Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD Review

Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD

For quite a while Samsung used orange accents on the packages but the 850 Pro received a dash of red.

Over the last couple of years, we've observed some SSD markers hiding performance specifications on the retail boxes. Some even tuck the performance numbers away on the websites, away from the official product pages. The newest trend is using the best performing capacity on all capacity size retail boxes, and covering up low performance with glorious "up to" numbers. Samsung doesn't have anything to be ashamed of when it comes to 850 Pro performance, and shows the actual performance data right on the back of the retail boxes.

Inside of the box you'll find the SSD, installation manual, warranty statement, two stickers, and software disk.

Here we get our first look at the 850 Pro 256GB SSD. There isn't much going on here; there is just a minimalist design with light graphics.

The part number, model number, serial number, and capacity size are printed on a sticker on the back of the drive. The PSID is also located on the back of the drive.

The 850 Pro uses a 7mm case, so it fits perfectly in new Ultrabook designs that require the lower z-height.

Inside of the 2.5" case is a very small PCB that holds the controller, DRAM buffer, and four NAND flash packages.

All of the components for the 850 Pro are built by Samsung. This includes all of the major parts like the SSD controller (seen here), the DRAM, and the NAND flash.

It's difficult to tell in this image without a decoder sheet to breakdown the numbers, but this is Samsung's 3D V-NAND flash.

With the PCB out of the case, we get to see the back side.