First comparison samsung 970 evo vs samsung 970 evo plus

Solid state drives (SSD) under NVMe are increasingly recommended, models like the Samsung EVO Plus, evolution of the previous EVO, are emerging as one of the best options on the market. The increase in speed together with the decrease in price, make them a serious option compared to 2.5 ”SSD drives under SATA interface. In this article we will make a comparison between these two Samsung models to find their main improvements and differences.

Samsung EVO and Samsung EVO Plus datasheet

We begin this comparison as usual, showing the characteristics of each of the storage units. This will be the fastest way to see the news that brings the new NVMe SSD of the Korean brand.

Category	970 EVO Plus	970 EVO
Interface	PCIe Gen 3.0 x4, NVMe 1.3	PCIe Gen 3.0 x4, NVMe 1.3
Form factor	M.2 (2280)	M.2 (2280)
Storage Memory	Samsung 96-layer V-NAND 3-bit MLC (It really is a TLC, although we will continue to talk about MLC during the article).	Samsung 64-layer V-NAND 3-bit MLC (It really is a TLC, although we will continue to talk about MLC during the article).
Controller	Samsung Phoenix Controller	Samsung Phoenix Controller
DRAM	2GB LPDDR4 DRAM (2TB) 1GB LPDDR4 DRAM (1TB) 512MB LPDDR4 DRAM (250 / 500GB)	2GB LPDDR4 DRAM (2TB) 1GB LPDDR4 DRAM (1TB) 512MB LPDDR4 DRAM (250GB / 500GB)
Capacity	2TB, 1TB, 500GB, 250GB	2TB, 1TB, 500GB, 250GB
Sequential write / read speed	Up to 3, 500 / 3, 300 MB / s	Up to 3, 500 / 2, 500 MB / s
Random write / read speed (QD32)	Up to 620, 000 / 560, 000 IOPS	Up to 500, 000 / 480, 000 IOPS
Software manager	Samsung Magician Software	Samsung Magician Software
Encrypted	Class 0 (AES 256), TCG / Opal v2.0, MS eDrive (IEEE1667)	Class 0 (AES 256), TCG / Opal v2.0, MS eDrive (IEEE1667)
Total Written Bytes	1, 200TBW (2TB) 600TBW (1TB) 300TBW (500GB) 150TBW (250GB)	1, 200TBW (2TB) 600TBW (1TB) 300TBW (500GB) 150TBW (250GB)
Warranty	Five year limited warranty	Five year limited warranty
Price	89/129/249 / April euros	80/124/262/519 euros

Analyzing the benefits of these two storage units, we see that the biggest news we have is the sequential write speed, improving by almost 1, 000MB / s to the previous model. But we also see another considerable improvement in both QD32 random read and write speed at 120, 000 IOPS and 80, 000 IOPS in each case.

And it's no wonder, as this new Samsung EVO Plus implements a new V-NAND based memory architecture of no less than 96 layers, far exceeding the 64 layers of the previous EVO model. The higher density of layers allows us to improve performance in terms of speed. We will see later if this is reflected in the evidence.

Regarding the capacity of their DRAM, they are basically the same in both models, varying depending on the capacity of the unit, we find 512 MB LPDDR4 in the 250 and 510 GB units and up to 2 GB in the top range unit of 2 TB. What really changes is in the speed of the interface, standing at around 1400 Mbps for these new units.

Another very important aspect is the price, and it is confirmed that the starting price of this new version will be lower than the previous one. Having obtained current prices for the Samsung EVO and the launch price of the EVO Plus, we see that it will be more affordable from the start, especially in the 500 GB and 1 TB variants, something extremely positive for the consumer.

Samsung EVO vs Samsung Evo Pus performance tests

We now turn to see the real benefits of these units face to face. To do this, we show the results obtained in our analysis of the Samsung 970 EVO 500 GB and the data that the guys from Windows Central have obtained from tests with the Samsung EVO Plus also 500 GB, so that the comparison is as faithful as possible.

Results: Samsung EVO

Results: Samsung EVO Plus (obtained from WindowsCentral)

Without a doubt, if we notice anything in the ATTO tests, it is the amazing consistency of performance from 64 KB blocks in the Samsung EVO Plus, never dropping from 2.8 GB / s in writing, nor 3.0 GB / s in reading. This is one of the advantages of increasing V-NAND layers in this new unit. For users working with 4K video or 3D modeling programs, the performance of this unit is going to be spectacular.

From the previous version, we do see a good performance up to 512 KB blocks, but from there, the performance drops to less than 1.5 Gbps. Without a doubt, the increase in benefits is significant.

Results: Samsung EVO

Results: Samsung EVO Plus (Results obtained from WindowsCentral)

If we take a look at the results of CristalDiskMark, we see that indeed the sequential write performance increases significantly compared to the EVO. But on the other hand in QD32 we do not see precisely that improvement that the brand promises, we even see much higher results from the EVO unit compared to the EVO Plus in 4KiB blocks.

We think that since they are not tests on the same equipment with the same hardware, they could be altered significantly, but the truth is that in the rest of the measures we did notice this improvement in the EVO Plus.

Conclusion of the comparison

In any case, we can determine that the performance shown is generally much better, especially in reading and writing large blocks of data and in sequential writing. As soon as we have this unit in our hands, we will be able to corroborate these figures with greater certainty.

The price is also going to be one of the great incentives of these new units, since since its release, the cost is lower than the EVO version. We noticed a good trend in terms of the lower cost of this technology, becoming a great advantage compared to 2.5 SSD drives with SATA3 interface, with much higher performance and very competitive prices.

Visit our guide to the best SSDs on the market

How do you see this face to face with the results shown? Do you see the Samsung EVO Plus as one of the best options on the market today? Leave us your opinions in the comments.