Several months ago, I attended the Samsung Global SSD Summit where I was first introduced to the Samsung 850 PRO along with its new 2nd generation 2-bit per cell MLC 3D V-NAND technology. At the time, 3D V-NAND had already been in testing internally at Samsung for almost a year and its introduction was quite revolutionary as it promised double the performance, double the endurance, and significantly better power efficiency than previous generation 2D planar NAND. Additionally, given the fact that 2D planar NAND physically hits its limits in terms of further die shrinks past the 1xnm lithography, the transition to 3D NAND was inevitable and not just for Samsung, but for the industry as a whole. For more in depth information on 3D V-NAND, be sure to check out our review on the Samsung 850 PRO here.