Crucial P1 1TB

Quad what? Jeremy Laid has run the numbers, and isn’t impressed.

Any increase in storage capacity comes at a price.

That’s not exactly a revolutionary idea, but it’s more complicated than it sounds. That’s because the costs involved aren’t just dollars and cents; they can also be measured in performance and endurance terms.

Those latter concerns are front and centre with Crucial’s P1 drive, its latest M.2 NVMe drive, reviewed here in 1TB configuration. It’s one of the first on the market to use Intel and Micron’s new QLC or quad-level cell NAND flash memory. That’s one bit up on the previous industry best that is TLC or triple-level cell memory. In simple terms, the appeal is obvious. The extra bit makes for 33 per cent more storage capacity per cell. However, the downsides can be brutal.

The light that burns half as bright…