Performance: 37 out of 40
Are you looking for the best NVMe drive available today? Then look no further. The T700 series is the best (NAND based) NVMe drive we have ever used. There only two downsides. The first is with great power comes great… power consumption. The additional ~2 watts of power consumption is how Crucial was able to make the fastest NVMe PCIe 5 going. The other issue is even after giving the controller extra power the E26 controller is not capable of fully harnessing all of what this new breed of RG NAND has to offer. As such there is still room for improvement for future models to take advantage of. Hopefully in the form of a future (Cyberdyne Systems Model….err… Crucial) T-800.
Technological Innovation: 20 out of 20
Cutting edge NAND that makes Crucial’s last generation seem pokey and slow by comparison? Check. A controller that can make use of a motherboards PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 port? Check. Offerings tailored for both the enthusiast (denude version) and professionals (OEM heatsink variant)? Double check! Put simply this is darn close to being the perfect showcase model Micron has ever released and is choke full of innovation. Innovation that will push the market towards even greater heights.
Build Quality & Warranty: 20 out of 20
Crucial have always been known for three things: their conservativism, their commitment to customer service, and their build quality. All of which have garnered them an enviable reputation. The T700 is no exception to this as it is both overbuilt for the home user market and comes with a very generous warranty. A warranty backstopped by one of the Titans of the industry. As such there is nothing that stands out as complaint worthy.
Value: 15 out of 20
Yes, the practical ‘real world’ differences between the best of what the last generation and what this drive have to offer are moderate at best. When you then add in the fact that one will be paying a rather large premium for said improvements… the overall value equation is a bit more skewed than any previous Crucial branded SSD to date. Which is to be expected. This is not the ‘every man’ model. This is a Hunter Killer T700 model unleashed on the marketplace to eliminate the competition before it even has time to become competition. Put simply, if you have concerns over the overall value of your next SSD purchase… the Crucial Pro T700 may not be optimal. Unless you value your time that is. As such, the value of this drive will be in the eye of the beholder. Some will be more than willing to pay a premium to save time. Others will not. We have split the difference of both camps. Please adjust your personal score accordingly.
Final Score: 92 out of 100
The Crucial Pro T700 2TB NVMe is nearly the perfect showcase model for Microns new NAND and is the best SSD model Crucial has released to date. It is blazingly fast, it offers plenty of capacity, and comes with an excellent warranty. Crucial even have gone the extra mile to offer it in two different configurations. As such the T700 marks a paradigm shift in Crucial’s philosophy. Gone is the idea just releasing great value models whose main priority is to show off a new generation of Micron NAND. Instead, this new breed of Crucial Pro models has been built from the ground up with one goal in mind: market domination. At this laudable goal the T700 is a massive success, one that is sure to make Crucial hall of fame and reside amongst other legends like the MX500. So, if you do not care about heat, or paying a noticeable price premium, the Crucial Pro T700 is the series to pay careful attention to.
