Samsung Debuts Impressive 850 EVO Line of SSDs

Samsung has unveiled its latest creation, the 850 EVO solid-state drive family. The 850 EVO is slated to be the successor to the incredibly popular 840 EVO line of SSDs. While the 850 Pro retains the flagship performance and endurance spotlight, the EVO slots in as the more budget-friendly alternative.

The 840 EVO was the first consumer drive to bring TLC NAND to the general market, and the 850 EVO will continue that legacy by being the first consumer drive to use 3D TLC NAND. What makes it 3D is the base 128Gbit 40nm NAND silicon is stacked in a 32-layer structure. Interestingly, this NAND is created specifically for TLC purposes and is an entirely different chip from the 3D 86Gbit MLC “V-NAND” that is found inside 850 Pro models.

The 850 EVO’s specifications speak for themselves, but it’s immediately clear that these new SSDs will slot in above current value-models SSDs already on the market. Instead of offering the lowest price, Samsung aims to deliver better value through its high endurance ratings and full five-year warranty.

To me, TLC NAND has always been about lowering barebones cost, but this is an interesting twist on the concept as a whole and has forced me to reconsider my opinion. A 5-year warranty is longer than any budget or TLC model SSD on the market. The 82GB/day endurance ratings of the 500 & 1TB EVO models also just so happens to be the same endurance ratings as those of the 850 Pro family. Considering this is TLC NAND being compared to MLC that is simply mind-boggling. It could also mean the 850 Pro endurance ratings were set much lower than the 3D MLC NAND can achieve simply to discourage rampant cannibalization of server models, but it will take an all-out endurance test (a-la Tech Report’s) to verify any such conjecture.

Also interesting to note is the only minor performance loss associated with the 120GB model, something that should prove to be a nice value-add for anyone only seeking the lowest-cost model of SSD. In typical SSDs, the lowest capacity models would incur a performance penalty, so it will be interesting to see if this holds up in real-world usage scenarios.

Samsung is no doubt happy to showcase its expertise and continued market advantage when it comes to 3D NAND and TLC NAND in particular, as its nearest competitor (IMFT) won’t debut its own 3D NAND until the second half of 2015. By offering premium-model features and solid performance on a budget TLC platform, the 850 EVO family appears to be an attractive new option for cost-conscious SSD buyers out there.