Samsung’s new SSD aims to make flash storage cheap as hard drives - TechRadar

It's finally happening. Samsung is aiming to make solid-state drives as affordable as hard drives with its latest line of 860 QVO SSDs.

The Samsung 1TB 860 QVO SSD will only cost $149 (about £120, AU$210), which makes the price closer to that of the budget-friendly WD Black 1TB hard drive at $99. Sure, there’s still a price gap, but the Samsung 860 QVO operates at much faster read and write speeds of 550 MB/s and 520 MB/s, respectively.

Compare that to the speediest hard drives, like one with fast-spinning 10,000 RPM platters like the now extinct WD VelociRaptor series. They max out around 200 MB/s in sequential read and write speeds.

Samsung has managed to bring solid-state storage to never before seen levels of affordability by utilizing high-density 4-bit multi-level cell NAND flash architecture. This form of memory can essentially pack in more data into its substrate and is cheaper for the Samsung to manufacture. The 860 QVO also comes fitted with a MJX controller and integrated Intelligent TurboWrite technology to enable its fast transfer speeds.

The Samsung 860 QVO SSD line is available now with 1TB models starting at $149 (about £120, AU$210). The 2TB version is $249 (about £200, AU$350), and $499 (about £390, AU$690) for 4TB.