Lexar Play 2280 SE 4TB SSD Review - A PlayStation's Best Friend

TweakTown Rating: 90%

Our Verdict

As it relates to PS5 storage expansion, Lexar's new Play 2280 SE SSD offers a value proposition not to be missed.

Pros

• Sequential throughput performance
• Real-world performance
• Power efficient
• Price

Cons

• None

Should you buy it?

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Introduction & Drive Details

About nine months ago, we reviewed the first and only SSD designed exclusively for PlayStation 5 fast M.2 storage expansion. Lexar's Play 2280 4TB has gone on to become one of the most popular PS5 storage expansion SSDs ever made, filling countless PS5 M.2 slots across the globe.

As we see it, there are two main reasons why this SSD has been so successful in capturing market share amongst console enthusiasts. First and foremost, the Play 2280 is not an adaptation of an SSD designed for PC; it is specifically designed for the world's most popular console gaming system. Secondly, the drive's massive capacity enables onboard storage of up to 100 AAA titles on the device - no more rotating games in and out of fast onboard storage.

So, what could be even better than Lexar's Play 2280 4TB? Well, a cheaper version, of course, one that doesn't skimp out on the sequential read throughput that is the main determiner of a PS5 storage device's gaming prowess.

With that said, we can properly introduce Lexar's new and more affordable PS5 exclusive SSD - the 2280 Play SE 4TB. Now, when we say exclusive, we mean exclusive, as this SSD comes in only one capacity point - 4TB. Furthermore, the new super affordable Lexar Play 2280 SE 4TB is only available exclusively at Costco Online.

At a bargain price point of only $225 for a massive 4096 GB of storage, the Play 2280 SE might be the ultimate PS5 enhancement ever offered. So, what sort of sorcery is Lexar using to create a bargain like this? Well, it turns out to be a hardware combination we've not encountered before.

Controlling the Play 2280 SE is one of the fastest PCIe Gen4 controllers ever made - InnoGrit's IG5236, which to this day holds the TT lab record for PCIe Gen4 sequential read throughput. Completing the never-before-seen hardware combination is a Solidigm 192-Layer QLC flash array. Both the controller and the flash are well-proven entities, and both are amongst the very best of their kind ever made.

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Past experience with the IG5236 controller informs us that it can run a bit hot if proper thermal mitigation is not applied. So, first things first, let's hammer the drive with an inordinate amount of sequential throughput and see what the temps look like:

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59c after running 3x9 back-to-back iterations of CDM sequentials is what we consider passing with flying colors, proving the extreme effectiveness of Lexar's thermal solution.

Okay, now let's dive in and see what Lexar's Play 2280 SE 4TB can do for you by the numbers, keeping in mind that this SSD, while it is compatible with both PC and PS5, is indeed a PlayStation 5 focused storage device, and as such we will not be judging its worthiness based on our typical PC user experience criteria.

Drive Details

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Sequential read throughput and endurance are both excellent, as is its 5-year limited warranty.

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The Play 2280 SE is fully compatible with Lexar's feature-rich Lexar DiskMaster SSD ToolBox, which handles all aspects of drive maintenance and even does cloning for you, making it one of the most versatile SSD toolbox software in the industry. Best of all, it's absolutely free.

Jon's Test System Specifications

Intel Test System

AMD Test System

Please note: We employ an M.2 AIC for testing on our Intel Core Ultra 9 285K platform.

Sony PlayStation 5 - M.2 Storage Expansion

PS5 Read Performance

With Sony's wildly popular PlayStation 5 console now enabled for M.2 NVMe SSDs to be used as fast storage expansion, we are including results for PS5-compatible SSDs we test as a part of our reviews going forward.

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We only chart SSDs that can deliver a minimum of 5,500 MB/s read, which is Sony's original recommendation.

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This is where the Play 2280 SE 4TB is designed to deliver the goods, and we like what we see. At 6,511 MB/s read throughput, the Play SE even beats its TLC arrayed predecessor. Impressive.

Synthetic Benchmarks: CDM, Max IOPS, ATTO

CrystalDiskMark

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We employ CDM as our standard measurement for both sequential throughput and Q1T1 random read. In terms of sequential throughput, the drive exceeds advertised throughput by a significant margin, even in our more demanding user state. Excellent.

Max IOPS

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Maximum random performance, in the case of PS5 storage, is not an important performance metric, so no worries about where the drive lands on our charts here.

ATTO

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ATTO gives us a clear picture of what transfer sizes a particular SSD favors in terms of QD4 sequential throughput. We chart 128K transfers. At a queue depth of four, the Play SE 4TB favors sequential transfers of 1MB or larger when serving data to the host (reading) and 128KB or larger when programming (writing) data.

Real-World Testing: Transfers, 3DMark SSD Gaming Test, PCM10 Storage

Transfer Rates

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Our 100GB data transfer test is not your ordinary 100GB of data; ours is a crushing mix composed of more than 62K files. Writing performance, whether random or sequential, is an infrequent operation; therefore, we do not consider it a crucial performance metric in the consumer space. An example is how many times a game is installed vs. how many times it's played. Plenty good enough for our liking.

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Unlike programming (writing) data, serving data to the host (reading) is typically an important performance metric as it relates to the consumer space. This is where transfer rates matter most, and we like what we see from our test subject, where we again find it outperforming its DRAMless predecessor. Excellent.

3DMark SSD Gaming Test

UL's newest 3DMark SSD Gaming Test is the most comprehensive SSD gaming test ever devised. We consider it superior to testing against games themselves because, as a trace, it is much more consistent than variations that will occur between runs on the actual game itself. This test is the same as running the actual game, just without the inconsistencies inherent to application testing. In short, we believe that this is the world's best way to test an SSDs gaming prowess and accurately compare it against competing SSDs. The 3DMark SSD Gaming Test measures and scores the following:

• Loading Battlefield V from launch to the main menu.
• Loading Call of Duty Black Ops 4 from launch to the main menu.
• Loading Overwatch from launch to the main menu.
• Recording a 1080p gameplay video at 60 FPS with OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) while playing Overwatch.
• Installing The Outer Worlds from the Epic Games Launcher.
• Saving game progress in The Outer Worlds.
• Copying the Steam folder for Counter-Strike Global Offensive from an external SSD to the system drive.

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We aren't exactly sure how to view this result, as PC gaming is indeed more reliant on random performance than PS5 gaming. With this in mind, we will give our test subject a pass on this one.

PCM10 Storage Tests

PCMark 10 Storage Test is the most advanced and most accurate real-world consumer storage test ever made. There are four different tests you can choose from; we run two of them. The Full System Drive Benchmark and the Quick System Drive Benchmark. The Full System Drive Benchmark writes 204 GB of data over the duration of the test. These tests directly correlate with mainstream user experience.

PCMark 10 Full System Drive Benchmark

This test writes 204GB of data and covers a broad range of common consumer tasks, including booting Windows 10, file transfers, Adobe and Office applications, and startup times for games such as Battlefield V, COD Black Ops 4, and Overwatch. Unlike synthetic numbers, this is comprehensive real-world data, which is why we use it to rank SSDs in terms of user experience.

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Again, we will give the Play 2280 SE a pass on this one as it won't likely be digesting moderate consumer workloads on a regular basis.

PCMark 10 Quick System Drive Benchmark

The Quick System Drive Benchmark writes 23 GB of data over the duration of the test.

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Of all the benchmarks we run, it can be argued that this one offers the best reflection of a typical consumer use case scenario. Well, okay then. We consider this a good indicator that if used for PC, the drive will deliver adequately, and in fact possibly substantially better than some of the DRAMless SSDs we've encountered, including its predecessor - the original Play 2280.

Final Thoughts

While not the best choice in the world for PC implementation, Lexar's Play 2280 SE 4TB does what it's designed for extremely well and does so for an amazing price point. With top-of-the-line PCIe Gen4 sequential throughput, outstanding PlayStation 5 read performance, and excellent thermal characteristics to go along with its massive capacity, Lexar's Play 2280 SE looks to be one of the top overall choices for fast PS5 storage expansion.

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We rank SSDs in terms of overall user experience (performance where it matters most) as expressed by PCMark 10 storage and 3DMark gaming storage tests. Currently, we consider a user experience score of 17K or more to verify an SSD as a TweakTown Elite performer.

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With its great performance in a console setting, as well as its enticing value proposition, we see Lexar's new exclusive for PlayStation 4TB SSD as worthy of our Must Have Best Value Award.