Samsung 990 PRO 2TB vs Samsung SSD 990 EVO Plus 2TB

Researched, not hands-on tested.How we review ›

all judged against NVMe SSDs at a similar price

The Samsung SSD 990 EVO Plus 2TB scores 7.8/10 overall, ahead of the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB at 7.4/10.

The Samsung 990 PRO 2TB leads on performance.

The Samsung SSD 990 EVO Plus 2TB leads on efficiency and thermals and software.

They score the same on endurance and warranty.

The biggest difference is software, where the Samsung SSD 990 EVO Plus 2TB scores 9/10 to the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB's 6/10.

Samsung 990 PRO 2TB

7.4/10verdict: buy

The Samsung 990 PRO 2TB is for people who want a fast PCIe 4.0 M.2 drive for a workstation, development machine or homelab host. It suits those who value responsiveness and a five-year warranty and who will pay a premium for them. Buyers should plan for cooling, because owners report it runs warm under sustained load.

Typically about £329 in the UK when we researched itCheck price at Amazon UK

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Samsung SSD 990 EVO Plus 2TB

7.8/10verdict: buy

The Samsung SSD 990 EVO Plus 2TB is for buyers who want a 2TB M.2 2280 NVMe drive with a five-year warranty and a management tool that covers firmware updates and drive health. It suits desktop and workstation builds that already have a motherboard heatsink for the drive. It is a weaker fit for workloads that write huge volumes continuously or lean on sustained random I/O.

Typically about £279.99 in the UK when we researched itCheck price at Amazon UK

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Scores, criterion by criterion

Criterion	Weight	Samsung 990 PRO 2TB	Samsung SSD 990 EVO Plus 2TB
Performance	35%	8/10	7/10
Endurance	20%	8/10	8/10
Warranty	15%	9/10	9/10
Efficiency and thermals	15%	5/10	7/10
Software	15%	6/10	9/10
Overall		7.4/10	7.8/10

Specifications

Spec	Samsung 990 PRO 2TB	Samsung SSD 990 EVO Plus 2TB
Interface	PCIe Gen 4.0 x4, NVMe 2.0	PCIe 4.0 x4 / 5.0 x2, NVMe 2.0
Sequential read	7,450 MB/s	Up to 7,250 MB/s
Sequential write	6,900 MB/s	Up to 6,300 MB/s
Endurance (2TB)	1,200 TBW	1,200 TBW
Form factor	M.2 (2280)	M.2 (2280)
Warranty	5 years limited	Five years or total bytes written (TBW), whichever comes first

Strengths and weaknesses

Samsung 990 PRO 2TB

+ Rated 7,450 MB/s sequential read and 1,550K random write IOPS
+ 1,200 TBW endurance at 2TB
+ Five-year limited warranty
− Runs warm under sustained load, per owner reports
− Heatsink version is a separate SKU that costs extra
− Owners report a price premium over competing drives

Skip it if:

Buyers choosing mainly on lowest price
Anyone with a poorly cooled slot who doesn't want to buy the heatsink version
Buyers who need published sustained-write or power-draw figures before committing

Read the full Samsung 990 PRO 2TB review ›

Samsung SSD 990 EVO Plus 2TB

+ 1,200 TBW rating with a five-year warranty
+ Samsung Magician handles firmware updates and drive health
+ Owners report cool, efficient running under load
− No heatsink included in the box
− DRAM-less design trails DRAM rivals in sustained random I/O
− Writes slow on very large transfers once cache is exhausted

Skip it if:

Buyers who need the best sustained random I/O and want a DRAM-equipped drive.
Anyone who wants a heatsink included and has no motherboard heatsink for the drive.
Users who regularly run very large continuous write jobs.

Read the full Samsung SSD 990 EVO Plus 2TB review ›

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