VIDEO: Samsung's new 860 EVO and PRO with 64-layer V-NAND seek SSD supremacy

In the world of SSD (solid state drive) storage, Samsung is arguably THE top brand you can buy.

Of course, its competitors from WD, Crucial and others will naturally seek to challenge that statement, and have either recently released models of their own, or have new ones on the way, but as always, this is a wonderful thing for competition, prices, and consumers.

The newest of the lot is now Samsung's new 860 PRO and 860 EVO SSDs, and are naturally Samsung's most up-to-date additions to its SATA interface lineup.

{loadposition alex08}As you'd expect, the products are aimed at consumers who require "fast, reliable performance across various applications, from everyday computing to heavy workloads and graphic-intensive operations."

Indeed, if you're still using a computer that runs with an old-fashioned, spinning hard drive, you're seriously missing out on the absolutely phenomenal speed boost that any modern SSD provides.

Even USB 3-equipped iMacs are able to boot from an external SSD for stunning performance improvements over internal HDDs, something I've helped a couple of people do to their astonishment at the ease of cloning (using the built-in Disk Utility) and the superlative start-up and operational speeds that follow, without needing to pay for the technological surgery required to crack open iMacs and replace internal drives instead.

It's a similar story for desktops and laptops - especially older ones where it is trivial to unscrew the hard disk cover on the underside of the notebook - whereby an SSD is the most important upgrade you can possibly make to achieve extremely noticeable performance power, at the inexpensive cost of an SSD, and free cloning software, all of which is dramatically cheaper than buying an entirely new computer.

So, now comes the new 860 models from Samsung, which build on the successful 850 PRO and 850 EVO series, which were the industry’s "first consumer SSDs with V-NAND technology", with the 860 models said by Samsung to "achieve industry-leading performance for SATA SSDs, offering enhancements in speed, reliability, compatibility and capacity."

A review of the performance of the 500GB 860 PRO and EVO models will arrive within the week, but in the meantime, the article continues below, please read on - and please turn phone sideway to view full image. 

Un-Soo Kim, senior VP of Brand Product Marketing, Memory Business at Samsung Electronics said: "The new 860 PRO and 860 EVO SSDs combine the latest 512Gb and 256Gb 64-layer V-NAND, up to 4GB LPDDR4 mobile DRAM and a new MJX controller to elevate the user experience for both consumers and businesses.

"Samsung will continue to fuel meaningful innovations in the consumer SSD space and drive growth of the overall memory industry for years to come."

Paul Sharpe, Director of Enterprise and Small Medium Business at Samsung Electronics Australia had a local comment, stating: “Now more than ever before, Australians are seeking high performance technology to power faster data transfers for all their computing needs. Whether gaming, editing, or simply maintaining a stable workflow, Samsung’s SSD 860 PRO and EVO delivers consistency at incredible speeds and is designed to meet the needs of those who require the best possible performance.

“Combining improved speed, compatibility and capacity with lower power consumption, Australians can enjoy the SSD 860 PRO and EVO’s fast, reliable performance across various applications.

“The 860 PRO and EVO in Australia breaks new ground for our SSD portfolio and illustrate Samsung’s determination to drive meaningful innovation across our memory range,” Sharpe concluded. 

So, what are some of the specs and data points Samsung has shared?

We start off by being told that, as file sizes continue to increase with high-resolution photos and 4K videos, "the need for faster data transfers and sustainable high performance over a longer period of time has become paramount for users."

Thus, to address this need, Samsung states its 860 PRO and 860 EVO "support up to 560 MB/s read and 530 MB/s write speeds and offer unmatched reliability with an upgraded five-year limited warranty, or up to 4,800 terabytes written (TBW) for the 860 PRO and up to 2,400 TBW for the 860 EVO."

Then there's the new MJX controller, which "also enables faster communication with the host system. The controller is powerful enough to handle workstation storage, while improving Linux operating system compatibility."

And the capacities?

The 860 PRO are available in "256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB and 4TB capacities, with the 4TB memory storage holding up to 114 hours and 30 minutes of 4K Ultra HD video. The 860 PRO is available in a widely compatible 2.5-inch form factor, which is ideal for PCs, laptops, workstations and NAS."

The 860 EVO comes in "250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB and 4TB capacities, in a 2.5-inch for PCs and laptops, as well as mSATA and M.2 form factors for ultra-slim computing applications. The 860 EVO has up to six times longer sustained performance than its predecessor due to enhanced Intelligent TurboWrite technology, with read and write speeds of up to 550 MB/s and 520 MB/s, respectively."

So, what about prices, specs and that promised video?

Here are the specs for the 860 PRO and EVO models, followed by the prices for the various capacities, and then Samsung's 860-series SSD video.

Article continues below, please turn phone sideways to view full image:

The SSD 860 PRO and EVO are priced from RRP $209 and RRP $149 respectively and will be available at selected IT resellers in Australia - here is the price and capacity pricing breakdown, with the 860 EVO also available in M.2 and mSATA versions, and not just the standard 2.5-inch models:

SSD 860 PRO - 2.5-inch

Model, Product Code, Description and AUD RRP inc GST:

MZ-76P4T0, MZ-76P4T0BW
4TB, Samsung V-NAND, 2.5", 7mm, SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 560MB/s/530MB/s, 100K/90K IOPS, 4,800TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$2,999.00

MZ-76P2T0, MZ-76P2T0BW
2TB, Samsung V-NAND, 2.5", 7mm, SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 560MB/s/530MB/s, 100K/90K IOPS, 2,400TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$1,399.00

MZ-76P1T0, MZ-76P1T0BW
1TB, Samsung V-NAND, 2.5", 7mm, SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 560MB/s/530MB/s, 100K/90K IOPS, 1,200TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$719.00

MZ-76P512, MZ-76P512BW
512GB, Samsung V-NAND, 2.5", 7mm, SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 560MB/s/530MB/s, 100K/90K IOPS, 600TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$379.00

MZ-76P256, MZ-76P256BW
256GB, Samsung V-NAND, 2.5", 7mm, SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 560MB/s/530MB/s, 100K/90K IOPS, 300TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$209.00

SSD 860 EVO - 2.5-inch

Model, Product Code, Description and AUD RRP inc GST:

MZ-76E4T0, MZ-76E4T0BW
4TB, Samsung V-NAND, 2.5". 7mm, SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 550MB/s/520MB/s, 98K/90K IOPS, 2,400TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$2,249.00

MZ-76E2T0, MZ-76E2T0BW
2TB, Samsung V-NAND, 2.5". 7mm, SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 550MB/s/520MB/s, 98K/90K IOPS, 1,200TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$1,049.00

MZ-76E1T0, MZ-76E1T0BW
1TB, Samsung V-NAND, 2.5". 7mm, SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 550MB/s/520MB/s, 98K/90K IOPS, 600TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$519.00

MZ-76E500, MZ-76E500BW
500GB, Samsung V-NAND, 2.5". 7mm, SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 550MB/s/520MB/s, 98K/90K IOPS, 300TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$269.00

MZ-76E250, MZ-76E250BW
250GB, Samsung V-NAND, 2.5". 7mm, SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 550MB/s/520MB/s, 98K/90K IOPS, 150TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$149.00

SSD 860 EVO - M.2

Model, Product Code, Description and AUD RRP inc GST:

MZ-N6E2T0, MZ-N6E2T0BW
2TB, Samsung V-NAND, M.2 (2280), SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 550MB/s/520MB/s, 98K/90K IOPS, 1,200TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$1,049.00

MZ-N6E1T0 MZ-N6E1T0BW
1TB, Samsung V-NAND, M.2 (2280), SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 550MB/s/520MB/s, 98K/90K IOPS, 600TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$519.00

MZ-N6E500, MZ-N6E500BW
500GB, Samsung V-NAND, M.2 (2280), SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 550MB/s/520MB/s,98K/90K IOPS, 300TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$269.00

MZ-N6E250, MZ-N6E250BW
250GB, Samsung V-NAND, M.2 (2280), SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 550MB/s/520MB/s, 98K/90K IOPS, 150TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$149.00

SSD 860 EVO - mSATA

Model, Product Code, Description and AUD RRP inc GST:

MZ-M6E1T0, MZ-M6E1T0BW
1TB, Samsung V-NAND, mSATA, SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 550MB/s/520MB/s, 98K/90K IOPS, 600TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$519.00

MZ-M6E500, MZ-M6E500BW
500GB, Samsung V-NAND, mSATA, SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 550MB/s/520MB/s, 98K/90K IOPS, 300TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$269.00

MZ-M6E250, MZ-M6E250BW
250GB, Samsung V-NAND, mSATA, SATA III 6GB/s, R/W(Max) 550MB/s/520MB/s, 98K/90K IOPS, 150TBW, 5 Years Warranty
$149.00

Here's Samsung official 860-series promo video, filled with robots:

Samsung Australia's SSD site is here, while its global SSD mini site is here.