Performance : 31 out of 40
We have to admit that the combination of a massive write-buffer combined with extremely aggressive Link-state power management (or what Silicon Power calls “Dual Self-Cooling System”) works rather well. While no one will accuse the UD70 series of being a TLC NAND drive… unless you plan on beating on it like it is dating your underage daughter, we honestly doubt many will ever get it into a throttled state or exhaust the write buffer. It is possible, but is highly unlikely. This opinion is for the 2TB and only 2TB capacity version… all bets are off on the smaller capacity options.
Technological Innovation: 18 out of 20
While the components used are not innovative, let alone unique… the fact of the matter is the UD70 is highly innovative. Coming in under ten cents per gigabyte without opting for SATA is going to cause a market correction as others scramble to catch up. That is the very definition of good innovation.
Build Quality & Warranty: 16 out of 20
While we would have loved to have seen a UD70 with TLC NAND and do so without increasing the asking price… the reality is the UD70 is built to a very good standard. The E12 controller may be an older one but the latest and greatest firmware really does negate most of the issues we have with QLC NAND. The same is true of the 5-year warranty. It is good enough that few can say it is lacking in some form or another… especially with no Total Drive Write asterisks to the warranty.
Value: 19 out of 20
The UD 70 is so choke full of value it is arguably the new gold standard for NVMe drives… or at least when it comes to overall value. With the UD70 series, buyers on a budget can finally opt for NVMe over SATA and do so for the same or even less cost. So yes, there are a lot of faster models out there… but they cost more than SATA. That is a game changer. That is the epitome of overall value in our books.
Final Score: 83 out of 100
No one will ever argue that the Silicon Power UD70 is the fastest NVMe M.2 series going. No one will ever even argue it is the fastest PCIe 3.0 series available. Instead, what the UD70 offers is great value. It is a drive that finally delivers on the original promise of M.2 and makes a great case for why you should spend less for it rather than more for a SATA solid-state drive. Welcome to the future. A future so bright you have to wear shades. A future where SATA is no longer even a great choice for budget buyers.
