Samsung 2TB SSD 2.5"

The 870 EVO 2TB maxes out SATA III at 560 MB/s reads and brings a beefy 1,200 TBW endurance rating with a 5-year warranty. It's slow compared to NVMe drives but unbeatable for SATA-only systems. With a 4.8-star average across 94,613 reviews, it's the definition of a safe purchase.

The 560 MB/s read and 530 MB/s write speeds are the SATA III ceiling, so there's no point comparing this to NVMe drives. Within the SATA world, this is as good as it gets. The 98K random read IOPS is respectable, though the 36K random write IOPS is where things get less exciting. That's a solid middle-of-the-pack number in our database, and it shows up in real-world use when you're moving lots of small files around.

The MKX controller paired with TLC NAND and a DRAM cache keeps things consistent. Unlike DRAM-less budget drives, the 870 EVO doesn't choke when you throw sustained writes at it. The Intelligent TurboWrite buffer helps absorb bursts, but once you exceed it, write speeds drop to the native TLC speed. For a 2TB drive, that buffer is generous enough that most people will never notice. If you're cloning a full drive or doing massive file transfers daily, you'll see the dip eventually.

Stacked against the Micron T710, Crucial T500, Kingston Fury Renegade, Lexar NM1090 PRO, and Team Group MP44, the 870 EVO loses every speed contest by a landslide. Those are all NVMe drives with sequential reads in the thousands of MB/s. The Crucial T500 and Kingston Fury Renegade in particular are Gen4 drives that'll run circles around this thing in any benchmark. But here's the thing: if your machine only has SATA ports, those competitors are irrelevant. You physically can't install them. The 870 EVO's real competition is other SATA drives, and in that space, it's still the benchmark for reliability. The Micron T710 and Lexar NM1090 PRO are for people building new systems. The 870 EVO is for people keeping old ones alive.

Here's where things get tricky. The 870 EVO 2TB is not cheap for what it is. It sits in the 19th percentile for affordability, which means you're paying a premium for the Samsung name and that endurance rating. US prices swing wildly from $205 to $1,000 across 12 listings, which is frankly absurd for the same drive. The $205 price is actually reasonable for a 2TB SATA SSD with this reliability. The $1,000 listing is either a scalper or someone hoping you won't shop around. Canadian buyers face a tighter but still annoying spread of CAD 925 to CAD 1,180. If you're buying this, hunt for the low end of that range. At $205, it's a solid deal. At $300+, you're paying too much for SATA.

The Samsung 870 EVO 2TB hits 560 MB/s sequential reads and 530 MB/s writes, which is about as fast as SATA III physically allows. That's the ceiling for this interface, and Samsung's been sitting at it for years. The real story here is endurance: 1,200 TBW and a 5-year warranty put it in the 86th percentile for longevity, which is frankly overkill for most people. You'd have to write over 650 GB every single day for five years to hit that limit.

But let's be honest about what this drive is in 2025. SATA is old tech. NVMe drives at similar prices run 10-15x faster on sequential reads. The 870 EVO's speed lands in the 38th percentile, and random performance is dead average at the 40th percentile. What you're paying for here isn't speed. It's reliability, compatibility, and the peace of mind that comes from Samsung's massive install base. With a 4.8-star rating across 94,613 reviews, people clearly aren't regretting the purchase.

Skip this if you have any NVMe slot available. The 38th percentile speed ranking means you're leaving massive performance on the table for the same or less money. Also skip it if you're building a new system from scratch. There's no reason to spec SATA storage in a new build when NVMe drives cost about the same and run 10x faster. And if you're on a tight budget, the 19th percentile affordability ranking means you can find cheaper SATA SSDs that'll do the job, just with less endurance and shorter warranties. The 870 EVO is a premium product for a legacy interface, and that math only works for specific upgrade scenarios.

The Samsung 870 EVO 2TB is the safe choice for anyone stuck on SATA. It's not fast by modern standards, but it's reliable, well-supported, and backed by a 5-year warranty and 1,200 TBW endurance. The 4.8-star rating from nearly 95,000 buyers tells you everything: people install it, it works, and they forget about it. That's the highest compliment a storage drive can get. Just don't overpay. At the low end of the price range, it's a no-brainer for breathing life into an older laptop or desktop. At the high end, you're getting fleeced.