BIWIN CL100 Mini SSD Review

How big is the BIWIN CL100 Mini SSD?

The BIWIN CL100 looks very much like your standard SD card. Coming in at 15mm × 17mm × 1.4 mm and weighing no more than one gram, it is considerably smaller than a conventional M.2 2230 SSD. Its tiny BGA-style design makes it well suited for space-constrained devices such as handheld gaming systems, tablets, ultra-thin laptops, cameras, smartphones, and other portable electronics. Despite its miniature dimensions, the CL100 offers capacities of up to 2TB, providing substantial storage without occupying much internal space or adding noticeable weight.

As I mentioned, the BIWIN CL100 uses an advanced hybrid BGA package. This combines flip-chip and wire-bonding technologies to fit its essential storage components into an extremely compact design. Rather than using the longer circuit board found on a conventional M.2 SSD, the CL100 integrates its controller and NAND flash into a package. The drive uses a DRAM-less architecture supported by Host Memory Buffer technology, allowing it to utilize a small portion of the host system’s memory for caching and management tasks. This highly integrated design reduces the drive’s physical footprint and weight while still enabling capacities of up to 2TB and PCIe 4.0 performance.

The RD510 Mini SSD Reader

The RD510 Mini SSD reader is the first high-performance storage reader designed specifically for the compact form factor of Mini SSDs. It is made of aluminum alloy which gives the reader a solid, premium feel while helping dissipate heat and protect it from everyday bumps and scratches. BIWIN has also equipped the RD510 with a built-in cooling fan, providing active airflow rather than relying entirely on passive cooling. This helps control the temperature of the installed Mini SSD, reducing the chance of thermal throttling and maintaining stable performance during prolonged high-speed file transfers.

On one end of the RD510 you’ll find a USB-C connection which supports the USB4 standard, providing up to 40 Gbps of theoretical bandwidth. This high-speed connection allows the reader to take advantage of the CL100 Mini SSD’s performance, with rated sequential speeds reaching up to 3,300 MB/s for reads and 3,000 MB/s for writes. On the opposite side is a card-tray mechanism.

Installing the BIWIN CL100 into the RD510 is quick and straightforward thanks to a card-tray mechanism similar to the one used for a smartphone SIM card. The tray is removed from the reader, and the CL100 is placed into its precisely shaped recess, ensuring that the drive sits flat and aligns correctly with the reader’s contacts. Once loaded, the tray slides smoothly back into the RD510 until it sits flush with the enclosure, securely holding the tiny SSD in place. This open, insert, and lock approach eliminates the screws and tools associated with traditional M.2 enclosures while still allowing the CL100 to be easily removed or swapped when needed.