Product on Review: Kingston A2000
Manufacturer: Kingston
Street Price:
250GB: GBP £38.49 / USD $39.99 / AUS $65.00
500GB: GBP £61.99 / USD $59.99 / AUS $98.00
1000GB: GBP £112.99 / USD $112.99 / AUS $159.00
Kingston began out in 1987 with a single product and have gone on to redefine the memory market as we know it, growing into one of the largest independent memory manufacturers. Using that expertise, Kingston have released the A2000 NVMe 3.0 SSD which we’ll look at today.
The SSD market has undergone quite a transformation in the last two or three years, with many users now opting for ultra fast NVMe options which are multiple times faster than a traditional SATA SSD, not to mention how far they exceed a spinny drive. Kingston, able to produce their own NAND flash, have full control of all aspects of the design process which we hope will transfer into a competitive product.
Aimed at entry-level users, purpose-built machines and DIY system builders who seek to revitalise their machines, the A2000 offers read and write speeds of up to 2200MB/s and 2000MB/s respectively, but thanks to the wonders of the NVMe interface, data queueing and random access times are massively improved over competing SATA models. Random 4K read and write figures are quoted at 250,000 IOPS and 220,000 IOPS.
Available in capacities of 250GB, 500GB and 1TB and with end-to-end 256-bit XTS-AES encryption, the A2000 offers a capacity for all budgets as well as peace of mind that your data’s safe. Speaking of which, wear ratings are specified at 150TBW, 350TBW and 600TBW for the three capacities, equating to roughly 600 full drive writes for each device.
As an entry-level NVMe, pricing ought to be keen, and it is, the pricing can be seen at the top of our intro. Less than £40 in the UK for an NVMe drive is fantastically competitive and should allow more people to enjoy the performance improvements that PCI-E storage can offer.
Kingston on the A2000 NVMe SSD:
Kingston’s A2000 NVMe PCIe SSD is an affordable storage solution with impressive performance. Boasting read/write speeds of up to 2,200/2,000MB/s1, A2000 delivers 3x the performance of a SATA SSD with quicker loading times, less power consumption and lower heat. A2000 SSD is designed for the entry-level user, purpose-built system manufacturer, DIY system builder and those seeking to upgrade their PC. With a single-sided slim M.2 design, A2000 works to its full potential when installed in an Ultrabook or a small-form-factor PC (SFF PC) system.
