Samsung 980 PRO PCIe 4.0 SSD is one step closer to launch

The Samsung 980 PRO PCIe 4.0 SSD is one step closer to launching, with it being certified by Korea’s National Radio Research Agency (RRA). The drive has been rumored for a launch by August 2020, so this certification seems to be just in time before the SSD debuts on the market.

This will be Samsung’s first consumer-grade SSD with support for PCIe 4.0. Adoption might be somewhat low since there’s only one consumer platform supporting PCIe 4.0 right now, but Samsung will have the bragging rights of being one of the first to release a PCIe 4.0 SSD that’s not based on the Phison E16 controller, which is used by various OEMs peddling their PCIe 4.0 SSDs.

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— 포시포시 (@harukaze5719) June 19, 2020

Samsung will get to boast about offering much higher speeds, with up to 6500MB/s read and 5000MB/s write, speeds which the Phison E16 are uncapable of. With that said, Phison is expected to release their next generation of controllers with the Phison E18 promising up to 7GB/s read and write speeds, so Samsung won’t be holding on to that crown for long.

As this is a member of Samsung’s PRO lineup, the Samsung 980 PRO will most probably sport 2-bit MLC instead of the TLC NAND that most of the industry is currently adopting. It will be available in capacities of 250GB, 500GB and 1TB, and the prices will likely reflect its position in the premium segment as well.

Pokdepinion: With Samsung’s leadership in the SSD market, I am pretty sure the Samsung 980 PRO will still hold an advantage over the upcoming Phison-based SSDs.