The new Samsung 9100 Pro SSD is said to deliver up to twice the read and write speeds compared to its predecessor. The SSD is, undoubtedly, one of the best innovations for consumer storage systems there has been. SSD’s have a massive advantage over traditional platter-based HDD’s, and you’d be hard-pressed to find any devices using HDD’s anymore. Even some NAS units have switched to this format, though many still use HDDs, so the platform isn’t entirely dead, but I digress.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Let’s just get into this review, it’s a short one with one resounding message. Research your hardware before purchasing any new SSD, with amazing read and write speeds. Let’s go!
The Quick Take
The Samsung 9100 Pro is a solid SSD, but take care to research your hardware to be sure you will benefit from its speeds and performance. You may be better served with a different Samsung SSD that is made to perform on your hardware.
Score and Bottom Line
Samsung 9100 Pro
Starting at $199
Nailed it
- Slim and light design, it can be purchased with or without a heatsink
- Decent performance, probably could have been better but my system isn’t the best of the best
Needs work
- It is a bit pricey, do your research on what hardware this would be best for before buying
I would recommend the Samsung 9100 Pro, but as I mentioned, research is key to getting the best out of this drive. If you buy and put into a system that won’t support the speeds, then you’re wasting money.
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Specifications
The Samsung 9100 Pro SSD has the following features and specifications:
- Interface: PCIe® 5.0 x4, NVMe™ 2.0
- Form Factor: M.2 (2280) / M.2 (2280 with Heatsink)
- Seq. Read/Write (MB/s): 14,700 / 13,300 performance may vary based on system hardware & configuration.
- Ran. Read/Write (IOPS, QD32): 1,850K / 2,600K performance may vary based on system hardware & configuration.
- Power Active (Read/Write): 7.6W / 7.2W
- Device Sleep (L1.2): 4.0mW / 3.3mW
- Data Encryption: Class 0 (AES 256), TCG/Opal v2.0, MS eDrive (IEEE1667)
- Total Bytes Written (TBW): 600
- Capacity: 1, 2, and 4 TB
- Hardware: Samsung V NAND TLC (V8)
- Controller: In-House Controller
- Cache Memory: 1GB LPDDR4X
- Warranty: Five (5) Year Limited Warranty
What’s In The Box
- Samsung 9100 Pro SSD
- Manuals and Documentation
Design
There isn’t much to say about the design of the Samsung 9100 Pro SSD; it’s an internal SSD, it is what it is. But since it is an NVMe SSD, it is small and slim. It is also straightforward to install, depending on the system you’re installing it in.
I installed it in my Lenovo Legion 9i Gen 9 gaming rig, which was straightforward to do, and I opted for the one without a heatsink, since the Lenovo has a heatsink already. This was as easy as removing the heatsink, slotting the Samsung 9100 Pro SSD, removing the sticker from the thermal paste, and seating the heatsink back over the drive securing the screws.
Some systems may not have an NVMe slot, and it’s always good to triple-check. You should also check to see if you have an extra slot if you intend to use this as a second drive. If you intend to use it as your primary, you should be good to go. My system had 2 extra slots, so I used the Samsung 9100 Pro SSD as a secondary drive.
Overall, the design is simple and internal, so there’s not much to discuss. Installation is easy but depends on your system; you should be sure this will fit your system.
Performance
The performance of the Samsung 9100 Pro SSD will heavily depend on your system’s specs and hardware. As with every SSD manufacturer, Samsung always states that you can get speeds UP TO a specific number. That does not mean you will get those speeds because there are variables that need to be considered. So, it is best to read the requirements of any drive you purchase.
That being said, my rig is a 2024 Lenovo Legion 9i Tower with an Intel Core i9, 32GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA RTX 4080 Super. This is a pre-built rig and probably not the hottest thing on the planet, but it works well enough for me. The installed SSD on my rig is the Samsung MZVL21T0HCLR, which has read/write speeds of 7000/5100.
Video and photo exporting were both on par with my internal SSD, the Samsung 9100 Pro was actually a bit faster on both, but only by 300–400. I am guessing that the 9100 Pro is being limited by my own hardware, so I know it is capable of better speeds, it’s just that my ceiling is too low.
Moving files from the internal SSD to the 9100 Pro was quick and easy, no worries here at all. The Samsung 9100 Pro performed far better than the attached portable SSD’s I have, so I am glad to have it installed internally.
Overall, without the best of the best hardware, you are only going to get what your hardware can support, and that’s precisely what happened to me. I do think this drive can achieve either its rated speeds, or at least damn close to that.
Benchmarks
For those who enjoy benchmark numbers, here are my results from four different testing platforms. As I already stated, performance is going to wildly vary and my system isn’t the latest and greatest rig you can get. I am confident these numbers would be even higher if I had a better rig.
Overall, the benchmark numbers do not tell it all, at least to me. This drive performed very well for my needs, and that is yet another massive variable in all of this. Had my rig been better outfitted, it probably would have performed even better. How will you use this drive and will it meet your expectations?
Price/Value
Prices vary on this drive, but they are pretty steep. The bottom line is, you will not get the value out of this drive if your system can’t support the speeds. I keep banging on this, but, research and find out if your system will give you the compatibility to give you the value out of the Samsung 9100 Pro.
Wrap Up
The Samsung 9100 Pro is a solid SSD, but take care to research your hardware to be sure you will benefit from its speeds and performance. You may be better served with a different Samsung SSD that is made to perform on your hardware. I would recommend the Samsung 9100 Pro, but as I mentioned, research is key to getting the best out of this drive. If you buy and put into a system that won’t support the speeds, then you’re wasting money.
