Samsung 850 Evo mSATA and m.2 SSD – Performance

Theoretically
the m.2 form factor should be slightly slower than the mSATA ones across
the board as Samsung uses a slightly more aggressive thermal limiter to
keep clock speeds and thus transfer speeds in check. This amounts to
write speeds maxing out at 500MB/s where the mSATA drives can go up to
520MB/s. However, this wasn’t borne out in our results.

Instead
AS SSD reported that both drives hit around 515MB/s for read speed but
then the mSATA drive only managed 427MB/s write speed while the m.2
drive hit 497MB/s. This somewhat held true in CrystalDiskMark too,
although both drives failed to get above 500MB/s, hitting 486MB/s and
487MB/s, respectively.

Regardless, these are still very fast
drives when it comes to raw sequential read and write speeds that’ll
provide an upgrade over the majority of similarly sized drives you’ll
find in most laptops.

When
it comes to random read and write performance, these drives also hold
up very well. In AS SSD’s 4k-64Thrd test both drives hit 380MB/s read
and 380MB/s write, although the m.2 drive trailed a little in write
speed where it hit 244MB/s compared to the 272MB/s of the mSATA model.
In CrystalDiskMark’s 512K test, though, both hit above 430MB/s read and
380MB/s write. Again, it’s generally impressive performance all round.

Finishing things off with PCMark 7’s storage tests, they both scored over 5600 points.

Other things to consider

As mentioned, these drives won’t be suitable for most desktop upgrades as they don’t support PCI-Express. However, check your motherboard to see whether it supports SATA on its mSATA or m.2 drives. If if does, you’re good to go.

You don’t get any extras with these drives so any adapters to perform an upgrade will have to be sourced separately. This is typical for this particular form factor of drive, though.

The full range of MSRPs for these drives is as follows: 120GB (mSATA and m.2) – £62.29, 250GB (mSATA and m.2) – £100.29, 500GB (mSATA and m.2) – £178.99, 1TB (mSATA) – £349.99. These are all fairly competitive prices for such fast drives.

Should I buy the Samsung SSD Evo mSATA and m.2?

If
you’re in the market for an upgrade to your laptop, small form factor
PC or even for those desktop PCs that have compatible mSATA and m.2
storage then the Samsung SSD Evo range is a good bet.

They offer
excellent performance, great longevity – with a warranty to match – and
are priced competitively. You can get ever so slightly cheaper models
at certain capacities, such as the 120GB and 240GB models offered by
Crucial and Kingston but for the performance you get the Samsung drives
are still the better bet.

For those with motherboards sporting
PCI-Express mSATA and m.2 slots, the Evo range doesn’t fit the bill as
it’s SATA only. Instead something like the more expensive Samsung XP941
will do the job. We’re hoping Samsung will rejig the Evo offering and
make an PCI-Express version soon too, though.

SEE ALSO: Samsung 850 Evo SATA review

Verdict

SSD
storage in the mSATA and m.2 form factors doesn’t get much cheaper and
speedier than the Samsung 850 Evo range. It’s the perfect upgrade for
your laptop, SFF PC and compatible desktop PCs.

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