Team Group AX2
The 540 MB/s read and 490 MB/s write speeds over SATA III make this a straightforward upgrade for older PCs and laptops, with TLC NAND and a DRAM-less design keeping costs down. Its 200 TBW endurance and 3-year warranty offer solid reliability for everyday use, while the 2.5-inch form factor fits most desktops and notebooks. Best for budget-conscious users replacing a slow HDD in a secondary machine or basic system drive.
Snapshot
The 30-Second Version
The AX2 is a budget SATA SSD that's great for reviving old machines, but its speed scores are near the bottom of our database. Buy it only if you're stuck with SATA and find it under USD 150.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Dirt cheap for 1TB of TLC NAND 76th
- Huge upgrade over any mechanical hard drive
- Solid 3-year warranty and 200 TBW endurance
- Runs cool and quiet with low power draw
Cons
- DRAM-less design hurts random performance
- Speed scores are near the bottom of our database
- No NVMe, so you're capped at SATA III limits
- Price swings wildly between vendors
What owners think
The Word on the Street
The proof
Performance
The AX2 hits 540 MB/s read and 490 MB/s write, which is about as good as SATA III gets. But here's the thing: our database puts its speed in the 23rd percentile and random performance in the 20th. That's disappointing, even for SATA. The DRAM-less design means it can stutter under heavy multitasking or large file transfers. For booting Windows and loading apps, it's fine. For anything more demanding, it falls behind most drives we've tested.
Specifications
Full Specifications
Drive
| Capacity | 1000 |
| Form Factor | 2.5" |
| Interface | SATA III |
| Protocol | SATA |
| External | No |
Performance
| Sequential Read (MB/s) | 540 |
| Sequential Write (MB/s) | 490 |
Hardware
| NAND | TLC |
| DRAM Cache | No |
Reliability
| Endurance (TBW) | 200 |
| MTBF (hours) | 1000000 |
| Warranty (years) | 3 |
Features
| Heatsink | No |
vs Competition
The AX2 sits in a weird spot. The Micron T710, Lexar NM1090 PRO, Samsung 990 PRO, and WD_BLACK SN7100 are all NVMe drives that absolutely destroy it in speed, but they also cost more and require an M.2 slot. If your machine only has SATA, the AX2 is a reasonable choice. But if you have an M.2 slot, even a budget NVMe drive will run circles around this thing for similar money. The Samsung 990 PRO is overkill for most people, but the Crucial T710 or WD_BLACK SN7100 offer way more performance per dollar if your system supports them.
| Spec | Team Group AX2 | Samsung 990 PRO | Crucial T500 | Western Digital WD_BLACK SN8100 | Lexar Professional NM1090 PRO | ADATA GAMMIX S70 Blade AGAMMIXS70B-2T-CS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | 1TB | 2TB | 2TB | 1TB | 2TB | 2TB |
| Form Factor | 2.5" | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 |
| Interface | SATA III | PCIe 4.0 x4 | PCIe 4.0 x4 | PCIe 5.0 x4 | PCIe 5.0 x4 | PCIe 4.0 |
| Seq Read | 540 MB/s | 7,450 MB/s | 7,400 MB/s | 14,900 MB/s | 14,400 MB/s | 7,400 MB/s |
| Nand Type | TLC | TLC | TLC | TLC | TLC | TLC |
| Dram Cache | false | true | true | true | true | true |
| Endurance | 200 TBW | 1200 TBW | 1200 TBW | 2400 TBW | 1400 TBW | 1480 TBW |
| Compare | Compare | Compare | Compare | Compare |
| Product | Speed | Random | Feature | Capacity | Endurance | Social Proof |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Group AX2 | 23.6 | 21 | 53.1 | 54.6 | 64.3 | 76 |
| Samsung 990 PRO Compare | 93.1 | 96.8 | 98.9 | 78.5 | 86 | 96.6 |
| Crucial T500 Compare | 93.5 | 96.2 | 98.9 | 78.5 | 83 | 99.7 |
| Western Digital WD_BLACK SN8100 Compare | 99.5 | 99 | 90.2 | 54.6 | 98.1 | 6.9 |
| Lexar Professional NM1090 PRO Compare | 97.9 | 98 | 97.5 | 78.5 | 89.3 | 42.1 |
| ADATA GAMMIX S70 Blade AGAMMIXS70B-2T-CS Compare | 92.1 | 89.1 | 93.6 | 78.5 | 77.5 | 83.8 |
Price
Value & Pricing
Here's the weird part: the AX2 is listed anywhere from USD 126 to USD 240 across just two US listings. That's a USD 114 spread for the same drive. At USD 126, it's a decent budget pick. At USD 240, you're getting robbed. The best deal we found is on Amazon, but check the price before you click buy. If it's over USD 150, skip it and get a proper NVMe drive instead.
Amazon 2 offers From $126
Price History
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Overview
The Team Group AX2 is a budget SATA SSD that does exactly one job well: breathing life into old laptops and desktops stuck on spinning hard drives. It's not fast by modern standards, but for the price, it's a solid upgrade for everyday machines. The one thing to know? This is a DRAM-less drive with mediocre speed scores, so don't expect NVMe-level performance. But if you're coming from a mechanical drive, it'll feel like a whole new computer.
Common Questions
Q: Will this work in my old laptop?
If your laptop has a 2.5-inch SATA bay, yes. It's a drop-in replacement for any mechanical hard drive. Just make sure you have a way to clone your old drive or do a fresh Windows install.
Q: Is this good for gaming?
It's fine for storing games, but load times will be slower than an NVMe drive. If your system supports M.2, get an NVMe SSD instead. If you're stuck with SATA, this will still beat a hard drive by a mile.
Q: How long will this drive last?
Team Group rates it for 200 TBW and backs it with a 3-year warranty. For typical home use, that's plenty. If you're writing hundreds of gigabytes a day, look for something with higher endurance.
Who Should Skip This
If you're building a new PC or your motherboard has an M.2 slot, skip this entirely. A budget NVMe drive will cost about the same and run circles around the AX2. This is strictly for older machines that only have SATA ports. And if you're a content creator or heavy multitasker, the DRAM-less design will frustrate you. Go get a WD_BLACK SN7100 or Crucial T710 instead.
Verdict
The Team Group AX2 is a fine drive for one specific use case: upgrading an old laptop or desktop that only has SATA ports. It's cheap, reliable enough, and way faster than any hard drive. But it's not a performance drive, and the DRAM-less design shows in real-world use. If you can stretch your budget or your system has an M.2 slot, get an NVMe drive instead. If you're stuck with SATA, this is a decent pick, just don't overpay.
