Kingston A2000 SSD
It may not be the fastest NVMe SSD, but it offsets that with enhanced security and low pricing.
Like its bigger brother the KC2000, Kingston’s new A2000 uses a Silicon Motion controller and Micron’s 96L TLC flash. However, the SSD’s controller limits performance to about 2.2/2.0 GB/s read/write, which results in lower pricing. The drive still performs well, has a long warranty, and also features heavy-duty hardware encryption options that also offset the more conservative performance specifications.
The combination of features makes Kingston’s A2000 a formidable entrylevel M.2 NVMe SSD. With a four-channel Silicon Motion SM2263EN PCIe NVMe controller and Micron’s latest 96L TLC powering it, it has got a lot of fight in it. Need to load up your favorite games fast? Easy. Want to host multiple virtual machines? Not a problem. Edit high bit-rate video? It should be a piece of cake with the A2000.
The A2000 is also a great pick if you have sensitive data and want to upgrade your business laptop. The self-encrypting drive supports 256-bit XTS-AES hardware-based encryption at the controller level, so you can password-protect your data with no performance loss. And, with TCG Opal 2.0 support, you can manage the security with Symantec, McAfee, WinMagic, and other business-class security software. As a byproduct of its eDrive support, it also supports BitLocker.
Kingston rates the A2000 for up to 2.2/2.0 GBps of read/write throughput, and it can dish out 250,000 / 220,000 of random read/ write IOPS, too. It comes with high-end endurance ratings that match both the Samsung 970 EVO Plus and WD Black SN750. And, like them, it comes with a five year warranty.
Feature-wise, other than the AES 256-bit encryption, the drive has a pseudo-SLC write cache that absorbs inbound writes. It supports
TRIM, S.M.A.R.T. data reporting, and you can secure erase it (Format NVM) to ensure your data is completely gone when you sell it, or to restore performance if the drive gets into a degraded state.
Compared to a WD Black HDD for reference, the A2000 scored an average bandwidth that was 47 times greater in PCMark 8, 13 times higher in SPECworkstation 3, and was five to seven times faster during file transfers. If you aren’t been convinced yet, these scores should provide enough reason to upgrade to an A2000 or similar if you haven’t done so already.
Best of all, the A2000 ranked as the fastest SSD in the group when loading Final Fantasy’s game scenes, making it great value for gamers. But if you care about aesthetics, it may stick out like a sore thumb if you don’t place it under a heatsink. That is not to say it needs one, however. During our tests, the
A2000’s temperatures were well-managed. Even when running multiple 50-100GB transfers simultaneously, temps stayed below 60C with little airflow in our 25 degree environment.
Kingston’s A2000 is a well-rounded NVMe SSD overall. Whether you’re a business-class user, prosumer, or just someone looking to outfit their new build with some speedy storage, the A2000 is a great choice. With competitive pricing, high endurance and five-year warranty to match, the drive ranks alongside the WD Blue SN550 (facing page) as the top value pick.