In case your pc is beginning to really feel a little bit sluggish, otherwise you’re uninterested in ready for video games and apps to load, upgrading to top-of-the-line SSD choices on the market could be a game-changer. Strong-state drives (SSDs) are a lot sooner than conventional exhausting drives, serving to your system boot up in seconds, load giant information immediately and make on a regular basis duties really feel snappier. Whether or not you’re upgrading a laptop computer, constructing a gaming PC or simply need additional storage for work or inventive initiatives, the suitable SSD can significantly enhance efficiency.
However with so many specs to think about — PCIe Gen 4, Gen 5, SATA, NVMe — it’s simple to get misplaced within the jargon. That’s the place we are available! We’ve rounded up the most effective SSD choices that can assist you discover the suitable stability of pace, capability and value, so you will get the improve you want with out overpaying for options you gained’t use.
Desk of contents
Greatest SSDs in 2025
Capability: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB and 4TB | Connection: SATA | Learn pace: 560 MB/s | Write pace: 510 MB/s
You don’t should look far to search out the most effective SATA SSD: it is the Crucial MX500. With sequential learn speeds of 560MB/s and a $100 MSRP for the 1TB mannequin, this inner SSD gives a hard-to-beat mixture of fantastic efficiency and worth. It additionally comes with a five-year guarantee for added peace of thoughts. However, better of all, it incessantly goes on sale for as little as $45. I’ve been utilizing a 1TB MX500 drive to retailer my music, pictures and video games for years, and it has but to provide me any issues.
- Inexpensive
- SATA compatibility
- 5-year guarantee
Essential
Capability: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Connection: M.2 | Learn pace: 11,700MB/s | Write pace: 9,500MB/s
I don’t advocate shopping for a Gen5 NVMe, even you probably have the {hardware} wanted to run one. The learn speeds would possibly look spectacular on paper, however the actuality is that few video games and apps can make the most of these capabilities proper now.
Nonetheless, in the event you’re set on outfitting your pc with the quickest attainable storage, I feel the Crucial T700 gives a compelling mixture of value and efficiency. The T700 is among the quickest NVMe drives available on the market proper now, and after launching at $180, it’s attainable to search out it on sale for about $143. Notice that in case your motherboard didn’t include a heatsink to your NVMe drives, you will have to purchase the T700 mannequin that features one, which additional will increase the fee.
- Very quick
- Helps DirectStorage
- 5-year guarantee
WD_BLACK
Capability: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB | Connection: M.2 | Learn pace: 7,300MB/s | Write pace: 6,300MB/s
Supplied you personal the mandatory {hardware}, Gen4 NVMe drives provide fairly good worth proper now. After testing just a few totally different fashions, I ended up shopping for the Western Digital WD_Black SN850X for my very own system. It’s very quick, delivering learn speeds of as much as 7,300MB/s, and I used to be capable of pay lower than $100 for the 1TB mannequin throughout a sale.
If you happen to’re set on shopping for a Gen4 mannequin, however need to avoid wasting cash, Western Digital gives the extra reasonably priced SN770. It’s not as quick because the SN850X, but when your system has one Gen4 NVMe slot, it’s nice for storing Home windows and your most essential apps.
- Quick
- DirectStorage help
- 5-year guarantee
Essential
Capability: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Connection: M.2 | Learn pace: 3,500MB/s | Write speeds: 3,000MB/s
A earlier model of this information advisable the Essential P2 as an excellent finances Gen 3 NVMe decide, however as Gen4 and now Gen5 NVMe drives have entered the market, producers like Micron have discontinued a few of their entry-level Gen4 fashions. The excellent news is that their outdated high-end Gen3 drives are actually extra reasonably priced than ever. Take the Crucial P3, as an illustration. Micron initially priced the 1TB mannequin at $90, however in current months, it’s been on sale for as little as $40. That’s nice worth for a drive that provides 3,500MB/s learn speeds.
- Inexpensive and incessantly on sale
- 5-year guarantee
- Could possibly be sooner
- Endurance stats aren’t the most effective
SABRENT
Capability: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Connection: M.2 | Learn pace: 5,000MB/s | Write pace: 4,300MB/s
If you happen to’re assured sufficient to open your Steam Deck to put in a brand new, greater capability NVMe, the Sabrent Rocket 2230 is a good small-sized NVME. It would slot into the Steam Deck’s M.2 slot with out concern, and also you don’t want to fret about it overheating. With current reductions on this mannequin, it’s dropped sufficient in value the place you could possibly get monetary savings by shopping for the 512GB Steam Deck OLED mannequin and putting in extra storage later.
- Costly relative to full-sized NVMe drives
Corsair
Capability: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB | Connection: M.2 | Learn pace: 7,100 MB/s | Write pace: 6,800MB/sec
Engadget has a separate information devoted to the best PlayStation 5 SSDs, however in the event you got here to this web page on the lookout for a advice on what NVMe to purchase to your PS5, look no additional than the Corsair MP600 Pro LPX. It meets all of Sony’s compatibility necessities and comes with a pre-installed heatsink, which means all it’s good to do is set up it into your PS5 and also you’re good to go.
- Good PS5 compatibility
- Pre-installed heatsink
- Straightforward to put in
- Cheaper so as to add your individual heatsink
Essential
Capability: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Connection: USB-C | Learn pace: 1,050MB/s | Write pace: 975MB/s
For carrying information on the go, the Crucial X9 Pro is a transportable SSD with the correct mix of efficiency, options and price. There are technically sooner choices on the market, however its 10 Gbps speeds must be fast sufficient for the backups and file transfers most individuals do with an exterior drive, and it outpaced most different fashions inside its efficiency class in our benchmark exams. It’s tremendous tiny and sufficiently rugged on prime of that, with an IP55-rated case created from aluminum and rubber. A five-year guarantee helps as nicely. Simply word that the included USB-C cable is pretty quick, and there’s no adapter for USB-A ports within the field. — Jeff Dunn, Senior Reporter, Shopping for Recommendation
- IP55-certified water and dirt safety
- 5-year guarantee
- No USB-A cable included
- Not the quickest
SAMSUNG
Capability: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB | Connection: USB 3.1 | Learn pace: As much as 400MB/s relying on the mannequin | Write pace: As much as 400MB/s
The Samsung Fit Plus has about all of the options you could possibly need on a USB drive. It connects to your pc over USB 3.1 and helps file switch speeds of as much as 300MB/s. The Match Plus can be compact and has a helpful slot for attaching it to your keychain. The one draw back of Samsung’s USB drive is that it’s on the expensive aspect.
- USB 3.1
- Modern design
- 5-year guarantee
- Is perhaps too small
- No indicator gentle
How we take a look at SSDs
I’ve both examined or personally use every day each storage drive advisable on this record. Out of our prime picks, I purchased 4 with my very own cash after doing a few dozen hours of analysis. Individually, Engadget Senior Reporter Jeff Dunn has additionally examined a handful of our suggestions, together with the Essential X9 Professional listed above.
What to search for in a PC SSD
Essentially the most reasonably priced manner so as to add quick cupboard space to a pc is with a 2.5-inch SATA drive. It’s additionally one of many best in the event you don’t need to fear about compatibility since nearly each pc made within the final 20 years will embody a motherboard with Serial ATA connections. For that cause, the most effective SATA SSDs are a superb alternative if you wish to lengthen the lifetime of an older PC construct. Set up is simple, too. When you’ve secured the inner SSD in a drive cage, all it’s good to do is to attach it to your motherboard and energy provide.
The one draw back of SATA drives is that, when it comes to responsiveness, they’re slower than their high-performance NVMe counterparts, with SATA III limiting knowledge transfers to 600MB/s. However even the slowest SSD shall be considerably sooner than the most effective mechanical drives. And with high-capacity, 1TB SATA SSDs costing about $100, they’re an excellent bulk-storage possibility.
In case your PC is newer, there’s an excellent likelihood it consists of house for a number of M.2 SSDs. The shape issue represents your ticket to the quickest SSDs available on the market, however the difficult half is navigating all of the totally different requirements and specs concerned.
M.2 drives can characteristic both a SATA or PCIe connection. SSDs with the latter are referred to as Non-Risky Reminiscence or NVMe drives and are considerably sooner than their SATA counterparts, with Gen3 fashions providing sequential write speeds of as much as 3,000MB/s. These drives depend on NVMe NAND expertise for his or her superior efficiency and sturdiness. You may get twice the efficiency with a Gen4 SSD, however you’ll want a motherboard and processor that helps the usual.
If you happen to’re working an AMD system, which means no less than a Ryzen 3000 or 5000 CPU and an X570 or B550 motherboard. With Intel, in the meantime, you’ll want no less than an eleventh or twelfth Gen processor and a Z490, Z590 or Z690 motherboard. Understand that Gen4 SSDs sometimes value greater than their Gen3 counterparts as nicely.
Costlier nonetheless are the most recent Gen5 fashions, which provide sequential learn speeds of as much as 16,000MB/s. Nevertheless, even when your pc helps the usual, you’re higher off shopping for a extra reasonably priced Gen4 or Gen3 drive. In the intervening time, only a few video games and functions can make the most of Gen3 NVMe speeds, not to mention Gen4 and Gen5 speeds. What’s extra, Gen5 NVMe drives can run sizzling, which may result in efficiency and longevity points. Your cash is best spent on different elements, like upgrading your GPU, for now.
As for why you’ll purchase an M.2 SATA drive over a equally specced 2.5-inch drive, it comes right down to ease of set up. You add M.2 storage to your pc by putting in the SSD instantly onto the motherboard. That will sound intimidating, however in observe the method entails a single screw that you just first take away to attach the drive to your pc after which retighten to safe the SSD in place. As an added bonus, there aren’t any wires concerned, making cable administration simpler.
Notice you could set up a SATA M.2 SSD into an M.2 slot with a PCIe connection, however you’ll be able to’t insert an NVMe M.2 SSD right into a M.2 slot with a SATA connection. Except you need to proceed utilizing an outdated M.2 drive, there’s little cause to make the most of that characteristic. Talking of backward compatibility, it’s additionally attainable to make use of a Gen4 drive by means of a PCIe 3 connection, however you gained’t get any of the pace advantages of the sooner NVMe.
One final thing to think about is that M.2 drives come in numerous bodily sizes. From shortest to longest, the frequent choices are 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280 and 22110. (The primary two numbers signify width in millimeters and the latter denote the size.) For probably the most half, you don’t have to fret about that since 2280 is the default for a lot of motherboards and producers. Some boards can accommodate a couple of dimension of NVMe SSD due to a number of standoffs. That stated, test your pc’s documentation or firmware earlier than shopping for a drive to make sure you’re choosing up a suitable dimension.
If you happen to’re shopping for a alternative SSD for the Steam Deck or Steam Deck OLED, issues are simpler. For Valve’s handheld, you will have a 2230 dimension NVMe. Easy. If you happen to don’t need to open your Steam Deck, it’s additionally attainable to broaden its storage by putting in a microSD card. Engadget has a separate guide dedicated to SD card storage, so test that out for added shopping for recommendation.
I alluded to this earlier, however the most effective shopping for recommendation I can provide is don’t get too caught up about being on the bleeding fringe of storage tech. The sequential learn and write speeds you see producers record on their drives are theoretical and real-world efficiency benchmark exams differ lower than you suppose.
In case your finances forces you to decide on between a 1TB Gen3 NVMe and a 512GB Gen4 mannequin, go for the higher-capacity one. From a sensible standpoint, the worst factor you are able to do is purchase a sort of SSD that’s too small for wants. Drives can sluggish dramatically as they strategy capability, and you’ll most likely find yourself buying one with a better gigabyte capability sooner or later.
What to search for in transportable and USB flash drives
Transportable SSDs are a considerably totally different beast to their inner siblings. Whereas learn and write speeds are essential, they’re nearly secondary to how an exterior drive connects to your PC. You gained’t get probably the most out of a mannequin just like the SanDisk Excessive Professional V2 with no USB 3.2 Gen 2 x 2 connection. Even amongst newer PCs, that’s one thing of a premium characteristic. For that cause, most individuals are finest off shopping for a transportable drive with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 or Thunderbolt connection. The previous gives switch speeds of as much as 10Gbps. One of the best exterior exhausting drives additionally let you switch knowledge out of your Home windows PC to a Mac, or different gadget, if suitable. You should definitely take into account this beforehand in the event you plan to make use of your transportable drive throughout a number of units.
Moreover, in the event you plan to take your drive on journeys and commutes, it’s worthwhile to purchase a mannequin with IP-certified water and dirt proofing. Some firms like Samsung provide rugged variations of their hottest drives, together with the Samsung SSD T7 Protect, with a excessive endurance ranking. For added peace of thoughts, 256-bit AES {hardware} encryption will assist forestall somebody from accessing your knowledge in the event you ever lose or misplace your exterior SSD.
A number of the similar options contribute to an excellent thumbstick drive. Our favourite picks for finest finances exterior SSD fashions characteristic USB 3.0 connections and a few type of {hardware} encryption.
A word on console storage
If PC gaming isn’t your factor and also you personal an Xbox Collection X|S or PS5, outfitting your fancy new console with the quickest attainable storage is much extra easy than doing the identical on PC. With a Collection X or Collection S, your choices are restricted to choices from Seagate and Western Digital. The previous gives 512GB, 1TB and 2TB fashions, with probably the most reasonably priced beginning at a not-so-trivial $90. Western Digital’s Enlargement Playing cards are cheaper, with pricing beginning at $80 for the 512GB mannequin. The excellent news is that each choices are incessantly on sale. Your finest wager is to set an alert for the mannequin you need by utilizing a value tracker like CamelCamelCamel.
With Sony’s PlayStation 5, upgrading the console’s inner storage is barely extra concerned. As an alternative of using a proprietary answer, the PS5 makes use of NVMe storage. Fortunately, there aren’t as many potential configurations as you’ll discover on a PC. Engadget maintains a comprehensive guide to the best SSDs for PS5; in brief, your finest wager is a high-capacity Gen4 drive with a built-in heatsink. Take a look at that information for a full record of gaming SSD suggestions, however for a fast go-to, take into account the Corsair MP600 Professional LPX I like to recommend above. It meets all of the reminiscence specs for Sony’s newest console and also you gained’t run into any clearance points with the heatsink. Corsair gives 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB and 8TB variations of the drive. Count on to pay about $110 for the 1TB variant and about $200 for 2TB.
For these nonetheless taking part in on a earlier era console, you will get barely sooner sport load instances from a PlayStation 4 by swapping the included exhausting drive to a 2.5-inch SSD, however going out of your manner to take action most likely isn’t value it at this level and also you’re higher off saving your cash for one of many new consoles and updating your working system as an alternative.
SSD FAQs
What dimension SSD is finest?
There isn’t a one dimension suits all rule for SSDs, however we usually advocate getting no less than a 1TB SSD in the event you’re seeking to improve PC or sport console storage, or wanting so as to add an exterior drive to your toolkit. A 1TB drive shall be loads for most individuals who want additional cupboard space for pictures, paperwork and packages. If you happen to’re a hardcore gamer, chances are you’ll need to spend money on much more storage contemplating many high-profile titles at the moment can take up a ton of house.
Is a 256GB SSD higher than a 1TB exhausting drive?
The quick reply is that it is dependent upon what you want your drive for. Basically, SSDs are sooner and extra environment friendly than HDDs, however HDDs are normally cheaper. We advocate springing for an SSD for many use circumstances at the moment — upgrading a PC, saving essential pictures and paperwork, storing video games long run, and so on. However in the event you’re centered on getting probably the most quantity of additional house attainable (and sticking to a finances), an HDD could possibly be an excellent possibility for you.
Does greater SSD imply sooner?
Getting an even bigger SSD doesn’t at all times translate right into a sooner drive total. An even bigger SSD will present a better storage capability, which suggests extra space for storing digital information and packages. To know how briskly an SSD shall be, you’ll need to take a look at its learn/write speeds: learn speeds measure how briskly a drive can entry data, whereas write speeds measure how briskly the drive can save data. Most SSDs record their approximate learn/write speeds of their specs, so make sure to take a look at these numbers earlier than you make a purchase order.
