14 DAY TRIAL // In the line of portable SSDs, the dominance of Samsung is about to be challenged by a newcomer in the high-performance SSDs market, but a veteran in portable memories. Enter SanDisk.
While Samsung is offering an excellent and affordable portable device option with the Samsung 850 line, ranging from $100 to $500 with memory sizes between 120 GB to 1TB, SanDisk decided to crash the party at Computex 2015 by launching its new portable SSD flagship, the Extreme 900 and the more affordable Extreme 500.
The top of the lineup, the Extreme 900 comes in capacities ranging from 480GB at $400 to nearly 2TB at $1000. Although the gaping mouths of the public will express the sheer size of the new portable SSD, they will also express the hefty price it will come with.
Nevertheless, you can't put a price on such quality, when it comes with a maximum performance rating of 850 MBps, will carry a USB 3.1 interface and will have both Type-A and Type-C interfaces supplied with each piece.
For the more sensitive wallets, the Extreme 500, the direct competitor of the Samsung 850 line, will come with a more practical $240 for 480GB, which is already cheaper than the Extreme 900 version but still slightly more expensive than the 850.
A possible new favorite among professional photographers
It is likely that both Extreme 500 and Extreme 900 will inherit the well-known ruggedness of SanDisk products, and being a favorite brand among photographers, they will be an instant hit among those who desire a large memory bank enveloped in a sturdy design. Couple all these with transfer speeds of 850MB/s and 415 MB/s and widespread use of 4K cameras, these two new SSDs will bring portability and memory availability to a new level.
Although the new releases promise a more advanced professional mobile memory bank, it is questionable if the potential customers will rush investing in these new SSDs given their prices at launch.
Corporate and studios might find the new drives a welcoming addition, but individuals and freelance photographers might wait for a price reduction or will simply buy the cheaper and smaller Extreme 500 for pure practicality.