Side-by-side: Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB ($249) vs Crucial T500 1TB ($275). $/TB winner, specs, real-world picks for July 2026.
This is a generational matchup at 1 TB: the older-gen drive offers proven reliability and better $/TB, while the newer-gen sibling brings raw bandwidth that most users never tap.
Hardware-wise, the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB runs on the proprietary Samsung Presto silicon found only in the 9100 PRO line. The Crucial T500 1TB pairs an E25 controller that became the workhorse of late Gen 4 designs.
Prices favor the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB by $26.00/TB ($249.00/TB versus $275.00/TB). Not a huge gap, but enough to be the tiebreaker if performance is similar.
In the read department, the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB leads by roughly 7 GB/s. The difference is more academic than practical for typical use, but it does matter for video editors moving multi-GB project files.
Write performance separates them too. The Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB sustains 13,400 MB/s writes versus 6,800 MB/s for the Crucial T500 1TB — a real advantage for video editors and anyone doing heavy file operations.
PS5 owners get no measurable benefit from either drive's peak speed because Sony's internal NVMe controller throttles to ~5,500 MB/s; treat Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB and Crucial T500 1TB as interchangeable here and let price decide. Comparing across generations always invites the same question: does the bandwidth gap convert into user-visible improvements? Honest answer for the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB vs Crucial T500 1TB pairing: only for sustained sequential reads of multi-GB files. For content creators routinely rendering 4K or 8K video, the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB's 13,400 MB/s sustained write is the deciding factor — multi-GB project files land noticeably faster than on the alternative. Note for handheld gamers: M.2 2280 is the desktop/laptop standard. Steam Deck and the ROG Ally line need 2230 drives — neither Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB nor Crucial T500 1TB fits without modification.
Market context: the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB ranks #4 of 6 Gen 5 1 TB drives we track by $/TB, while the Crucial T500 1TB ranks #4 of 4 Gen 4 1 TB drives. Neither cracks the top of the value table, so it's worth glancing at the alternatives below before picking either.
As of July 27, 2026, these tracked drives undercut both the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB and Crucial T500 1TB on $/TB:
Go with the Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB for the lower retail price ($249 vs $275), better $/TB economics ($249.00/TB), meaningfully faster reads (14,700 MB/s), and higher sustained writes (13,400 MB/s). Among consumer SSD makers, Samsung's PRO series consistently scores highest on long-term reliability surveys (Backblaze, Puget Systems Q1 2026 data).
Crucial's T-series tends to undercut Samsung and WD on price while using comparable Micron silicon — a value play hiding in a flagship form factor.