The M9Pe is the new flagship SSD from Plextor, and its first NVMe SSD to use 3D NAND flash memory. The M9Pe is the successor to both the M8Pe, which used Toshiba 15nm MLC, and the M8Se, which used Toshiba 15nm planar TLC. As with most SSD product lines, as a general industry wide implementation, MLC NAND is being abandoned in the transition to 64-layer 3D NAND. The M9Pe was officially launched at the beginning of this year, but the M9Pe didn't hit the shelves until March, and supplies are still inconsistent.

Plextor is the retail SSD brand of Lite-On, one of the larger suppliers of SSDs for OEMs. Lite-On doesn't manufacture their own NAND flash memory or SSD controllers, so their primary means of product differentiation is through writing their own SSD controller firmware. This often gives them an edge against companies that simply re-brand reference designs from the controller vendors, but as the biggest players in the SSD market are increasingly vertically integrated it is getting harder for Plextor to compete. The Plextor-branded retail NVMe SSDs also offer the cosmetic distinction of optional heatspreaders and add-in card adapters with heatsinks and LEDs. Aside from those cosmetic touches, the M9Pe is essentially the same as the Lite-On CA3 client SSD we reported on previously.