WD
WD My Passport SSD (2022)
$100
Released 2022
Best Portable Ssds · head-to-head
A sourced, side-by-side comparison. Kingston XS2000 Portable SSD is cheaper at $99. Every spec and price links to its source.
WD
$100
Released 2022
Kingston
$99Cheaper
Released 2021-10
The Kingston XS2000 Portable SSD wins 2 of the 2 specs we compare head to head; the other wins 0. The Kingston XS2000 Portable SSD is the cheaper at $99. The Kingston XS2000 Portable SSD both leads on specs and costs less — the straightforward pick.
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The numbers that decide it, drawn to scale — longer bar wins, the accent bar is the stronger figure.
✓ marks the stronger figure where "more" — or "less", for price and weight — is unambiguously better.
| Spec | | |
|---|---|---|
| US price | $100 | $99 |
| Brand | WD | Kingston |
| Released | 2022 | 2021-10 |
| Capacity (GB) | 500 | 500 |
| Read (Mbps) | 1050 | 2000 |
| Write (Mbps) | 1000 | 2000 |
| Interface | USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) | USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) |
| Encryption | AES 256-bit hardware | — |
| IP rating | — | IP55 |
| Weight (g) | — | 29 |
| Release | 2022 | 2021-10 |
Sources — WD My Passport SSD (2022): newegg.com (verified 2026-06-15). Kingston XS2000 Portable SSD: storagereview.com (verified 2026-06-15).
Where the two actually differ on the specs we track (3 of 7). Matching specs are omitted.
Sourced tester consensus for each — the "what people who used it think" layer, not just specs.
Two whitelisted labs benchmarked the WD My Passport SSD NVMe (1,050/1,000 MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen 2, DRAM-less Blue SN550E): Tom's Hardware (Feb 2021) and StorageReview (Sep 2020). Both call it slim, secure and fast in real-world use but note it falls ~200 MB/s short of its rated speeds and, being DRAM-less, lags DRAM-based rivals like the Crucial X8 in file-copy/moderate-dataset tests. Tom's found a small 12GB SLC cache that drops sustained writes to ~710 MBps once saturated, though the drive stays cool (45C surface). (2 sourced reviews, 2 lab-tested.)
Praised: Slim, light, pocketable design with AES-256 hardware encryption and 5-year warranty; Fast large-file read-back and solid real-world portable-SSD performance; Runs cool under sustained load (45C surface).
Flagged: DRAM-less design; falls behind DRAM-based rivals (Crucial X8) and lags in file-copy tests; Fell short of WD's rated 1,050/1,000 MB/s in real benchmarks (~200 MB/s under); Small SLC cache (12GB) drops sustained write to ~710 MBps once saturated.
All three whitelisted lab reviews (Tom's Hardware and StorageReview on 1TB units, TechPowerUp on 2TB) survived verification with every quote and measured value confirmed against source text. Consensus: the XS2000 is an ultra-compact, aggressively priced 20Gbps drive that reaches near its 2 GB/s sequential rating, but its DRAM-less design brings weak sustained writes and no encryption. (3 sourced reviews, 3 lab-tested.)
Praised: Near-2 GB/s sequential speeds close to the rated 2,000 MB/s; Extremely compact and lightweight design; Aggressive pricing and 5-year warranty.
Flagged: Weak sustained write once the SLC cache fills (214 MB/s on 1TB per Tom's Hardware, 300 MB/s to fill the 2TB per TechPowerUp); DRAM-less architecture hurts random IO performance; No AES encryption or security features.