Tom's Hardware Verdict
The Inland TN436 is an acceptable choice for your M.2 2230 SSD, letting you upgrade your Steam Deck or ROG Ally to up to 1TB of internal storage. It’s efficient and performs well, but otherwise does not stand out from the crowd.
Pros
- +
Availability
- +
Reasonable performance and efficiency
- +
Six-year warranty
Cons
- -
Some performance inconsistency
- -
No 256GB or 2TB options
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The Inland TN446 1TB SSD has landed on our test bench. Inland, Micro Center’s house or generic SSD brand, has made a name for itself with solid SSDs like the Gaming Performance Plus. It has even had some firsts with the PCIe 5.0 TD510 and the M.2 2230 TN436, and the latter was a popular pick to upgrade launch Steam Decks. Inland is now back with the newer TN446 to improve the formula with a drive you can easily pick up and install into your favorite portable system. That’s never been easier to do with the growing list of 2230 SSDs on the market, but for those with access to a Micro Center, the TN446 may be especially worthy of interest.
The TN446 supersedes the older TN436, which we didn't like as much because it performed poorly and was inefficient. The newer drive is far better, designed similarly to the Sabrent Rocket 2230 4.0 - or just Rocket 2230 - and the Corsair MP600 Mini. It uses TLC flash instead of the QLC on the Sabrent Rocket Q4 2230 and Addlink S91. And while the Rocket 2230 has a 256GB option, the TN436 does not.
The Inland TN436 is a welcome addition to the roster of retail M.2 2230 NVMe SSDs, perfect for upgrading the internal storage of your Steam Deck or ASUS ROG Ally. It joins a growing list of options with enough competition to drive prices down to reasonable levels. It has Inland’s typical six-year warranty, which is nice, but it lacks a software management suite. Luckily, there are free applications available. The drive performs well enough and efficiently enough to be a good choice if it’s priced right, and it's particularly attractive at the 512GB capacity point. Let's take a closer look.
Specifications
| Product | 512GB | 1TB |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $49.99 | $109.99 |
| Form Factor | M.2 2230 | M.2 2230 |
| Interface / Protocol | PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 1.4 | PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 1.4 |
| Controller | Phison E21T | Phison E21T |
| DRAM | N/A (HMB) | N/A (HMB) |
| Memory | Micron 176-Layer TLC (B47R) | Micron 176-Layer TLC (B47R) |
| Sequential Read | 4,900 MB/s | 4,900 MB/s |
| Sequential Write | 3,700 MB/s | 3,700 MB/s |
| Random Read | 900K | 900K |
| Random Write | 300K | 600K |
| Security | N/A | N/A |
| Endurance (TBW) | 300TB | 600TB |
| Part Number | 547109 | 547091 |
| Warranty | 6-Year | 6-Year |
The Inland TN446 is available in 512GB and 1TB capacities at $49.99 and $109.99, respectively, at the time of review. The smaller capacity option declined by $10 during writing, so pricing will vary, but that makes the drive compelling at that specific capacity. The 1TB model is probably the most popular, though, and its price is matched or bettered by the Corsair MP600 Mini and Sabrent Rocket 2230, so you have options.
The TN446 can push up to 4,900 MB/s / 3,700 MB/s for sequential reads and writes and up to 900K / 600K random read and write IOPS. Inland warranties the drives for six years and up to 600TB of writes per TB of capacity. The extra year of warranty is one place where Inland drives stand out, but it’s not as big a bonus with this type of drive as failures seem to come earlier in the expected host devices.
Software and Accessories
Inland generally does not include software or offer software downloads for its SSDs. We recommend using free, third-party applications for cloning and imaging. Diagnostics and SMART monitoring can also be done with free software like CrystalDiskInfo.
A Closer Look
There’s not much to these tiny drives. This M.2 2230 form factor SSD has an SSD controller, a single NAND package, and a PMIC. The drive is single-sided, and Inland’s presentation is bereft of any frills.
The TN446 utilizes the Phison E21T controller, a popular and powerful option for both TLC and QLC flash. The single flash package is labeled ICCIG94AYA, which is 8Tb or 1TB of Micron’s 176-Layer TLC (B47R). This hardware combination is popular with budget PCIe 4.0 drives, including the M.2 2230 Rocket 2230 and MP600 Mini.
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