CONCLUSION

   After we reviewed the 850 Pro 512GB model and heard that Samsung would also send us the 850 EVO 500GB we thought that there would be a sufficient performance gap between those two to "justify" both the different target areas and the difference in price. However it's very clear from our charts that purely in terms of performance both the 850 Pro 512GB and the 850 EVO 500GB are very close. Of course we didn't expect the 850 EVO to reach the performance of the 850 Pro but it comes really close and in some cases it does even better. In terms of endurance both models feature the same 150TBW rating and although the 850 Pro features a much higher number of P/E cycles making it ideal for heavy workloads the P/E cycles of the 850 EVO should be more than enough for even professional use. Our only concern about the 850 EVO is the new version of RAPID (v2.1) which didn't really work for our system. That being said so far we had no problem with the 840 Pro and the 850 Pro models when using RAPID so this might just have been an isolated issue (if not we hope Samsung resolves it).

   The EVO line of SSDs by Samsung is always aimed towards the consumer market so they really have to come at a better price point compared to the Pro models. Well the 850 EVO 500GB model currently retails for USD249.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 249.59Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) so it's roughly 25% cheaper compared to the 850 Pro line. Is that enough to attract buyers? Well it all comes down to how much one is willing to spend for an SSD but i don't really see a reason for regular consumers to even consider the 850 Pro line, not when performance and overall endurance is roughly the same in both lines. I think that Samsung has more room to cut the price of the 850 EVO line even more to compete with other models in the market but 25% is by no means a small number. Overall the 850 EVO is many steps over its predecessor the 840 EVO and for that it gets our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality / Endurance (150TBW / 1 Million Hours MTBF)
- Excellent Overall Performance
- Features (TurboWrite/RAPID Mode/eDrive Support)
- Samsung Magician Software
- 5 Year Warranty
- Available In 1TB

CONS

- Price (For Some)