Toshiba BG4 SSD Review: Mini But Mighty NVMe Storage

Name: Toshiba BG4 SSD
Brand: Toshiba

by Marco Chiappetta — Wednesday, August 14, 2019, 12:45 PM EDT

Performance Summary: The Toshiba BG4 SSD didn't lead the varied array of drives we used for comparison in any one particular category, but it was a strong overall performer nonetheless. In the trace-based PCMark tests, the BG4 scored second place finishes in in terms of storage bandwidth and its overall score, while reads were competitive with drives like the WD Blue SN500 and Intel SSD 760P throughout most of our tests. Low queue depth 4K transfers were also competitive with the other drives, though its random write performance typically trailed the pack.

Toshiba Solid State Drives -- Find Them At Amazon

The BG4 is a surprisingly strong SSD and another solid storage product from Toshiba. Although its overall performance is relatively good, especially given the diminutive DRAM-less, single-chip design, it’s the BG4’s balance of form factor and performance that makes it really interesting. The Toshiba BG4 brings new levels of performance to the smallest of form factors, with the flexibility of using either a serviceable M.2 drive or a soldered-down BGA package.

As we noted earlier, these drives are not destined for the retail channel, but rather OEMs and system builders that will integrate them into future systems. We don't have any concrete pricing info either because these drives are typically sold I bulk to OEMs, but considering the relative simplicity of the design, pricing will likely be aggressive. In other words, the BG4 won’t add a significant premium to any of the systems it’s featured in. Which systems those may be, we don’t know just yet, but we look forward to encountering the new Toshiba BG4 out in the wild and getting our hands on the types of thin and lights it will be powering.


Tiny Form Factors Good Perf At QD1 Competitive Reads	Writes Typically Trailed The Pack No Info On Pricing Or Design Wins

Tags: SSD, NAND, Toshiba, nvme, bics, m.2, bg4

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com