Western Digital recently launched a new SN350 Solid State Drive, an entry-level product, with PCIe 3.0 x4 interface, M.2 2280 specification, and capacity from 240GB to 960GB. Although the office does not disclose the main control chip model and NAND flash memory type used by SN350, judging from the nominal TBW durability data, this series of products are likely to use QLC flash memory particles.
According to a report by TomsHardware, the nominal total write capacity of the Western Digital Green Disk SN350 960/480/240 GB Solid State Drive is 80/60/40 TBW respectively. For reference, the Western Digital Blue Disk SN550 250GB and 500GB Solid State Drives (using TLC NAND) have a total write the volume of 150 TBW and 300 TBW, respectively.
The SN350 solid-state drive has a larger capacity and better performance. The continuous read and write speeds of the maximum capacity version are 2400 MBps and 1900 MBps, respectively, and the random read and write speeds are 340,000 IOPS and 380,000 IOPS, respectively. In terms of performance, the SN350 SSD is not worse than the SN550 SSD. However, due to poor durability, the SN350 SSD only provides a three-year warranty instead of the five-year warranty of the SN550 SSD.
Western Digital Green Disk SN350 Solid State Drives are priced at US$43.99, US$54.99, and US$99.99 for the 240GB, 480GB, and 960GB models, respectively. The 250GB and 500GB versions of the Blue Disk SN550 Solid State Drive are priced at US$54.99 and US$64.99, respectively, compared to the SN350. Solid-state drives will be cheaper if they have similar capacity.
I don't know if this relatively cheap Solid State Drive can win the favor of some users through low prices. After all, many users are more resistant to products using QLC flash memory particles. Perhaps individual OEM manufacturers will like this type of product very much and will push down the price through mass purchases to improve the cost-effectiveness of the whole machine.
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