ElectroniComputer
The reason writing at greater bit depths is slower is due to the error-checking required to determine if the correct voltage (one of 8/16 levels with TLC/QLC) was written to a cell, rather than the simple charged/not charged binary of 1-bit SLC.
I ran two benchmarks: Principled Technologies’ WebXPRT 4 (which uses a combination of HTML5, JavaScript, and WebAssembly to mimic common web tasks) and Speedometer 3 (which now tells you how fast your browser will respond while using it).
While it’s not fast compared to an SSD, the Expansion Desktop is workable for streaming and background operations, is far faster than 2.5-inch external HDDs, and you sure as heck can’t beat the capacity.