The SPD-20X is a self-contained electronic percussion pad with eight cushioned rubber pads, each isolated from the others to limit crosstalk and false triggers. It holds 745 instrument sounds, mostly carried over from the earlier SPD-20, plus 45 newly recorded Indian percussion sounds. Sounds can be assigned to any pad and organised into 99 kits, with 128-voice polyphony and 8 kit chains.

Six onboard effects shape the sound: reverb, delay, chorus and flanger as effect types, with EQ and compression as master effects. Each pad has parameters for instrument, level, pitch, decay, curve, FX send and pan. A matrix-style menu, a two-line backlit LCD and illuminated buttons make editing readable in dark venues. An SD card slot (SDHC supported) stores and shares setups and patches.

Four rear trigger inputs take Roland pads and pedals such as the PD-8, KD-7/KD-9, CY-5/CY-8 and the FD-8 hi-hat controller, which extends the unit into a small kit. Connections include two 1/4-inch outputs, a stereo mini line input, a stereo mini headphone jack, a foot switch jack and MIDI in/out. It runs from an AC adaptor and comes in white or black.