The Samsung 850 EVO is a solid performer with an attractive price tag. It excels at writing and other random operations, but falls behind when it comes to SQL queries. The drive also falters in synthetic benchmarks because of the SATA III interface despite its MLC NAND package. Nonetheless, this is still one of the best drives on the market and we recommend it for most users.
The “Samsung 850 EVO 120GB Review” is a review of the Samsung 850 EVO 120GB SSD. The review will cover the features, performance, and pricing.
Solid state drives (SSDs) were one of the prospective candidates for a recent laptop update, and one of the probable candidates for this SSD upgrade was the 120GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, which we are evaluating today.
We’ll take a closer look at the Samsung 850 EVO 120GB in this review to see how it compares in terms of performance and pricing. 
Samsung 850 EVO (120GB) SSD (Samsung 850 EVO (120GB) SSD (Samsung 850 Amazon.com is a good place to start. Click here to see the price on Amazon.com. Manufacturer: Samsung
Samsung 850 EVO 120GB Overview
The Samsung 850 EVO is a popular SSD option that is gradually gaining traction as a standard SSD. The EVO series, which uses Samsung’s V-NAND technology, is a mid-range device with mid-to-high performance and is fairly economical in lesser capacity offerings like as 120GB. This review is for the normal 2.5′′ 7mm thick form factor, although this SSD is also available in mSATA or M.2 models. The 120GB drive shown in this review is the lowest size available; additional 850 EVO disk sizes include 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, and even 2TB.
Pros
- Read speeds of up to 540MB/s and write speeds of up to 520MB/s
- Warranty period: 5 years
- 3D V-NAND technology with 3 bits
- Design with a 7mm thickness
Cons
- Samsung Software for Magicians is only compatible with Windows-based computers.
- There isn’t a 2.5′′ to 3.5′′ adaptor plate provided.
- No adapter plate for 7mm to 9mm thickness is supplied.
Performance
V-NAND Technology in 3D
The 850 Evo is a significant increase over the preceding 840 Evo series, since it has Samsung’s V-NAND, or 3D vertical NAND structure.
Simply said, V-NAND refers to Samsung’s strategy of constructing physical NAND memory in the drive in vertical layers rather than attempting to shrink the size of NAND cells to fit horizontally on the constrained 2-dimensional surface that an SSD footprint affords. Consider it as if you were constructing skyscrapers in a metropolis rather than one-story apartments. As a consequence, there’s increased memory density in a smaller space.
The 3-dimensional V-NAND design has a slew of advantages: increased NAND cell density equals more storage capacity (thus the 2TB 850 series SSD introduction), quicker performance, lower power consumption by up to 45 percent, and longer durability.
Benchmarking Results
To give you an indication of the drive’s durability, if you wrote 50GB to it every day, it would take you more than 8 years to wear it out, according to the specs.
TechteamGB’s review video (scroll down to watch) goes through a few real-world tests to demonstrate the drive’s performance for the 120GB capacity. Benchmarking is done using CrystalDiskMark and AS SSD Benchmark, which both conduct a series of simulated stress tests on the disk to measure performance.
Screenshot from TechteamGB’s video evaluation of benchmark tests. Youtube is the source of this video.
The sequential read and write tests, represented by “Seq” above, demonstrate the drive’s real performance. We can see that it reads at 523MB/s and writes at 503MB/s, which is just slightly less than the claimed 540MB/s and 520MB/s read and write rates.
The 4K Random read and write, shown by “4K” in the figure above, is the next result we’ll look at. These tests mimic reading and writing 4KB blocks of data from random locations on the disk, which is a significantly more difficult test than sequential read/write. Because the information is not in sequential sequence, it takes the drive longer to find it, hence slower speeds are to be expected in this region. The 120GB 850 EVO delivers solid performance, with 4K read speeds of roughly 49MB/s and write speeds of 121MB/s.
In benchmarking tests, the Samsung 850 EVO is a solid performance, and you can’t go wrong with this drive if you’re moving from older storage technologies like a spinning hard disk drive. It will undoubtedly result in significant improvements in startup times, as well as speed and loading times in ordinary usage.
If you want to see more of TechteamGB’s performance testing on the 120GB 850 EVO, here is the entire review:
Who is it intended for?
Many people consider the Samsung 850 series to be one of the greatest drives available in terms of cost against performance, durability, and dependability. The EVO is a low-cost entry-level model, while the 850 Pro series is a higher-end choice (which offers a boost in speed and endurance, but at a higher cost).
This drive will serve you well if you need a low-cost solid state drive with additional capabilities such as SSD management, turbo-write, RAPID mode, and AES 256-bit encryption without losing speed.
When it comes to SSDs, Samsung is unquestionably a major participant, as the market’s innovator. They were the first to offer an SSD with a capacity of 2TB in July 2015 (incidentally, it was the 850 EVO 2TB and 850 Pro 2TB SSDs – effectively the same EVO product we’re looking at in this review, but with a lot more space).
Cost
The Samsung 850 EVO was initially introduced in December 2014, and the good news is that the price has dropped significantly since then. Even back then, these drives were recognized for being one of the greatest value drives in terms of $ per GB, and that remains true today as costs have dropped.
While they are not as inexpensive as the Kingston HyperX Fury, the 850 EVO offers superior performance and comes with a longer guarantee. Surprisingly, after looking at a few pricing, the 850’s seem to be comparable to (and often even less expensive than) the previous model 840 EVO.
Magician Software
The only significant drawback we can think of is that Samsung’s Magician software seems to be limited to Windows-based computers (at the time of writing).
Although the Samsung Magician Software is not required, it is utilized for SSD administration and will give you a bit more control over your new drive, including the ability to:
- Optimization of SSDs
- Updates to the firmware
- Benchmarking of performance
- Optimizing your operating system to get the most out of your SSD’s performance and lifespan
The Samsung Magician Software is available for download from Samsung’s website. Samsung has also planned ahead, providing its one-stop install Navigator software to make migrating compatible data and applications from your old main storage drive to your 850 EVO as simple as possible. That’s a big bonus since it eliminates the hassle of manually cloning data or starting over with a new setup.
The fact that the software is necessary to take full benefit of most of the drive’s sophisticated capabilities is undoubtedly a drawback for macOS and Linux users (such as RAPID mode and automatic firmware update). However, even without the Magician software installed, the drive provides superb performance out of the box, making it an ideal SSD purchase.
If you are not a Windows user and would want greater control over your SSD in terms of enabling additional capabilities, you should look into another manufacturer.
Features and Specifications
MZ-75E120 is the model number.
Dimensions: 120GB
Samsung MGX Controller is the controller used.
Samsung 3D V-NAND 3bit Multi-level cell (flash) (MLC)
2.75′′ x 3.94′′ x 0.27′′ Dimensions: 2.75′′ x 3.94′′ x 0.27′′ (69.85mm x 100mm x 6.8mm)
2.5′′ form factor, however mSATA and M.2 versions are also available.
2.33 ounces (about) (66.0g)
SATA 6 Gb/s interface is backwards compatible with SATA 3 Gb/s and SATA 1.5 Gb/s interfaces.
0.05W (max) idle power, 3.7W (max) average read power, 4.7W (max) average write power, 0.002W device sleep power
Life Expectancy/Reliability: 1.5 million hours between failures is the average period between failures (MTBF)
75 TBW (Total Bytes Written)
Encrypted Drive with AES 256-bit Full Disk Encryption (FDE) with TCG/Opal V2.0 (IEEE1667)
Performance at the Start
Maximum sequential read speed is 540MB/s.
Maximum sequential write speed is 520MB/s.
Random 4KB read/write (4KB, QD32) IOPS: up to 94,000 (read) and 88,000 (write).
Up to 10,000 (read) and 40,000 (write) IOPS at random 4k read/write (4KB, QD1)
The Samsung 850 EVO specs page has all of the details.
Warranties from the manufacturer
Samsung’s 5-year limited warranty is one of the longest on the market, and according to the specs given above, you may choose between a 5-year limited warranty or a 75-day limited warranty (Whichever comes first).
If you want to retain your drive for a long time and warranty is important to you, the 850 Pro SSD is a good option, since it comes with a 10-year guarantee (along with improved performance) at a little higher price.
Final Thoughts on Samsung’s EVO 850 SSD (120GB)
Because it performs well in many areas, Samsung’s 850 EVO has become a popular mainstream SSD. This is a drive that you can’t go wrong with. It provides good performance at a fair price, plus it comes with a five-year guarantee from a well-known brand.
SSD Model: 850 EVO (120GB) Amazon.com is a good place to start. Click here to see the price on Amazon.com. Manufacturer: Samsung
The “samsung 850 evo review” is a solid, affordable SSD. It comes with a 5-year warranty and has read/write speeds of 550 MB/s and 520 MB/s respectively.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Samsung 850 Evo still good?
A: Samsungs 850 Evo is still a good SSD. It has been around for quite some time now and it will continue to be marketed as one of the best drives out there until unannounced new models are released.
Is Samsung EVO SSD worth it?
A: Samsungs SSDs are some of the most well-known and widely used solid state drives (SSDs) in the market. They offer both 2.5 inch and M.2 versions, with price ranges that span from around $100 to potentially up into six digits depending on what model youre looking for.
When did the Samsung 850 EVO come out?
A: The Samsung 850 EVO was released on the 20th of October, 2017.
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