Cleburne PC Repair: Drevo Ares NVMe SSD Review

This SSD Hard Drive is another one that I highly recommend if you are looking for performance. I have tried there portable SSD before and was very happy with the performance, especially considering it was around $40. Drevo is a solid brand and I am excited to try this one out. The best computer tips that I give daily are two things: upgrade to an SSD and quit calling those 1-800 Number pop ups that say they are Microsoft!

Drevo Ares NVMe SSD Review

Drevo’s SSDs are becoming more popular on Amazon. The company sells quite a few low-cost SSDs and keyboards, but it hasn’t submitted products for reviewer scrutiny until recently. At the time of writing, the company lists six internal and two portable SSDs. With prices starting at just $38.99 for a 60GB internal SSD, there is a lot of excitement surrounding the company. The low-cost sub-$40 SSD even has over 200 positive user reviews.

The Drevo Ares is the company’s first NVMe SSD, but it uses a familiar design that we’ve tested before with the Tigo G5 PCIe SSD from Hong Kong. There is one significant difference between the two products. Tigo sells the G5 PCIe SSD in several capacities that range from 256GB to 2TB, but the Drevo Ares only comes in 256GB.

We don’t expect too much in the performance department from the Drevo Ares. The company built the drive around the SMI SM2260 dual-core controller paired with Intel/Micron Flash Technology (IMFT) 256Gbit 3D MLC NAND. For the most part, all the SM2260 controllers paired with any flavor of Micron’s first-generation 3D NAND have been a disappointment. Micron, under the Ballistix brand, planned to release an M.2 2280 consumer product with the same components as the Ares, but the company canceled it two weeks before the official launch.

Intel’s 600p NVMe SSD took the poor controller and NAND performance in stride. Intel simply positioned the 600p as the first entry-level NVMe SSD and sold them by the handful. The Drevo Ares sells for only a few dollars more than the 600p 256GB. The performance is nearly the same even though the Ares features 2-bit per cell (MLC) rather than 3-bit per cell (TLC) NAND flash. The extra $20 spent gains you a hefty endurance increase, a good looking heatsink, and a few blue LEDs to light up your computer case

Specifications

Drevo currently only plans to release a 256GB Ares model, but it hasn’t closed the door on other capacities. The company says it might develop other models if there is a market demand for larger entry-level NVMe drives.