Keeping track of all the technical innovations is difficult. In test laboratories, they often pay attention to the products of popular brands. But sometimes there is no outstanding news, "battles" for superiority and revolutionary discoveries. Therefore, experts are shifting their gaze to less popular devices. Silicon Power Slim S55 was also remembered in the same way.
Market situation
It must be said right away that this solid-state drive appeared in 2014. The manufacturing company at that time belonged to the second echelon, so it was not immediately noticed. This segment has attracted attention due to a serious price war.
In order to somehow survive among unknown, but no less powerful competitors, Silicon Power decides to significantly reduce prices and make itself known to the whole world. At that time, the audience was only waiting for the appearance of an even cheaper version of the Crucial MX100. And while it did not appear on sale, the subject of our review - the SSD Silicon Power Slim S55 - was of great interest.
Another advantage of the new product was then the use of new developments by Phison, which significantly differed from many platforms of the second generation.
Difficult decisions
While the novelty conquered the market, its direct competitors grabbed their heads. On the one hand, assistance from SandForce did not cause any negative. The company allowed manufacturers to independently assemble SSDs, while supplying all the necessary elements for this.
Firms that wanted to become manufacturers of solid-state drives just had to turn to this company for help and purchase everything they needed. But the appearance of Silicon Power Slim S55 (SP120GBSS3S55S25) made it clear that the old platform is becoming obsolete, and customers are increasingly paying attention to updated models.
Alternative
As a result, most manufacturers had to look for an alternative. The first thing that came to mind was the Marvell controllers. But for those firms that were just starting to work in this niche, the option was not suitable. They did not have the opportunity to use engineering resources, and the platform itself did not provide the development of a complete design. Most manufacturers who worked with Marvell were forced to carry out a substantial part of the entire process on their own.
Previously known Indilinx or LAMD controllers also became inaccessible to small firms. They passed under the leadership of large companies and ceased to provide their services in the market.
As a result, such a situation without alternatives would lead to the destruction of young solid-state drive companies. But the benefit came to their aid developers who worked with flash controllers. They were able to provide platforms for SSD.
Base
One of these teams was Phison. It was she who worked with the hero of our review - the SSD-drive Silicon Power Slim S55. A Taiwanese company introduced an alternative to an aging platform called the Phison S8.
The main advantage of the innovations was that now the young manufacturer not only had access to sets of printed circuit boards, controllers and firmware, but all this was supplied with the installed flash memory.
Surprise
Immediately move on to the main one. The technical characteristics of all the new products on the new platform, of course, became similar, since they used the same software and hardware basis. But the differences can still be really found.
Silicon Power Slim S55 can not be considered an ideal model. They began to warn about this immediately after these innovations. The fact is that all the small manufacturers, including the company we surveyed, at that time did not protect “brand cleanliness”. What does it mean?
Storage devices of identical models, but with different hardware "stuffing", fell into the hands of the end user. All this was due to the fact that Silicon Power was aimed only at a low price and attracting customers. She did not need technological leadership, ideal hardware characteristics.
As a result, we get so that on the market there is a flash drive based on the Phison S8 platform and a solid state drive based on SandForce.
Identification
As practice shows, still more often it was possible to meet exactly the first option with the Phison S8. But the reviews left by customers on the Internet said that they found an SSD with a controller from SandForce.
It so happened that in this confusion no one could help the poor buyers. That was the price of the low cost of the device. It was possible to identify by some signs what awaits you only personally.
Characteristics
After information about Phison was actively disseminated, another not very good news became known. It turned out that this novelty by 2014 was no longer a novelty. A Taiwanese company tried to introduce its controller back in 2012. Then she did not achieve much.
And only after some strategic decisions, meeting small manufacturers and releasing SSD Silicon Power Slim S55 it became clear that the platform has a future.
Regarding the hardware design features of this base, nothing atypical or revolutionary was found either. All solutions have already been applied, perhaps in a different way.
However, the Phison S8 worked with a modern SATA 6 Gb / s interface. But the number of channels for connecting memory is somewhat outdated. Flash memory was implemented by MLC NAND chips. It is made according to the technical process of 10-20 nm.
The controller provided support for some of the modern and necessary technologies: TRIM, checksums, modern algorithms, energy saving, etc.
The SSD option Silicon Power Slim S55 120Gb was not the only one. There were also options for 60 and 240 GB. Although, as the manufacturer said, the maximum volume could reach 1 TB.
Variations
Versions of 120 and 240 GB practically did not differ from each other. The difference was noticeable in memory chips: 8/2 and 16/2, respectively. Both options worked with DDR3 memory at a frequency of 1333 MHz and a buffer capacity of 512 MB.
There was a slight difference in performance. The maximum steady sequential read rate did not exceed 556 MB / s for all options. But the same indicator, but for sequential recording was different: 465 MB / s for the 60 GB version, 475 MB / s for the 120 GB version and 480 MB / s for 240 GB.
Hidden metrics
The manufacturer’s policy seemed not quite clear. For some reason, random read speeds were not specified in the specifications for the devices. But this indicator can say a lot about the performance of the model.
As a result, it remains to assume that the concealment of these numbers is due to the fact that the developer has nothing to brag about. Although hardly anyone expects unprecedented discoveries from the budget segment.
Nothing is clear about the capabilities of the drive either. The company claimed that the device has a warranty period of three years, but that’s how much data can be placed on the Silicon Power Slim S55 SSD (SP120GBSS3S55S25).
On the other hand, as time has already shown, the drive copes well with its tasks. Three years later, some users continue to operate this device without problems. Considering that Toshiba memory chips are installed inside, reliability a priori cannot be bad.
Changes
It must be said right away that all the tricks of Silicon Power were at the user's fingertips. What is it about?
First, at the beginning of its journey, the manufacturer pleased the buyer with a good drive design. Moreover, in addition to SSD, the developer produced memory cards, RAM, flash drives, external hard drives and portable charging. All this got its own style and could be distinguished from competitors.
Since 2013, everything began to change. First, the company abandons its own original buildings. Now everything comes standard with different stickers. After that, the presentation of the goods also changed. If before we could meet beautiful bright cardboard boxes, now in front of us are plastic blisters.
Further, the manufacturer begins to change its clear standardization of the series. So, by name and index, the buyer could determine which family the product belongs to and its main parameters. Since 2013, absolute chaos has begun: substitution of specifications, unclear classifications and absurd sentences.
Packaging
Therefore, speaking about the appearance and delivery of Silicon Power Slim S55 120GB, you can put forward completely different versions.
When the drive was still sold in a box, the company could forgive the standard and boring appearance of the device itself. He was placed in a bright, red-white package. It had a huge amount of graphic elements.
In the middle, they placed a photo of the drive, in gold letters indicate the connection interface. Icons marked the main parameters. Below they wrote the model index, memory size and even the company's slogan.
Nowadays, a plastic blister is more and more common. It is difficult to say anything about him. Just in front of us is a product in a wrapper, with a small amount of descriptive information.
Design
Silicon Power Slim S55 looks the same in any volume. It is made on a 2.5-inch form factor. Its thickness is only 7 mm, as previously mentioned on the box. It communicates with the SSD system through the SATA 6 Gb / s interface .
By the way, it is believed that the thickness of the drive case is its advantage, because, firstly, it is smaller than its colleagues in the workshop, and secondly, it can be used in laptops. Hence the marketing word Slim in the model name.
The case itself is made of very thin aluminum using stamping. It has a rough black surface. On the front side there is a sticker with information about the model. Sometimes it is vertical, sometimes horizontal. This does not affect performance in any way.
Insides
If you get to the insides of Silicon Power Slim S55 120Gb, you can see there is already a standard reference board from Phison S8. It is blue in color with tightly placed components.
The main element here is the controller chip from a Taiwanese company. Nearby there is an SDRAM chip responsible for the operation of the cache buffer. There are 16 microchips on the board, each of which has a pair of 64 gigabit chips. Each is made according to the technical process of 19 nm.
There are practically no other features in appearance.
Testing
To determine the potential of a new product, it must pass some testing. Depending on the conditions, the results may vary slightly. In addition, all analyzes must be carried out according to certain criteria.
As a result, it turned out that the Silicon Power Slim S55 copes with sequential reading and writing. Among its direct competitors, this model occupies a middle ground, and given its low cost, it easily breaks into the lead. Bandwidth was an obstacle to record results.
But with random reading, the platform really has problems. Apparently, therefore, no information on the indicators of this parameter is found in any specification. But even despite such a setback, the new platform is still at times better at handling than the previous generation of SandForce.
Reviews
Reviews of the Silicon Power Slim S55 showed all the shortcomings that were mentioned earlier. All the same mismatch of memory technology can be highlighted. Someone thought that he bought a model with MLC, but instead got a TLC. As a result, we have a reduced cell resource: instead of 3 thousand - only 500 cycles.
Some owners were cheated at the hardware level. They got a drive on the SandForce platform instead of the promised Phison S8.
Those who were lucky with the correct specification of the Silicon Power Slim S55 were satisfied. They got fast boot and reboot, stable operation, relevant test results. And all this for a very good price.
It was not even possible to find owners who would say that the drive lived for less than six months. Everyone who bought it in 2013 still uses it. Those who came across distorted performance indicators, of course, returned the device a long time ago or simply threw it away.