Samsung has announced its latest SSD, the Samsung 990 EVO, a follow-up to its top-rated Samsung 970 EVO.
The 990 EVO promises significant improvements in performance, efficiency, and adaptability compared to its predecessor. The standout feature of the SSD, according to Samsung, is its up to 43% performance compared to the 970 EVO. It boasts read speeds of up to 5,000 MB/s and write speeds of up to 4,200 MB/s.
An equally notable feature is the enhanced power efficiency of the 990 EVO, with a notable 70% increase compared to the 970 EVO Plus. This translates into extended battery life, making it an appealing choice for laptops.
The 990 EVO is designed with versatility in mind, catering to both current and future computing demands. Its compatibility with both PCIe 5.0 and PCIe 4.0 interfaces ensures seamless integration into various systems while maintaining peak performance.
Samsung has also equipped the 990 EVO with support for Microsoft Modern Standby, enabling instant on/off functionality, uninterrupted internet connectivity, and seamless notification reception even in low-power states.
The 990 EVO will be available in 1TB and 2TB capacities, retailing at $124.99 and $209.99, respectively, backed by a 5-year limited warranty and Samsung Magician Software.
Better efficiency for laptops is a good thing
While the speed of the new Samsung 990 EVO SSD is great, I'm much more interested in the power efficiency, honestly.
Ever since the release of the 12th-gen Intel Alder Lake mobile processors, power consumption has gone through the roof on laptops, pretty much halving their battery lives seemingly overnight.
The best laptop and ultrabook models of the 11th-gen were getting nearly half a day of effective use out of them (even the best gaming laptops were doing substantially better), but those halcyon days seem to be behind us if you're using anything but a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro.
Will the Samsung 990 EVO recover what we lost in terms of battery life? No, but it'll help, and the best Windows laptops need all the help they can get in that department as Macs pull ever more ahead in this area.
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