Kingston SM2280S3 Series M.2 SATA

Overview

TechSpot Metascore

Based on 9 expert reviews

Excellent:

4
Good:

2
Average:

1
Bad:

2

Pros:

Decent performance for a midrange SSD, Compact M.2 form factor
Compact and discreet, Easy to install and setup, Highly compatible on Z97 and X99 motherboards, Performance was a bit better than specifications, Programs load very quickly

Cons:

Only available in low (120GB and 240GB) capacities, SATAbus reliance limits speedtest scores, No bundled software, with minimalist, OEMstyle packaging

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Last revision on September 20, 2016

Reviewers Liked

Decent performance for a midrange SSD, Compact M.2 form factor
Compact and discreet, Easy to install and setup, Highly compatible on Z97 and X99 motherboards, Performance was a bit better than specifications, Programs load very quickly

Reviewers Didn't Like

Only available in low (120GB and 240GB) capacities, SATAbus reliance limits speedtest scores, No bundled software, with minimalist, OEMstyle packaging

Expert reviews and ratings

Well, let's get the easy one out of the way. The WD Black, as good a drive as it is, definitely shows us that the HDD has had its day as a performance option. So far, so standard.But what of the Kingston? On the face of the usual benchmark testing, it...

By WCCFTech on March 28, 2016

Like so many Kingston drive's we looked at in the past, their limits imposed on them by the controller is of course a factor. Does it really matter to the average user? For most part, not really. In the synthetic tests, the capability of the...

By techicize.com on December 07, 2015

The SM2280S3 is a perfectly competent M.2 SSD at a competitive-enough price, but its use of the SATA, not PCI Express, bus limits its speeds to middling SATA-SSD levels. Read...

By Computer Shopper on March 18, 2015

The Kingston M.2. SM2280S3 120GB M.2. Solid State Drive surprised us with it's size and speed. Loaded down with an operating system, tested to the max it blew us away in Size, Price and Speed. ...

By bjorn3d.com on March 12, 2015

Very expensive per GB, and with spotty...

By PCPowerPlay AU on February 19, 2015

Part of the SATA 3.2 standard, SATA Express taps into the high bandwidth available from PCIe yet joins multiple SATA connectors together in a way that remains backwards compatible with existing drives. While many new motherboards include SATAe, we don't...

By APC Magazine on February 02, 2015

The Kingston SM2280S3 is a solid performing 2280 M.2 form factor SATA SSD. It offers features such as DevSleep and power-loss protection as well as read and write performance that keep up with most of the other 2.5" form factor drives on the...

By thessdreview.com on November 05, 2014

It's interesting that Intel chose to use a PCIE interface that utilizes components for storage that are about the size of a RAM module. Add a larger PCB containing more storage and it kind of seems like we're one half step towards using something like a...

By FutureLooks on October 01, 2014

100

Put simply the Kingston M.2 120GB SSD is an extremely impressive piece of kit, proving at least as good as mSATA drives we have seen in the past. Performance is also impeccable, with both the Battlefield 3 and World of Warcraft PCMark 8 tests showing...

By pcGameware UK on July 09, 2014

In many ways the Kingston M.2 2280 is an exciting SSD with a ton of potential, especially with the amount of positive press the M.2 form factor received during the Z97 launch. Other than the obvious benefits derived from a diminutive form factor that...

By Hardware Canucks on October 15, 2014

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