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Samsung publishes a random write figure and hides the length code

Three Samsung drives

A Gen 4 NVMe drive, a portable SSD and a 2.5-inch SATA drive.

Figures at the top of the interface

The NVMe drive publishes 7150 MB/s reading, 6450 MB/s writing and a random write figure of 1,100,000 IOPS — the one random figure printed with its direction in that family. The portable drive publishes both sequential rates, a drop height of two metres, an aluminium case and two leads. The SATA drive publishes both rates and names the buffer that holds a long continuous write together.

The qualifications, mislaid

The NVMe drive never prints the length code that an M.2 slot physically enforces, so nothing on the page says whether it will fit. The SATA drive’s only written total belongs, in the same sentence, to a variant a quarter of its size. The portable drive carries seven footnote marks whose notes appear nowhere on the page.

Every Samsung unit reviewed here

  • Portable SSDs

    Samsung T7 1 TB, two leads, a drop height and seven footnote marks

    1 TB · USB 3.2 Gen 2 · up to 1050 MB/s read · up to 1000 MB/s write · drop resistance to 2 m · aluminium case · two leads in the box · encryption at 256 bits · no TBW, no MTBF, no warranty

    A one-terabyte portable drive that publishes both sequential figures, a drop height, an aluminium case and two supplied leads, and that carries seven footnote marks whose notes appear nowhere on the page.

    Best for: A laptop that travels, where a stated generation, two leads and a published drop height matter and the drive will be carried loose.

    ≈ £170 / 160 €

    Check price on Amazon Read the review
  • SATA SSDs

    Samsung 870 EVO 1 TB, whose written total belongs to a smaller drive

    1 TB · 2.5-inch · SATA III · up to 560 MB/s read · up to 530 MB/s write · a written total published for the 250 GB variant · buffer named for sustained loads · no MTBF, no warranty term

    A one-terabyte drive that publishes both sequential figures and a write buffer for long workloads, and whose only written total is attached in the same sentence to a quarter-terabyte variant.

    Best for: A machine that records or receives long continuous files, where a named buffer for sustained work matters and the endurance figures will be looked up elsewhere.

    ≈ $379 / £235 / 258 €

    Check price on Amazon Read the review
  • NVMe SSDs

    Samsung SSD 990 1 TB, a random write figure and a three-year term

    1 TB · M.2, length not published · PCIe 4.0 ×4 · up to 7150 MB/s read · up to 6450 MB/s write · 1,100,000 IOPS random write · three-year limited warranty · no TBW, no MTBF

    A one-terabyte Gen 4 drive that publishes a random write figure in IOPS and a three-year term, and that never prints the length code an M.2 slot will physically test.

    Best for: A board whose M.2 slot is already known to take the common length, where a published random write figure and a named update route are worth more than a longer term.

    ≈ £162 / 172 €

    Check price on Amazon Read the review

Every price named in a summary was read on the date that review carries. What a shop asks today is shown beside the product, and it moves.