With the S160, Biostar wants to expand its own lineup in the field of SSDs. A special highlight is the 3D TLC NAND flash. This is supposed to help the 2.5-inch SSD achieve comparatively high speeds. In the S160 range, you should have the choice between a version with 256 GB and a variant with 512 GB of storage space.
A lot of power for a 2.5-inch SSD
SSDs in the 2.5-inch form factor are inherently at a big disadvantage in terms of data transfer rates compared to compact M.2 SSDs. The reason for this is the fact that the majority of M.2 SSDs rely on fast PCI Express (PCIe). This interface provides much higher transfer rates than SATA, which is used in 2.5-inch SSDs. Nevertheless, Biostar promises pleasingly high transfer rates for its S160. The combination of MaxIO-1102 controller and 3D TLC NAND flash memory are said to help the S160 achieve speeds of 510 MB/s for writing and 550 MB/s for reading. Thus, the new S160 series has a decisive speed advantage over the previous generation. Besides the transfer rates, which are quite high for SATA, Biostar also emphasizes the compatibility of its new S160 series. Thus, one should be able to install the slim SSD in notebooks with common dimensions thanks to the height of just 7 mm – SATA connection provided.
Price and availability
A look at the technical details of the S160 series indicates that Biostar wants to launch SSDs that are rather in the lower price range. The reason for this is not only the SATA 6 Gbps standard, but also the use of 3D TLC NAND flash. However, we do not yet know when and at what price the new S160 series will be launched.
