Teamgroup X1 Maximum 1TB review

30 second review

When drives like the X1 Max first appeared, they were called ‘Thumb’ drives and were generally designed to work with USB 2.0 Type-A ports.

Looks can be deceiving, and the X1 Max is not a cheap flash drive with 30-40MB/s performance, but a scaled-down external SSD that supports USB 3.2 Gen 2 technology. By nature, it also supports Type-A and Type-C ports, which means there is no need to carry cables.

The X1 Max offers capacities starting from 128GB up to 1TB in a gumdrop-sized package that can deliver 1000MB/s transfer speeds with a suitable Gen 2 USB port.

It works with any version of Windows from XP onwards, Mac OS 10.6 or later, Linux 2.6, and should also work with: Apple iOS or iPadOS devices with USB-C port.

So what’s the problem? Well, there are several.

One of the problems is that if you have large multi-gigabyte files and want to send them to it, this drive is not impressive as the performance of the drive drops above a certain capacity.

Although it works with software, it also does not support hardware encryption.

We’re also not big fans of knife covers, which are easy candidates to lose.

On the plus side, this drive is competitively priced, works with most USB ports in use, and can achieve predicted speeds for short distances with Gen 2 connectivity.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Teamgroup X1 Max: Pricing and availability

How much does it cost? Starting at $32 for the 128GB model
When did it come out? Available now
Where can you buy it? Sold through online retailers including: Amazon

Teamgroup products are widely available and you can find four capacities at: amazon.com In the Teamgroup store. The sizes are 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB, which cost $31.99, $36.99, $58.99, and $82.99, respectively.

The obvious implication of this pricing is that 128GB is probably unnecessary unless you’re buying for very specific use and in large volume.

It’s also worth noting that the largest drive costs about $2 more than the SanDisk 1TB Extreme Portable SSD. It has similar performance and is IP65 Water and Dust Resistant.

A bigger threat is the Netac ZX20 Extreme Portable SSD 1TB, which costs $98.99. For an extra $17, it offers twice the performance and looks much more rugged if you have USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 ports.

Overall, the

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Teamgroup X1 Max: Features

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Model Number	Tool group X1 Max
Capacities	1TB/512/256/128GB
Capacity tested	1TB
Tested sequential performance (Read/Write)	1060/975MB/s
Connection	USB 3.2 Gen 2 using Type-C or Type-A
encryption	Hardware
Dimensions	63 x 20 x 8mm (WxHxD)
Weight	12g
Guarantee	5 years

Teamgroup X1 Max: Design

simple design
Cable not included
5 years warranty

Often the best products like to keep things simple, and the X1 Max is about as simple as it gets. The concept of a thumb-sized drive with different USB blades on each end isn’t as innovative as similar concepts appeared when USB-C first arrived.

What Teamgroup engineers didn’t want to do was create a scissor blade repairman to protect the blades, instead opting for the cheaper plastic cover option. It can be concluded that it is not the designers’ problem that these are easily lost.

Once the cover is removed, plugging the drive into an available USB port is easy and should be recognized immediately.

For those with extreme technical curiosity, we recommend not trying to connect both ends at the same time, as this will always result in smoke escaping followed by tears.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

While the covers are plastic, the main body of the X1 Max appears to be metal, but that’s not the most vulnerable part of the design. We’d dispute that the USB-C blade is the part of this design most likely to break. The entire length of the drive will act as a pivot when inserted via the USB-C blade, easily applying enough force to cause damage.

This is the only disadvantage of drives that do not have flexible cables; because they do not rest on the desktop and protrude from the computer unsupported.

However, Teamgroup offers a 5-year warranty for the X1 Max; which strongly suggests that the drive is either much more powerful than it appears or that it is assumed that most owners will not hesitate to take out this warranty if they accidentally abuse it.

In general, there is nothing very remarkable about the X1 Max from the outside.

Teamgroup X1 Max: Software

Sometimes USB SSD manufacturers only offer basic software tools that you need to download from the company’s website. However, Teamgroup did not include any updates and at the time of this writing there are no publicly available firmware updates.

Teamgroup X1 Max: Performance

Write performance drops above 30GB
No hardware encryption

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Bench	Test	Tool Group X1 Maximum 1TB	Important X6 2TB
CrystalDiskMark 8.04	Default Reading	1060.36	838.07
Row 1 – Cell 0	Default Write	975.32	818.71
Row 2 – Cell 0	Real World Reading	746.82	555.81
Row 3 – Cell 0	Real World Writing	699.7	791.83
AJA System Test 1GB	To read	930	848
Row 5 – Cell 0	To write	857	838
AS SSD	To read	951.38	747.85
Row 7 – Cell 0	To write	880.91	768.01
ATTO	To read	1009	887
Row 9 – Cell 0	To write	925	861

We used data collected from the Crucial X6, which is now in the tooth around 2020, to compare it with the Teamgroup X1 Max. We chose this drive because it’s similarly priced for the 1TB option, but the X6 comes in 2TB and 4TB options.

As can be seen from these figures, in some tests the speed of the X1 Max is 20% faster than the X6. In terms of overall efficiency, the X1 Max is much closer to the Crucial X9, which is a slightly more expensive option.

But the X1 Max has a sting in its tail, which comes when the AJA system test is configured to send a 64GB file to the drive. Somewhere around the 30 GB mark of the transfer, the cache mechanism reaches a limit and the performance of the flash is compromised, causing the speed to drop to 371 MB/s reading and only 324 MB/s writing.

While starting at full speed, average write performance drops below 500MB/s, or the speed of a USB 3.2 Gen 1 SSD. We retested the X6 using the same hardware and found speeds started at around 770MB/s, but maintained that for the entire 64GB file. Admittedly this was the 2TB X6, but we suspect the 1TB would offer similar results.

This is not very good and makes the drive unsuitable for those who regularly transfer large files to USB drives.

For those wondering why reading speed is affected, in the AJA test, the writing test is performed first and followed immediately by reading. We assume that once the cache is saturated, it cannot be recovered because it is full of data that was not written before the read test started.

If you only rarely write small files, you may not encounter this problem at all, but for those who do, it’s kind of noticeable.

Another thing worth mentioning in detail is that the SSD in the X1 Max does not support hardware encryption, if you need it.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Team Group X1 Max: Verdict

Sometimes a product seems too good to be true, and in a few ways, Teamgroup X1 Max is one of them.

But before we talk about its flaws, we must say that this is not a bad product. It’s an extremely useful flash drive that should work in most systems, doesn’t need a dedicated USB port, and has a five-year warranty.

Performance was good throughout the short file transfer rate and it was competitively priced.

But the form factor is susceptible to the bulkiness that plagues laptops’ USB ports and flash drives. Caps can easily get lost and there are no software utilities on the drive.

Other problems are that it only comes in capacities up to 1 TB, while USB SSDs can be purchased with 2 TB or 4 TB, and there is a performance drop with larger files.

While not everyone is throwing 64GB files onto their SSDs, doing so with the X1 Max kicks performance to the curb.

This is the most important issue for the expert user. Starting to write files, then turning into scanning, is not something homegoers want to experience.

That’s a shame, because most of this design’s other shortcomings are likely to be experienced.

Should I buy Teamgroup X1 Max?

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Value	Priced to match other drivers	3 / 5
Design	You can misplace the covers, but it’s both common USB standards and a small size.	3 / 5
Software	There is none	1 / 5
Performance	Performance is good with small file counts and limited sizes, but drops off a cliff if you throw in lots of or large files.	3/5
Comprehensive	The small form factor doesn’t solve some of the performance issues this drive experiences with larger files.	3 / 5