Angelbird SSD wrk 256GB SSD Review – Silicon Motion SM2246EN
Final Thoughts & Conclusions
This is our first encounter with an Angelbird SSD and we have to say that we are pleased with how the SSD wrk 256GB drive performed when we tested it out. The Angelbird SSD wrk is without a doubt a visually stunning SSD, but we all know that what is inside matters most. Luckily, the Angelbird SSD wrk 256GB drive didn’t disappoint inside. Angelbird went with the Silicon Motion SM2246EN SATA III 6Gbps SSD controller and paired that with Micron L85A 20nm MLC NAND Flash memory. This combination proved to be solid on our 256GB drive and we were able to get the rated 563MB/s read and 297MB/s write speeds, which will be blazing fast for anyone moving over from a hard drive to an SSD.
Angelbird SSD wrk Series 2.5″ SSD Peformance:
- 128GB – SSDWRK128 – 149MB/s write 563MB/s read 67,500 IOPS
- 256GB – SSDWRK256 – 297MB/s write 563MB/s read 72,000 IOPS
- 512GB – SSDWRK512 – 450MB/s write 563MB/s read 72,000 IOPS
If performance is one of your reasons to purchase an SSD, and we suspect that it is, we highly suggest looking at the 256Gb or 512GB drives. The reason for this is that the Angelbird SSD wrk 128Gb drive is rated at having just 149MB/s write speeds, which isn’t that impressive for the latter half of 2014. For a few more bucks you can step up from the SSDWRK128 to the SSDWRK256 that we looked at in-depth toady and get twice the capacity with much faster write speeds.
Angelbird SSD wrk Series 2.5″ SSD Pricing:
- 128GB – SSDWRK128 – $99.99
- 256GB – SSDWRK256 – $159.99
- 512GB – SSDWRK512 – $299.99
When it comes to pricing you are going to find out that the Angelbird SSD is being released into a market full of value SSDs. Right now you are looking at $.078, $0.62 to $0.59 per GB, respectively. These prices aren’t bad, but it puts the SSD wrk series in direct competition with many of the other budget minded drives out there You also have to keep in mind that the Corsair Force LX, ADATA SP610, PNY Optima and the Transcend SSD370 series of SSDs all use the same exact SMI SM2246EN SSD controller. Those drives are very similar and are priced very competitively. For example the Corsair Force LX series is available in the same capacities with basically the same read/write speeds for $69.99, $119.99 and $229.99. That puts the Corsair drives that have been out for a number of months at about 23-30% less, so Angelbird needs to reduce their prices to be competitive with what is already on the market. That is a something harsh to say on the day the SSD wrk series is launched, but their MSRP is certainly higher than we’d like to see.
Overall the Angelbird SSD wrk series of drives are solid products and we would easily recommend the SSD wrk 256GB and SSD wrk 512GB drives to our readers if the price is right. There is nothing wrong with the SSD wrk 128GB drive, but the write speeds make it a bit too slow to recommend unless the drive fits your needs and the price is too good to pass up. All drives in the Angelbird SSD wrk series are backed by a 3-year warranty, which is pretty much the normal length of time for a budget SSD.
Legit Bottom Line: The Intel Pro SSD 2500 Series aren’t the fastest cutting edge drives that money can buy, but these self-encrypting drives (SED) have been designed to be reliable for use in a business-class environment where manageability is key.