The current storage market is quite filled with M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 drives at affordable prices but also some NVMe PCIe 4.0 drives for the ones that require ultimate performance. There are quite a few mainstream systems that are sold with 2.5’’ HDDs or older systems that need upgrades and use the same form factor: for these situations, Crucial does help with their BX500 series of drives, an update over the previously launched BX300.

The 960GB version is now available to the mass market and features a newer controller, while using 96-layer TLC 3D NAND ICs from Micron instead of 64-layer found on the smaller capacity models.

The drive is shipped inside a very compact cardboard packaging, that features the total storage space listed right on the top cover:

On the back side we will get to see that Crucial advertises the inclusion of the Acronis True Image utility for disk/partition cloning from the old hardware, the fact that we are getting an installation guide, but also the detail that the BX500 firmware is upgradeable:

Inside the packaging we will get to see the small installation leaflet, but also the drive, that is kept secure inside a transparent plastic enclosure:

The Crucial BX500 drive does feature a chassis made entirely from plastic, with no fixing screws; the top cover is held with plastic clips to the rest of the body:

On the bottom we can find a large sticker with the product power rating, supported interface, the internal code name, the product serial number, the current firmware but also some additional supported standard logos:

The chassis is not very easy to take apart, especially if you do aim on not ripping apart the clips; the actual drive PCB is much smaller versus the enclosure:

One of the PCB sides does feature the controller, along with two NAND Flash ICs:

The opposite side does only hold the remaining of two NAND Flash ICs:

With the 960GB drive, Crucial has opted for a SM2259XT controller, that features increased error correction technology, but also end-to-end data path protection:

The NW952 packages are Micron’s newer 96-layer 3-bit per cell (TLC); by increasing the number of dies per wafer, we do get cheaper ICs without actually impacting the performance: