To everyone's surprise, tiny SSDs, the size of a MicroSD card, have arrived from China
Laptops are becoming increasingly popular, especially in China, prompting some brands to experiment with new ways to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Two manufacturers have developed a mini SSD the size of a SIM card, surprising everyone.
The manufacturer, Biwin, calls it the Mini SSD, while another unknown brand calls it the 1517. However, both models are identical. It's an SSD about the size of a fingernail and connects to the device via a PCIe 4x2 connector, so it's not a MicroSD or SIM card.
It has already been spotted on two recently released Chinese laptops: the GPD Win 5, and the OneXPlayer SuperX, a hybrid device that combines a laptop and a tablet.
As we see in the video, this new type of SSD is placed in the phone's SIM card tray. In fact, it's removed in the same way, by inserting a wire or needle into a slot.
It measures just 15mm x 17mm x 1.4mm, just over a centimeter in width and length, and is only 1.4mm thick.
Because it's a PCIe-connected SSD, it's much faster. While the fastest microSD cards, like the one in the Nintendo Switch 2, reach read speeds of 986 MB/s, this Mini SSD triples that speed, reaching 3,400 MB/s.
These drives are still a far cry from M.2 SSDs, which reach speeds of 8,000 and 10,000 MB/s, but they are five times larger.
Despite its small size, it's available in 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities—a significant achievement, making it ideal for gaming consoles, mobile phones, and laptops.
It's also water and dust resistant with an IP68 rating. Biwin promotes it as a product suitable for any device: it plans to market it to manufacturers for installation in mobile phones and gaming consoles.
Unfortunately, we still don't know how much this small SSD will cost, which is a key factor in determining its potential to replace slower microSD cards.