I have the 256GB version of the Pixel 10 Pro XL, and it didn't take long to fill up the storage on the phone — I managed to do so in just under three months. As much as I like the Pixel 10 Pro XL, I'm annoyed that Google doesn't sell the 512GB or 1TB models in all countries; in India, Google only sells the 256GB model of the device.
That's why I turned to the TeamGroup X2 Max. I used dozens of external SSDs over the years, and while I always have LaCie's Rugged SSD4 on my desk, the X2 Max is my go-to choice whenever I need to move photos and videos from a phone. The reason I use the X2 Max is pretty straightforward: it is considerably smaller than most other SSDs I have on hand, and it is versatile like no other drive.
I got the 1TB version of the X2 Max, and it costs $124 on Amazon. There's also a 2TB model if you need even more storage, and that variant is available for $189. What's particularly great about this drive is that you get a five-year standard warranty.
The X2 Max resembles a regular flash drive, but don't be fooled by the design — it houses a custom NVMe SSD, and the model I'm using has 1TB of storage. That's more than enough to accommodate the storage I need to offload occasionally, and the size of the drive is the reason I take it with me while traveling.
Oh, and it has USB-C and USB-A ports, making it highly convenient to use with just about any device. I don't like detachable cables that come with most external SSDs as I tend to lose those pretty regularly, so the fact that the X2 Max has built-in USB-C and USB-A connectivity makes things easier in my use case.
It has proven to be durable in the six months I used it; I took the drive to seven countries, and used it with over a dozen Android phones, including the Pixel 10 Pro XL, Find X9 Pro, Vivo X300 Pro, Galaxy Z Fold 7, and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. I didn't see any issues in that time, and it is the easiest way to transfer photos and videos to and from the iPhone 17 Pro.
What I like the most about the X2 Max is the ease of use; I just have the plug the drive into a phone to be able to access the internal storage. And because it's an SSD, you get fast 1,000MB/s transfers, so you don't have to wait as long to move a huge chunk of data to the device.
I'll admit that the drive gets warm during extended transfers, but that's the case with most SSDs. The drive uses the USB 3.2 Gen2 x1 protocol, and because of the way SSD cache works, you don't get a constant 1,000MB/s writes when transferring a lot of data, and it goes down to around 340MB/s. Still, that is much faster than a regular flash drive, and the 1TB storage means you can easily store several thousand videos and hundreds of thousands of photos on the drive.
I used the predecessor of the X2 Max — the X1 Max — for close to two years before switching to the new drive, and in addition to the identical design, the drive itself is just as fast and reliable. It's this reliability that makes the external drive a go-to choice while traveling. The drive is made out of an aluminum alloy, and it weighs just 12g. Both the USB-C and USB-C ports get end caps that provide a measure of protection as well.
On the whole, the X2 Max has proven to be the ideal drive to use with my Pixel 10 Pro XL. Not having to worry about my phone storage running out is always a good thing, and I just transfer the data to the external SSD whenever I come close to filling up the 256GB internal storage.
