The SSD Review The Worlds Dedicated SSD Education and Review Resource | 
The introduction of the SM2280S3 M.2 SSD last June marked Kingston Technology’s first entry to the M.2 SSD arena. For those new to M.2 SSDs, M.2 marks the standardization of smaller form factor SSDs to sizes smaller than what we have seen in mSATA. M.2 accommodates both SATA and PCIe performance, while at the same time offering capacities as high as 1TB.
The SM2280S3 M.2 SSD is targeted at system builders and we initially saw it released in June in the 120GB model, followed by 240GB and 480GB capacities in Q3, the 240GB capacity on our bench today. M.2 may be new to a few but get ready because it will be creating a totally different picture ‘en mass’ in the SSD arena before long. Better yet, do some digging into the web’s ‘top M.2 coverage‘ to get you up to speed on the M.2 form factor!
KINGSTON SM2280S3 SPECIFICATIONS
The Kingston SM2280S3 is an M.2 2280 form factor. 2280 means that it is a standard 22mm width by 80mm length M.2 SSD, and it is 3.5mm thick. Its interface is SATA 6Gb/s and is rated for 550MB/s read and 520MB/s write for compressible data transfer and 500MB/s read and 330MB/s write for incompressible data transfer. This SSD is rated for up to 65,000 read and up to 65,000 write IOPS when tested with IOMeter, and up to 46,000/26,000 read/write IOPS when tested with other programs.
The SM2280S3 line of SSDs are available
in capacities of 120GB, 240GB, and soon, 480GB as well. Pricing for the 120GB model is $88.99 and the 240GB model is around $170. The 120GB drive is rated for 230TB total bytes written and 1.8 drive writes per day. The 240GB drive is rated for 420TB total bytes written and 1.75 drive writes per day. The SM2280S3 also comes with a three-year warranty and free technical support.
KINGSTON SM2280S3 SSD PACKAGING AND COMPONENTS
The drive is packaged in a typical DRAM style package with a plastic M.2 adapter to secure it within. By doing this, Kingston is thinking efficiently and saving money by re-purposing some of their current packaging rather than creating and implementing a new one. In the plastic container, the drive is showcased and there is a warranty pamphlet included.
Below are the images of the front and back of the drive. As we can see, the drive has M and B-key connectors. There are four NAND packages, one DRAM chip, and a Phison SATA controller.
Taking a closer look, we see that the SSD utilizes the Phison PS3108-S8 SATA 3 eight channel controller. For features, there is firmware-based power loss protection, to maintain data integrity in case of an unsafe shutdown. DevSleep is supported to allow for more efficient power management that minimizes power consumption to extend battery life in mobile devices. It also has the typical TRIM and S.M.A.R.T. support as well as support for Intel’s Smart Response Technology (SSD caching).
The four NAND packages are labeled F064B08UCT1-B4. These are Kingston packaged Toshiba A19 Toggle MLC NAND chips.
They are each 64GB in capacity and when the drive is formatted in an OS it offers a total capacity of 223GB to the end user. The DDR3L DRAM package is labeled D2516EC4BXGGB and is 512MB in capacity.
Too bad they didn’t went with something pci-e based. Or atleast a better sata controller. Atleast its decently priced (although there is also mydigitalssd with S9 controller for a little less).
As long as they don’t pull a kingston, this seems like a fair deal for someone needing m.2
The M.2 IS a connector to pci-e lanes. Derp.
Yes, but it can also double as connector to sata aswell and thats exactly what this ssd is doing…
The 120GB version of this is perfect if you need a cheap M.2 just to boot on. I’m putting together a mini-PC and the price is just perfect.