Give it up for the Biwin CL100. It looks like a phone SIM card, and it’s not the first time we’ve seen it, but now we have more details. It packs up to 2 TB of proper NVMe storage and runs at up to 3.7 GB/s (via Videocardz). It’s not even that outrageously expensive, for now. There is, however, a catch. It’s a proprietary rather than open standard.
What really marks this drive out from, say, the even smaller microSD format is the combination of performance and full NVMe 1.4 support. The CL100 measures 15 mm by 17 mm and fits into a slide-in tray that very much resembles a phone SIM tray.
A microSD card is just 11 mm by 15 mm, but doesn’t offer all the features and performance of a proper NVMe SSD. The Biwin CL100 does.
At least, it offers the performance of an NVMe drive with a PCIe 4.0 two-lane interface. On the largest 2 TB model, that allows for maximum read speeds of 3.7 GB/s and maximum writes of 3.5 GB/s. For the record, the read IOPS are 550K, the writes 650K.
Those are pretty comparable to figures you’d expect from a full M.2 drive with the same two-lane PCIe 4.0 interface. And despite the fact that you can get faster PCIe 4.0 drives with four lanes, let alone even quicker PCIe 5.0 drives, they’re also just pretty decent all-round figures.
The very fastest microSD Express standard, meanwhile, tops out at a theoretical 985 MB/s and the fastest current cards are somewhere in the 800 MB/s region. Not terrible for casual storage, but not really what you want as the basis of system performance.
The aforementioned catch is that this Biwin memory card is obviously not just something you can buy and whack in your PC or, perhaps more pertinently, your handheld gaming PC.
Reportedly, the card has been show off as an internal device inside the GPD Win 5 and OneXPlayer Super X handhelds. But the appeal here is as a card you can just slot into a handheld to upgrade the storage but with essentially the same performance as an internal M.2 drive.
That would require the handheld is fitted with Biwin’s proprietary card tray and it’s not clear which, if any, handhelds will be so configured. As things stand, then, this is a neat little SSD which has plenty of appeal on paper, but limited practical relevance for now.
Maybe that will change if a load of handheld gaming PC makers adopt it. Presumably if Biwin is launching the card, it expects that there will be devices it can go into (it offers an external USB 4 card reader). Or maybe Biwin will make the card an open standard.
Whatever, for the record the CL100 is available in 512 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB capacities and priced roughly at $85, $155, and $310. As we understand it, the card is currently only available in China.
This new Biwin CL100 SSD sounds impressive with its compact size and high-speed capabilities. It’s exciting to see technology evolving to meet growing memory needs. Looking forward to seeing how it performs in real-world applications!
Yes, the compact design really sets it apart! It’s fascinating how such a small form factor can deliver such high performance, making it great for portable devices. It’ll be interesting to see how it holds up in real-world usage scenarios compared to larger SSDs.
Absolutely! The compact design not only makes it convenient for portability, but it also maximizes space in devices that require high-speed storage. It’ll be interesting to see how this influences future tech innovations in mobile devices!
storage efficiency. It’s interesting to note how advancements like this could revolutionize mobile devices, allowing for even more data to be stored without compromising size. This could really change the way we think about storage on the go!
Absolutely, the Biwin CL100’s compact design could really change the way we think about storage in mobile devices. With such high speeds and capacity, it might lead to more seamless multitasking and improved app performance. It will be exciting to see how developers leverage this technology!