Samsung SSD 980: A Stellar Mid-Tier Option

The new Samsung SSD 980 enters the field of internal solid-state drives with some pretty stiff goals to meet.

- CHRIS STOBING

Its older brother, the PCI Express 4.0-based Samsung SSD 980 Pro ($229 for 1TB), blew out our testing benchmarks across the board when we reviewed it in September 2020, and even though the PCI Express 3.0-based Intel SSD 670p ($154.99 for 1TB), which launched in March, gives the SSD 980 some healthy competition, the SSD 980 has stolen back the first-place performance and value crown for PCI Express 3.0 drives for Samsung once again.

We tested the top-end $129.99 1TB version. It doesn’t win every 4K shallow-depth random-read benchmark outright, but given the price, this SSD takes enough victories back from the Intel SSD 670p to take our top spot as the best drive in its category. It earns our latest Editors’ Choice win among mainstream PCI Express 3.0 M.2 SSDs for performance, pricing, and solid software options.

SPECS: STEPPING IT DOWN FOR SAVINGS

The Samsung SSD 980 is a four-lane PCI Express (PCIe) 3.0 drive manufactured on an M.2 Type-2280 (80mm long) design. It employs the NVMe protocol over the PCIe 3.0 bus, and it features an in-house Samsung controller. The drive is based on the company’s own sixth-generation, 136-layer, three-bit multi-level-cell (MLC) V-NAND flash, and it’s available in three storage-volume sizes: 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB.

Samsung has reignited the debate over what an SSD should cost these days, and it enters the midrange with an MLC drive that carries a surprisingly high durability rating for its product class. Here’s a breakdown of the specs and pricing by capacity.