Performance:37 out of 40.
The amount of performance the SN750 has to offer is impressive. We really are seeing the limitations of four PCIe 3.0 lanes these days. Sadly, this is mainly limited to read performance. Unless you opt for the 1TB capacity variant the write performance is merely going to be ‘very good’.
Technological Innovation: 16 out of 20
On the one hand the SanDisk controller is still a beast. On the other… it is the same controller as what powered the SN720 and it is only firmware that differentiates the SN750 from the older SN720. On the gripping hand the SN750 is one of the few M.2 series drives that can be purchased with an actually good heat sink… as long as you are willing to pay a premium for what should have come standard.
Build Quality & Warranty: 17 out of 20
Western Digital certainly know how to build good storage devices. The innovative layout will make cooling the SN750 series a heck of a lot easier than the typical M.2 SSD. Mix in a five-year warranty from one of the better companies out there and there is not much to complain about on this side of things… except for the lack of a heat spreader on the ‘bare bones edition’ – who does this in 2019?!
Value: 15 out of 20
The overall value of the SN750 is going to vary from user to user. If you want more performance (when actively cooled that is) the SN750 does offer a good value. Sadly, with ‘upstarts’ like Silicon Power coming on the scene with Phison E12 based models… for the average buyer the value is only mediocre.
Final Score: 85 out of 100
The Western Digital SN750 may still pack quite a punch, but the fact of the matter is the controller it uses is getting a tad outdated to justify its asking price. Especially when combined with ‘last generation’ BiCS 3 TLC NAND. Mix in the unwise decision to use paper instead of a heat spreader for the ‘non-heat sink’ version and Western Digital really needs to rethink their pricing philosophy.
