DATO ARES Amber Shield 1TB Portable USB 3.2 Gen 2x2

DATO ARES Amber Shield 1TB Portable USB 3.2 Gen 2x2

DATO
27 Overall Score
vs
Samsung 990 PRO 2TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280

Samsung 990 PRO 2TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280

Samsung
96 Overall Score

What Buyers Say

DATO ARES Amber Shield 1TB Portable USB 3.2 Gen 2x2

No customer feedback yet

Samsung 990 PRO 2TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280

88 out of 100 low confidence 5 reviews

Users are highly satisfied with this SSD, praising its exceptional speed and reliable performance for gaming and photo editing. One user noted thermal concerns during heavy gaming, reaching 62°C without a heatsink, but overall sentiment remains very positive. The drive is easy to install and has proven durable over a year of use.

Pros
  • Blazing fast speeds
  • Easy installation
  • Reliable performance
  • Good value for refurbished price
Cons
  • Thermal concerns under heavy load
  • No heatsink included
👍 Speed 5
👍 Reliability 3
👍 Ease of installation 2
👍 Value for money 1
👎 Thermal performance 1

Scores

Console
DATO
14
Samsung
94
Gaming
DATO
20
Samsung
94
Workstation
DATO
25
Samsung
92
Budget
DATO
56
Samsung
89
Laptop
DATO
15
Samsung
84
Portable
DATO
52
Samsung
25

Specifications

DATO ARES Amber ShieldSamsung 990 PRO
Drive
Capacity
1,000
2,000
Form FactorExternalM.2 2280
InterfaceUSB 3.2 Gen 2x2PCIe 4.0 x4
Protocol—NVMe
PCIe Generation—4★
External✓✗
Performance
Sequential Read (MB/s)
1,600
7,450
Sequential Write (MB/s)
1,500
6,900
Random Read (IOPS)No data
1,400,000
Random Write (IOPS)No data
1,550,000
Hardware
NAND—TLC★
DRAM Cache—✓★
Controller—Samsung Pascal
Reliability
Endurance (TBW)No data
1,200
MTBF (hours)No data
1,500,000
Warranty (years)—1★
Features
Heatsink—✓★
Hardware Encryption—✓★

Pros & Cons

DATO ARES Amber Shield 1TB Portable USB 3.2 Gen 2x2

  • Below average random (3rd percentile)3rd %ile
  • Below average feature (15th percentile)15th %ile
  • Below average endurance (15th percentile)15th %ile

Samsung 990 PRO 2TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280

  • Strong social proof (100th percentile)100th %ile
  • Strong feature (99th percentile)99th %ile
  • Strong random (97th percentile)97th %ile
  • Strong speed (93rd percentile)93rd %ile
  • Below average affordability (21st percentile)

Verdict

★ Winner: Samsung 990 PRO

Scores 96 overall, wins 5 of 6 usage categories and 13 of 18 specs.

DATO ARES Amber Shield Better at:

Portable

Samsung 990 PRO Better at:

BudgetGamingLaptopConsoleWorkstation