[section_title title=”Closer Look”]Closer Look
Starting out with the packaging, the most distinguishing feature about the front is the really cool glowing effect around the illustration of the SSD; it sort of resembles a fast Japanese car with neon lights underneath. The main colour scheme is black with hints of red, which seems to be the contrasting colour with the 850 Pro. It wouldn’t be a Samsung SSD without the Samsung SSD logo in the bottom right hand corner and of course at the top, we have the size; this sample is 128GB.
On the rear of the packaging, we have the same black design as on the front, but with a grey and red contrast this time. The rear contains relevant information to a few points Samsung have made such as the 5 year limited warranty, ultimate performance, outstanding reliability, extended data security and of course easy data migration and management; this is done via the Samsung Magician software.
Inside the box aside from the Samsung 850 Pro SSD itself, we have a warranty information leaflet, an installation guide and of course 2 x Samsung SSD activated stickers. I would expect a little more if I’m honest from a “Pro” drive such as a 2.5” – 3.5” adapter; still not enough to warrant marking the drive down though!
Moving onto the Samsung 850 Pro SSD itself, Samsung have gone with a lovely and sleek black finish this time round which sparkle in direct light; would give a nice effect with some LEDs. Like the previous Samsung SSDs, particularly the 840 versions, the way to distinguish between the 840/850 Pro is the colour of the square situated on the front cover; the 850 Pro has a red square.
The interface featured on the 850 Pro is SATA3 (6GB/s) with the use of Samsung’s own 3-core MEX controller as well as the Samsung 32 layer 3D V-NAND technology; a great leap forward from the old days of SSDs containing the slightly less reliable Sandforce controllers.
In terms of size, the 850 Pro measures in at 100×69.85×6.8mm making this drive coincide with the 2.5” form factor; which the majority of SSDs are nowadays. With its small size, it only weights 66g at most (figure quoted from a 1TB 850 Pro).
On the flip side of the casing, we have the information sticker which not only identifies the model number, but the capacity of the SSD too. Included is information regarding ESD (Electro Static Discharge) which shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Now we have taken a closer look at the Samsung 850 Pro, let’s take a look at the test setup and then see how it performs in our tests to see if it’s an improvement over the 840 Series…
