Performance: 33 out of 40.
The new Crucial P1 series is a bit more variable in the performance department than we would like to see. However, it does offer a ton of performance for its asking price. After all, this NVMe drive is priced like a SATA SSD and not the typical NVMe SSD. So variable or not, even on its worst day it is going to outperform similarly priced SATA models.
Technological Innovation: 17 out of 20
Like it or not, QLC 4-bit NAND is innovative and is going to cause a paradigm shift in huge portions of the solid-state drive market. It is how Crucial was able to create a high performance NVMe drive that is priced more like a SATA SSD. That is innovative and is sure to give pause to other manufactures who are relying on TLC NAND for their ‘entry level’ NVMe models. Mix in what is the best pSLC buffer Crucial has ever released, and there is a lot to like about the P1 from an innovation standpoint. By the same token this NAND is very heat sensitive… so for some a lot of this innovation and performance is going to be wasted. Yes, there is a bit of a downside to QLC NAND to say the least.
Build Quality & Warranty: 15 out of 20
On the one hand Crucial did make a few missteps like not using a heat spreader, limiting the performance to basically dual PCIe lane SSD levels, and generally making rookie mistakes. On the other they did get the pSLC buffer right, they even managed to create 1TB M.2 drive that is only single sided. They even included enough of a RAM buffer to make a difference. That is a lot of positives. When you add in a very decent .1 DWPD / 200TB write rating for its 5 year warranty and we doubt many will have to RMA it from it dying an early death.
Value: 17 out of 20
As long as you can keep the P1 series cool, the value it offers is nearly unmatched. Seriously. NVMe performance at SATA prices… what is not to like?! But you do have to keep the drive cool, and this does mean active cooling or at the very least a beefy M.2 heat spreader. So the value will be a bit more variable than we would like to see.
Final Score: 82 out of 100
The Crucial P1 1TB is going to be a bit controversial and we can foresee owners falling into two broad camps: those who find its value all but unbeatable, and those who find it highly disappointing. The secret to turning all the P1 1TB’s potential performance into actual performance is cooling. Cooling is the weak-link of QLC NAND drives and you will have to be more aggressive than with the typical M.2 drive. However, as long as you can properly cool it this drive is the drive to own if you are on a tight budget but crave performance that can only come from NVMe SSDs.
