The new Crucial BX500 series of SSDs have been offically released, bringing the speed of flash memory to your laptop or desktop computer without the price.

The new entry-level SSDs is available in a 2.5-inch form factor and 120GB, 240GB and 480GB capacities and are using Micron 3D NAND chips. As a SATA III SSD, the drive is not offering ther blazing speeds of NVMe models. You get a sequential performance of up to 540MB/s read and 500MB/s write.

The typical SSD technologies are here as well - multi-step data integrity algorithm, thermal monitoring, SLC write acceleration, active garbage collection, TRIM support, self-monitoring and reporting technology (SMART) and error correction code (ECC).

Other features include:

• Life Expectancy (MTTF): 1.5 million hours
• Endurance:
  • 120GB drive: 40TB Total Bytes Written (TBW), equal to 21GB per day for 5 years
  • 240GB drive: 80TB Total Bytes Written (TBW), equal to 43GB per day for 5 years
  • 480GB drive: 120TB Total Bytes Written (TBW), equal to 65GB per day for 5 years
• Thermal Monitoring
• SLC Write Acceleration
• Limited three-year warranty

Pricing is surprisingly low; Crucial is quoting $29.99 for the 120 GB model, $49.99 for the 240 GB one and $89.99 for 480 GB worth of BX500 storage. Acronis True Image for Crucial cloning software is also buncled with each SSD.