Lexar NM610 500GB SSD Review

Rating: 7.5.

A few months ago we looked at Lexar's NM600 SSD, and now it is the turn of its successor, the NM610, to go under the spotlight. Priced at just over £70 for the 500GB model, what sort of performance can this drive offer to those looking for an affordable NVMe SSD?

The previous NM600 was only available in two capacities, 240GB and 480GB. The NM610 not only has slightly larger capacities; 250GB and 500GB, it also has a 1TB flagship model.

The official Sequential speed ratings for the three drives are; 250GB up to 2,000MB/s reads and up to 1,200MB/s writes while the 500GB and 1TB models share the same up to 2,100MB/s read, 1,600MB/s write performance figures. Incidentally, the 250GB and 500GB figures are exactly the same as the 240GB and 480GB NM600 drives.

Random 4K performance is quoted as up to 110,000 IOPS and 151,000 IOPS for reads and writes respectively for the 250GB drive with the 500GB and 1TB drive having the same up to 188,000 IOPS and 156,000 IOPS for reads and writes respectively. Again the two smaller drive figures are the same as the previous NM600 drive.

Endurance ratings for the 500GB drive are 250TB TBW with the 250GB rated at 125TB and the 1TB drive 500TB.

Physical Specifications:

• Usable Capacities: 500GB.
• NAND Components: 3D TLC.
• NAND Controller:  Silicon Motion SM2263XT.
• Cache: None.
• Interface: PCIe Gen3x4 NVMe.
• Form Factor:  M.2 2280.
• Dimensions: 80 x 22 x 2.25 mm.
• Drive Weight: 9g.

Firmware Version: S0614B0.

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