Technology & Positioning
The Team Group MP44Q uses the famous Maxiotech MAP1602 controller, which we've seen on drives like the Lexar NM790. The big difference is that the NAND flash is 232-layer QLC from YMTC and not TLC. Usually this means "low performance," but thanks to the MAP1602 controller, things are looking quite good, and you have to take the pricing into account, too. The MP44Q is designed for scenarios where you want a "good enough" drive at an excellent price. As expected for a value drive, there is no DRAM cache, but the MAP1602 controller will use up to 40 MB of the system's memory for the mapping tables—it's really 40 MB, not 64 MB.

Synthetic Performance
Synthetic performance results of the MP44Q are quite solid, and you wouldn't be able to tell immediately that this is a QLC-based drive, which is good. While the official rating is for "up to 7 GB/s write and 6.6 GB/s read," this is for high queue depths, which you really won't encounter in daily use. In our testing, with a more realistic queue depth you're still getting around 5 GB/s, which is in-line with high-end Gen 4 SSDs. Random IO is a bit lower, but still sits in the middle of the test group—faster than any other QLC SSD we've tested.

Real-Life Performance
Controller vendors have been optimizing their controllers for typical synthetic reviewer workloads on an empty drive. That's why it's important to also include real-life testing. We're even running those tests with the drives filled to 85% capacity, not empty. This approach puts additional pressure on the various algorithms and the SLC cache, just like in real-life. Here the Team Group MP44Q does much better than what I expected from a QLC-based SSD, reaching performance levels that are comparable to famous drives like the Samsung 980 Pro, WD Black SN850—and these are TLC with DRAM. While the results vary between tests, overall, the MP44Q can beat most of the TLC drives in our test group, and it's around 20% faster than older QLC drives like Crucial P1 or Corsair MP400. Looks like QLC has come a long way, and it really shouldn't be dismissed so quickly.

SLC Cache / Sustained Performance
The biggest weakness of QLC is its low write speeds when the SLC cache is exhausted, and the Team Group MP44Q is no exception. Thanks to an SLC cache size of 465 GB (or 90% in SLC mode), the drive can absorb nearly all bursts of write activity. Once the SLC cache is exhausted, transfer rates are terrible though and reach merely 160 MB/s. Filling the whole 2 TB capacity completed at a disappointing 179 MB/s, the second-slowest result in our tests. If you plan on writing a lot of data (100+ GB) in a short time, definitely consider other drives. For the vast majority of users, like your parents, that focus on Internet browsing, Office productivity and video playback, this will be a total non-issue.

Power Consumption / Heat
We've seen fantastic power consumption results from the MAP1602A+TLC combo, and the QLC version is not far behind. The drive's energy usage is very well-behaved, and it makes do with 1-3 W during typical usage, topping out at 4.5 W. When considering MB/s per watt, the MP44Q is in the top five, better than most competing drives. Thanks to the low power consumption, the heat output is very manageable, too. Team Group does not include a heatsink with the drive and that's ok for all light usage scenarios. Power users should definitely add a small, cheap, sub-$10 heatsink on the drive to ensure temperatures stay below thermal throttling all the time, or use a motherboard heatsink. Even when thermally throttling, performance is still decent, the drive slows down gradually, it doesn't just stop, like some competing models.

Pricing & Alternatives
The Team Group MP44Q currently sells for $120, which is competitive, but not a no-brainer. At this time there are several solid alternatives at even lower price points, like Team Group's own G50 ($102), which is even TLC, but slightly slower in real-life. WD's SN580 for $114 is TLC and a few percent faster overall, and several times as fast when the SLC cache is exhausted—definitely a strong option. More competition comes from other MAP1602+QLC drives like the Lexar NQ790, Orico O7000, and of course MAP1602+TLC, like the Lexar NM790. Considering that the Lexar NM790 currently sells for $135, I'd be tempted to spend that extra money for the performance increase, especially when the SLC cache is exhausted. Another good alternative is the WD SN770, which also goes for $120 right now—slightly faster, TLC. If you can spend a little bit more, then the new WD SN7100 for $140 will give you the best PCIe Gen 4 performance we've ever seen. No doubt, QLC NAND is cheaper than TLC NAND, so it seems plausible that Team Group has some headroom, too. While the current pricing is certainly attractive, it's still a little bit high to make a big splash. Once they can reach $110 and below, it would become my first choice for a lightly used computer, to upgrade the storage at good pricing, while not compromising too much on performance.