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SATA SSDs

Intenso Top 1 TB, a shock figure, a written total and no term vs Verbatim Vi550 S3 1 TB, a written total and a population statistic in one bullet

Two drives publish the same endurance figures — what is left to choose between them?

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These two are the unusual pair on the shelf: both publish a total in terabytes written and a figure in hours, which most of the family does not. They print the same numbers, 480 TB and 2 million hours, and neither states a term of warranty. What separates them is the writing rate and the way each handles its dimensions — the Intenso Top gives 500 MB/s for writing, the Verbatim Vi550 S3 gives three measurements and never says which one is the height.

Intenso Top 1 TB internal 2.5-inch SATA solid-state drive in black

Intenso Top 1 TB, a shock figure, a written total and no term

Wins 2 of 11

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≈ $144 / £142 / 126 €

Verbatim Vi550 S3 1 TB internal 2.5-inch SATA solid-state drive

Verbatim Vi550 S3 1 TB, a written total and a population statistic in one bullet

Wins 0 of 11

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≈ £130 / 124 €

Line by line

Compared on Top 1 TB, a shock figure, a written total and no term Vi550 S3 1 TB, a written total and a population statistic in one bullet
Capacity 1 TB, in the maker’s unit, no conversion applied 1 TB, in the maker’s unit, repeated in the box list
Form factor 2.5-inch, printed twice 2.5-inch, printed beside the interface
Height Not published — inches twice, on a drive recommended for notebooks Not published as a named height — 7 × 69.9 × 100.5 mm is printed with no word saying which figure a bay has to accept
Stated sequential read figure Up to 550 MB/s, named as reading Up to 550 MB/s, named as reading, in the title and again in the first bullet
Stated sequential write figure Up to 500 MB/s, fifty below the reading figure Not published — a multiple against spinning drives is given instead of a rate
Stated random IOPS Not published Not published
TBW rating Up to 480 TB — a volume of writing the drive is rated for, and nothing more Up to 480 TB — worded as a ceiling rather than as the figure for this capacity alone
Stated MTBF 2 million hours — failures across a population under defined conditions, not a lifespan 2 million hours — a population statistic, describing neither this unit nor a lifespan
DRAM cache presence Not published as memory on the drive — a single-level cell write buffer within the flash is named Not published — high-speed three-dimensional flash is named and no memory chip is claimed
Controller family Not published — the interface and its housekeeping commands are named instead Not published — the memory type is named, the controller is not
Warranty length Not published — no term appears Not published — no term appears

A tick means one listing published something the other did not, or published a better figure. It does not mean the product is better, and the column is not a score out of anything: a maker who says less loses lines here without losing a comparison. The two verdicts below are where the page is settled.

Which one, for whom

Buy the Intenso Top 1 TB, a shock figure, a written total and no term

The Intenso Top is the better documented of two well documented drives. It publishes both transfer rates, both endurance figures and a shock rating of 1500 G, and it attaches its 480 TB to the drive in the title rather than to a range. What it shares with its rival is the missing third figure: no term of warranty appears, so two of the three published endurance quantities are here and the commercial one is not.

Buy the Verbatim Vi550 S3 1 TB, a written total and a population statistic in one bullet

The Vi550 S3 matches the Intenso on 550 MB/s reading, on 480 TB written and on 2 million hours, and it adds a weight and a full set of dimensions. Two things cost it rows. It gives no rate for writing, offering a multiple against spinning drives in its place; and its three measurements are printed together with no label, so a buyer with a 7 mm bay has to infer which of 7, 69.9 and 100.5 is the thickness.

The questions that come up before an order

Both drives print 2 million hours. Is that how long they last?

No. A figure in hours of this kind describes failures across a population under defined conditions. It is not a service life, not a guarantee, and not a prediction about any single unit. Read beside it the 480 TB, which is a volume of writing, and the warranty term, which neither of these two states.

Which of 7, 69.9 and 100.5 mm is the height on the Verbatim?

The listing does not say. It prints the three measurements together without naming any of them, and this comparison records the height as not published for that reason. A 2.5-inch drive has to fit a bay in one direction in particular, and a page that gives three numbers and no labels has not answered that question.

The full reviews

  • SATA SSDs

    Intenso Top 1 TB, a shock figure, a written total and no term

    1 TB · 2.5-inch · SATA III at 6 Gbps · up to 550 MB/s read · up to 500 MB/s write · TBW rating of up to 480 TB · 2 million hours MTBF · shock resistance to 1500 G · no warranty term

    A one-terabyte drive that publishes both sequential figures, a written total, a population statistic and a shock figure with its duration, and that names no warranty term at all.

    Best for: A notebook or a desktop machine that is knocked about, where a shock rating and a written total matter and the term will be checked with the seller.

    ≈ $144 / £142 / 126 €

    Check price on Amazon Read the review
  • SATA SSDs

    Verbatim Vi550 S3 1 TB, a written total and a population statistic in one bullet

    1 TB · 2.5-inch · up to 550 MB/s read · TBW rating of up to 480 TB · 2 million hours MTBF · three measurements with no height named · 45 g · no warranty term

    A one-terabyte drive that publishes both a written total and a population statistic in the same sentence, gives three measurements without saying which is the height, and never states a warranty term.

    Best for: A machine where the written total is the deciding figure and the buyer will confirm the thickness and the term with the seller before ordering.

    ≈ £130 / 124 €

    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.