Samsung's 9100 Pro SSD is "the best there is." That was the verdict in our review, where this PCIe 5.0 SSD delivered "blazing fast speeds across the board."
Currently, the Samsung 9100 Pro 1TB is $265 (was $340) at Amazon, and it's the drive our hardware editor recommends over the similarly priced Samsung 990 Pro. It's faster - up to 14,700MB/s vs. 7,450 MB/s - making it a better pick for professionals who need fast transfer speeds for video editing and heavy workstation use.
• Best for: Professionals and creators running heavy workloads looking for one of the fastest consumer SSDs around.
• Why we like it: In our review, we found "fantastic performance with the fastest write speeds we've ever tested." Not every machine can make use of this SSD, but for those that can, it's an easy recommendation.
• Keep in mind: You'll need a PCIe 5.0 M.2 motherboard and reliable heatsinks to prevent thermal throttling.
9100 Pro 1TB PCIe: was $339.99 now $264.58
The 9100 PRO 1TB is an M.2 2280 NVMe drive with a PCIe 5.0 x4 interface, up to 14,700MB/s sequential reads, up to 13,300MB/s sequential writes and random speeds of up to 1,850K read and 2,600K write IOPS. Samsung says its 5nm controller improves power efficiency by up to 49% compared with the 990 PRO, and it has hardware encryption and Magician software for updates and drive health. View Deal
Why we recommend it
During our 4.5-star review of this drive, the Samsung 9100 Pro delivered "best-in-class sequential read and write performance" and "fantastic random read and write speeds."
Even after review, we continued to test out the drive using a range of other motherboards and processors - and yes, we were able to reach the sequential read speeds that Samsung promised.
While it's not the cheapest drive, the performance-to-price remains low, and considering the 990 Pro is only $5 cheaper, we'd opt for the 9100 Pro wherever possible.
Price Context & Historical Value
This isn't the cheapest this drive has ever been - especially not after component costs began to rise. But it is in the general park for the sale price we regularly see. We have spotted it selling for the $340 list price often, so worth picking up while on discount. Considering the slower PCIe 4.0 SSD, the Samsung 990 Pro is only slightly cheaper, if you have a Gen5 board, the 9100 Pro offers better value for money.
Should you buy it?
✅ Buy the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB SSD if...
You want one of the fastest SSDs you can buy at a good price, and you run a lot of heavier workloads.
❌ Skip the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB SSD if...
Your system only supports PCIe 4.0 or slower, since you won't see the top speeds.