Transcend Announces MTE850 PCIe NVMe M.2 2280 SSD

Transcend released the MTE800 last year and some people were a little disappointed that it wasn’t an NVMe drive. But Transcend has been at work and they’ve now introduced their first NVMe SSD to the market, the MTE850.

The new Transcend MTE850 is a PCIe NVMe M.2 2280 SSD with all the bells and whistles. With full NVMe 1.2 specifications and seated in a PCIe Gen.3 x4 slot, the MTE850 is capable of speeds up to 2500 MB/s when reading and up to 1100 MB/s when writing. There will be three capacity options to choose from, 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. Plenty of fast storage space for most people’s needs.

Transcend built the MTE850 with 3D MLC NAND which offers faster speeds than traditional planar NAND (2D NAND) does. The NAND is coupled with a yet-to-be-named controller chip, but I’m sure we’ll get that information soon too. There’s also some DDR3 DRAM to boost the performance, but the amount hasn’t been specified yet either.

It also comes with all the features you’ll want from a high-end drive. This includes Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) error correction technology, SMART status, and RAID engine. The included SSD Scope software allows full access to the drive for information read-outs, smart status, diagnostic scan, secure erase, firmware update, TRIM enable, and heal indicator. But it also comes with a System Clone feature and that is very handy to have around.

The Transcend PCIe NVMe MTE850 M.2 2280 SSD comes in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB capacities, all of which are covered by Transcend’s three-year limited warranty. No word on pricing or availability yet.