Lexar NM520 M.2 2242 256GB NVMe Solid-State Drive (LNM520-256RBNA)

Works well with my thinkpad t480. Fits in the m.2 slot where a WiFi card would go but since there is already one installed, I decided to use this as my primary boot device. One of the only cards that fits and works within the slot and Ubuntu boots up really fast on this drive. 10/10 would recommend for thinkpad owners that would like to use that extra drive for more storage space.

running w/ linux on a485. still working 6 months later

Bought this to add some needed storage for my laptop. Fits Lenovos PCI NVME M.2 2242 expansion slot. I have a Lenovo T480 that came with one storge device, an M.2 2280 PCI NVME (500gb). Now i have two storage devices in my laptop, an M.2 2280 (500gb) and this Lexar M.2 2242 (256gb). Installing once the laptop is open is easy. However, the proces of getting your laptop open will make the manliest of men nervous. It helps to have strong plastic prying tools, like upholstry clip removers. After booting you will have to go to Windows disk management, diskmgmt.msc, to initialize the new volume.

This review is of the Lexar NM520 M.2 2242 128GB NVMe Solid-State Drive currently found at https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q5CPQ8K. Explanation about software and warranty availability: Have contacted the Lexar subsidiary in San Jose and was informed that the Lexar SSD Flash software is not available while they are waiting for approval of the sale from U.S. government. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is responsible for approving or disapproving the sale of technology firms so we are awaiting approval of the August 2017 sale of Lexar by Micron to Longsys which is a Chinese firm. Funny how Lexar products can be sold without this approval but the associated device management and control software is not allowed. According to Lexar warranty support has to go through a third-party until approval is granted. I do want to add that Lexar staff responded very quickly to the two emailed questions that I submitted inquiring about the software availability and warranty support. I submitted my questions over the weekend when they were closed but first thing on Monday they replied. Lexar always had a high rating in terms of quality of products and their support although most of that was in the days before the sale and currently it seems that they have simply been off the radar so there was not much either good or bad that I have noted. I am not an IT expert but the following information represents some issues or suggestions that I encountered but these statements have not been reviewed or approved by the FDA and the below is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical (or technical) condition. In all honesty, if a reader does not understand my babbling or some of the acronyms that are intentionally not spelled out then they should research those to ensure compatibility with their computer. This drive uses QLC NAND which probably is the reason for the low TBW rating and only a three-year warranty period if and when the sale of Lexar is approved. This drive is M + B keyed which means that you may not be able to use it in an M Key only M.2 slot and if you do speed will be reduced because one of the pins for the M Key is removed. A buyer needs to research this to find out what will be compatible with their computer’s motherboard. On my system the available M.2 slot is crippled (X1) and 2280 sized only so I have to use an M.2 to PCI-e adapter. For this reason I am not posting my benchmarks as they would not be representative of the product. Carefully research any adapter as M + B is much harder to find. A user should reserve 10 to 20% free space, if possible. Otherwise the drive may become extremely slow. Since you cannot currently download and therefore cannot use the Lexar SSD Flash software the user should ensure that TRIM is enabled within their OS. Trim should be available and enabled on newer systems but suggest checking before doing anything with this SSD to avoid frustration. Lexar informed me that any S.M.A.R.T. capable software should be able to report device stats such as usage (unless that software is locked to only certain manufacturers such as Samsung Magician). Lexar recommended using EaseUs for cloning and partitioning. EDIT: I wasn't going to post stats but ran benchmarks and with this SSD in a M.2 PCI-e adapter and this is what I found.

It works well, but runs a bit warm in a Lenovo Flex 6-14ARR. I wish I had room for a heatsink. Idles around 52-53C. When running benchmarks it will occasionally hit 71C. The speed is comparable to the SK Hynix ssd that comes with this laptop. Remember that if you clone the drive, it will take Windows some time to index it so your benchmarks won't be reliable until Windows finishes. Good price for the somewhat unusual 2242 form factor.