Storage is getting smaller and Biwin, a Chinese manufacturer, has taken it to the extreme with a new solid-state drive that fits in a SIM card slot. Measuring 15mm x 17mm x 1.4mm, this Mini SSD, also known as the 1517, is barely larger than a microSD card yet delivers speeds that rival larger drives.
This Mini SSD has sequential read speeds up to 3,700MB/s and write speeds of 3,400MB/s over PCIe 4×2. Available in 512GB, 1TB and 2TB, it has plenty of storage in a package smaller than a US penny. For perspective, microSD cards, even the newer Express versions compatible with devices like the Nintendo Switch 2, top out at 985MB/s. Full-size SD Express cards can hit 3,940MB/s but require nearly twice the space. Traditional M.2 drives in laptops and desktops, like the 2230 or 2280 models, can reach 8,000 or even 14,000MB/s but are much bigger.
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Biwin designed the Mini SSD to be versatile, marketing it for laptops, tablets, phones and cameras. The slot works similarly to SIM card trays in smartphones; simply insert a pin to pop off the tray and switch the drives. This functionality makes updating or replacing storage as simple as changing a SIM card. The drive also has an IP68 designation for water and dust protection, making it suitable for phones or outdoor equipment, and Biwin claims it can withstand a three-meter drop.
Two Chinese gaming portables are the first to adopt the Mini SSD. The GPD Win 5, a handheld with a massive battery backpack and the OneXPlayer Super X, a hybrid laptop-tablet, both use AMD’s Strix Halo chip and have dedicated Mini SSD slots. Pricing and availability is unclear but the inclusion in these handhelds suggests Biwin is targeting high-end, performance-oriented markets.
Compared to other storage options, a nano-SIM card is smaller at 8.8mm x 12.3mm, but has no storage or speed. Micro-SIM and mini-SIM cards, older formats, are closer in size but irrelevant for data. MicroSD cards, while compact at 11mm x 15mm, can’t match the Mini SSD’s speed or capacity.
Whether this will become a standard remains unclear. Biwin hasn’t said if other manufacturers can easily produce compatible drives but the dedicated slot design suggests a proprietary approach for now. But the idea of a SIM-like storage solution seems like a perfect fit for devices with little space.
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