I wanted to report back what NVMe SSD worked for me and what didn't.
I have a 2015 MacBook Pro (15" display, 16 GB RAM, 2.5 GHz Intel Core i7 chip).
What
didn't work -- Crucial P3 Plus (gen 4) 500 GB drive, connected with a Micro Connectors adapter (Micro Center store brand). The Crucial drive didn't even show up in Disk Utility. Nothing at all.
What
did work -- SK Hynix Gold P31 500 GB drive, connected with the Micro Connectors adapter. The drive showed up in Disk Utility, I did a quick erase/format right in Disk Utility (no need for an external drive enclosure to pre-format the drive with a separate MacBook), and I was able to do a complete Internet Restore without a hitch. As a bonus, the drive was on sale at Micro Center!
As a side note, I was also able to do a complete restore of my entire User folder through my online backup service (CrashPlan -- I recommend it), which also restored my Firefox bookmarks, preferences, and extensions, so a couple days later it's like I didn't miss a beat.
FWIW, when I talked to the guy at the Apple Store earlier this week to confirm that my old drive was toast, for a moment he had a look of panic on his face (a feeling I know well from the past). But I simply said, "I have a backup" and he exhaled with a look of relief -- he was more worried than I was, lol. For anyone still on the fence, I highly recommend using an automated online backup service for your entire User folder. I never once had that feeling of panic thinking that everything was lost (just a twinge of frustration that I had to fix it). The years of paying a monthly fee paid off yesterday, and it was totally worth it.
Good luck!