announced the immediate availability of their MP600 Mini PCIe4.0x4 1TB drive direct from their site for €125 including delivery we wasted little time. We now have one here to try out. It’s available in the US at an even lower price of $110 direct from Corsair.
At €0,125/GB, this represents a 30% saving off the price per GB of the closest comparable rival, the Sabrent.
So what’s in this tiny package?
