X8 Photos and Features
The Crucial X8 comes packed up in a package that looks exactly like the last X8 that came in (though the print quality is better this time around) and the same as the X6. This has a dark blue background with a fade behind a picture of the drive in the center. The Crucial logo is up in the corner, highlighted by a light blue box. I think having the actual drive picture on the front is great and is very important. Crucial also makes the drive capacity very clear with it listed in the bottom right corner and also on the top edge as well. Below that they hit at the potential performance with an up to 1050 MB/s section and support for Windows, Mac, PS4, and Xbox One all listed. This is the same list as on our previous X8 but I found it interesting that the X6 focuses on Android rather than PS4 and the XBOX One like the X8. Around on the back, there isn’t much going on. There is a link to support and they repeat the drive speeds across every language you can think of.
Now as far as inside of the box. Well, there is a plastic tray that has the USB cable wrapped up on the bottom. On top of that, the X8 itself comes wrapped in plastic and inside of the tray. Beyond that, there is a small paper folded up as a welcome or startup guide which mostly is filled with the same information repeated in different languages. The cord is the same as with our previous X8 which is a short 6-inch Type-C to Type-C cable (and the same that came with the X6). But the X8 includes the Type-C to Type-A adapter that the X6 skips out on to keep costs low.
Like I mentioned already, I’ve already taken a full look at the X8 and nothing on the exterior has changed at all. Crucial went with a rectangle shape but in the most curved possible way. All of the corners are very rounded and the overall shape has a roundedness as well making all of the edges thin feeling in hand and the thickest part in the middle. The X8 is the same thickness as the X6 at 11.5 mm thick. It is twice as long and the X6 is a little taller with the X8 being 53mm or 2 inches. Like the X6 it has the same glossy accent, only they are longer due to the wider design. The housing on the X8 is made of metal where the X6 is plastic and in hand the difference in the quality felt is huge. The textured finish is the same, but for the X8 with its plastic ends, the ends don’t have the same texture.
The side profile gives a good look at that rounded profile. The X8 has a Type-C connection on the left edge of the drive to hook up to the included cable.
The gloss accents have the branding built-in. On one side, they just have the Crucial logo. Then the other side has Crucial X8 as well as the drive size. On that side they also put all of the required certification logos and warnings as well as a QR code and your serial number should you need to RMA. I like the accent but think the front should have the model name and capacity over just having the Crucial logo, especially with how much space there is.
I did get the X8 on to the scale as well and it's really interesting to compare it with the X6. You can see the metal constructions difference in weight, not to mention the larger size of the X8. It came in at 101 grams where the X6 was 42 grams, less than half.
