External SSD runs extremely slow and crashes apps that try to interact with it - MBP M1 Ventura

I should add that it started out A-OK functioning as you would expect. It got about 350~ gigs in before it started crapping itself. Now when I try to copy, it first takes a good 5 minutes determining how many items it has to copy, then when the transfer starts I can literally see it speed up and slow down when its not completely hanging.

It *was* ExFat. I'm working on re-formatting it as speak, although it looks like it's throwing disk utility for a loop too.

It's connected via a a usb cable, plugged into a USB-C adapter. The end that connects to the drive is different, like this: https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/551d8cc3-e759-463d-91cb-2ef0ed081241_1.f491f340354db38767f1989def8d93ce.jpeg

It came with no software.

Yep. Only its the larger one connected with a cable: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XPDCJMX?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_54S9ETF9P29D42HMW1JW

Edited for clarity

I will try in safe mode, as I had to force quit disk utility last time. This time it seems to be stuck too though; if safe mode doesn't work will I need to replace the drive? It's brand new.

EDIT: I am now in safe mode and it’s doing the same thing, just hanging at erase never completing never showing progress