Review: Samsung SSD 850 EVO (500GB)
Review: Samsung SSD 850 EVO (500GB)
The Samsung SSD 850 EVO ($249.99) offers class-leading endurance and impressive overall performance, bringing many of the benefits of Samsung’s SSD 850 Pro (1TB) to mainstream users. Available in capacities of 120GB, 250GB, 500GB (like our review unit) or 1TB, the internal solid-state drive (SSD) features Samsung’s Triple Layer Cell (TLC) NAND memory-chip technology, along with V-NAND technology, which uses 3D cell stacking to fit more memory into a smaller space. The drive also boasts a generous five-year warranty, which beats that of most other mainstream SSDs by a year or more.
The 850 EVO comes in the package with only the drive, a software installation disc, and a quick start guide. In order to get the drive with a mounting bracket, consider purchasing the SSD 850 Evo as part of a desktop or laptop upgrade kit. The included software is also pretty impressive, with Samsung’s Magician 4 and Data Migration Software included with purchase. It’s an excellent tool for tweaking, migrating, and optimizing your drive. It also includes RAPID Mode, which caches data in unused parts of your system’s RAM to boost performance even further. Even without using RAPID Mode the software is a real value-add for anyone interested in drive data security or tweaking the drive’s over-provisioning.
In most performance aspects, the SSD 850 EVO came close to or even bested the Samsung SSD 850 Pro—which is still the fastest SATA drive we’ve tested to date. If you’re looking specifically for a high-performance drive in the 120GB capacity range, this is definitely the one we’d pick. The only problem we had with the drive is that the initial sales price is a a bit high for a mainstream drive, but we anticipate prices dropping to more reasonable levels within the coming months. Add in the generous warranty, powerful management tools, and it all adds up to the Samsung SSD 850 EVO (500GB) being a top choice as a mainstream SATA-connected SSD.
Review: Samsung SSD 850 EVO (500GB)
malikmuddser