Side-by-side: Samsung 9100 PRO 2TB ($400) vs WD_BLACK SN8100 2TB ($440). $/TB winner, specs, real-world picks for September 2026.
Gen 5 at 2 TB is one of the most contested SSD segments in 2026, and Samsung 9100 PRO 2TB versus WD_BLACK SN8100 2TB captures that competition well. The decision rarely comes down to peak speeds — both drives saturate typical workloads.
Hardware-wise, the Samsung 9100 PRO 2TB runs on Samsung's Presto controller — built in-house to push V-NAND to its Gen 5 ceiling. The WD_BLACK SN8100 2TB pairs the SMI SM2508 — a 6nm Gen 5 controller running notably cooler than first-gen Phison E26 designs.
Prices favor the Samsung 9100 PRO 2TB by $20.00/TB ($200.00/TB versus $220.00/TB). Not a huge gap, but enough to be the tiebreaker if performance is similar.
Heading to a PlayStation 5? Both drives drop into the console's M.2 bay and report identical real-world benchmarks since the PS5 caps storage at PCIe 4.0 speeds. The Samsung 9100 PRO 2TB wins this matchup on $/TB. Video editors will gravitate toward the Samsung 9100 PRO 2TB for its write headroom (13,400 MB/s sustained). Project saves and proxies move faster, which compounds across a workday. Heads-up — these are full-length 2280 drives. Steam Deck and most current handhelds require shorter 2230 modules, so check capacity-specific 2230 variants if that's your target platform.
Market context: we track 11 Gen 5 2 TB drives, and by price per terabyte the Samsung 9100 PRO 2TB currently sits #7 while the WD_BLACK SN8100 2TB sits #9. Neither cracks the top of the value table, so it's worth glancing at the alternatives below before picking either.
As of September 7, 2026, these tracked drives undercut both the Samsung 9100 PRO 2TB and WD_BLACK SN8100 2TB on $/TB:
Go with the Samsung 9100 PRO 2TB for the lower retail price ($400 vs $440), better $/TB economics ($200.00/TB), and higher sustained writes (13,400 MB/s). Samsung backs the PRO series with one of the strongest warranty experiences in consumer storage — RMAs typically process within 5 business days globally.
The WD_BLACK SN8100 2TB fits buyers who prefer its specific performance profile or have brand preference for WD.