Back in late June, we shared a list of best SSDs to speed up your PC, and when you think only about that role, capacity doesn't need to be that large. However, solid-state drives will reach their full potential only once they break all storage limits. Samsung has taken a giant step in that direction by announcing a new SSD based on four-bit cells, enabling a top capacity of 4 terabytes under the SATA interface, in a 2.5-inch format.
Whether you plan to increase your computer's capacity or carry data everywhere, the market is responding wonderfully. Our guide to best external hard drives is still valid, and we've recently added other models like Seagate Expansion recommended for consoles, the Silicon Power Armor A80 that withstands impacts and liquids, and the Western Digital My Passport AV-TV compatible with Smart TVs. Traditional hard drives still hold a very important advantage in density... but no one can deny that SSDs are approaching at full speed. The most recent case comes from Samsung, which just announced a new series of SSDs with a maximum capacity of 4 terabytes.
Samsung's 4-bit QLC SSDs: What We Know
These units are based on QLC technology, four bits per cell. If we review a bit of history, the first SSDs with one-bit cells debuted in 2006, and it only took six years to bring that limit to three bits per cell. With the introduction of V-NAND (which stacks cells vertically) and the emergence of new technical challenges, the jump from three to four bits took another six years, but Samsung confirmed that it has already started mass production, and the first consumer products will reach shelves before the end of the year. These SSDs will use the SATA interface in a 2.5-inch format, and the good news is that they won't suffer performance losses, with theoretical maximums of 540 megabytes per second read and 520 megabytes per second write (both sequential).
Warranty and Mobile Variants
The official announcement does not reveal any details about the durability of Samsung QLC SSDs, but it has confirmed that the units will have a three-year warranty, and that there will be smaller variants in 1 and 2 terabytes. As if that were not enough, Samsung also indicated that it will use the same technology to create 128-gigabyte cards compatible with mobile devices, so its benefits will go far beyond the desktop.
SSD prices have plummeted in recent weeks. Will Samsung find the right number for its 4 TB beast? We'll be waiting.
