The perfect SSDs in 2025

In case your laptop is beginning to really feel a little bit sluggish, otherwise you’re uninterested in ready for video games and apps to load, upgrading to among the best SSD choices on the market generally is a game-changer. Strong-state drives (SSDs) are a lot sooner than conventional laborious drives, serving to your system boot up in seconds, load massive 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 further storage for work or inventive tasks, the proper SSD can significantly enhance efficiency.

However with so many specs to contemplate — PCIe Gen 4, Gen 5, SATA, NVMe — it’s simple to get misplaced within the jargon. That’s the place we are available in! We’ve rounded up the perfect SSD choices that can assist you discover the proper steadiness of velocity, capability and value, so you will get the improve you want with out overpaying for options you gained’t use.

Desk of contents

Finest SSDs in 2025

Essential

Capability: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Connection: M.2 | Learn velocity: 11,700MB/s | Write velocity: 9,500MB/s

I don’t suggest shopping for a Gen5 NVMe, even in case you have the {hardware} wanted to run one. The learn speeds may look spectacular on paper, however the actuality is that few video games and apps can benefit from these capabilities proper now.

Nonetheless, for those who’re set on outfitting your laptop with the quickest doable storage, I feel the Crucial T700 affords a compelling mixture of value and efficiency. The T700 is likely one of the quickest NVMe drives in the marketplace proper now, and after launching at $180, it’s doable to seek out it on sale for about $143. Be aware that in case your motherboard didn’t include a heatsink in your NVMe drives, you have to to purchase the T700 mannequin that features one, which additional will increase the fee.

Professionals

• Very quick
• Helps DirectStorage
• 5-year guarantee

$140 at Adorama

WD_BLACK

Capability: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB | Connection: M.2 | Learn velocity: 7,300MB/s | Write velocity: 6,300MB/s

Supplied you personal the mandatory {hardware}, Gen4 NVMe drives supply fairly good worth proper now. After testing a couple of completely 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 in a position to pay lower than $100 for the 1TB mannequin throughout a sale.

In the event you’re set on shopping for a Gen4 mannequin, however wish to avoid wasting cash, Western Digital affords 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.

Professionals

• Quick
• DirectStorage help
• 5-year guarantee

$94 at Amazon

Essential

Capability: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Connection: M.2 | Learn velocity: 3,500MB/s | Write speeds: 3,000MB/s

A earlier model of this information advisable the Essential P2 as a terrific price range Gen 3 NVMe choose, 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 latest months, it’s been on sale for as little as $40. That’s nice worth for a drive that gives 3,500MB/s learn speeds.

Professionals

• Inexpensive and ceaselessly on sale
• 5-year guarantee

Cons

• Might be sooner
• Endurance stats should not the perfect

$60 at Adorama

SABRENT

Capability: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Connection: M.2 | Learn velocity: 5,000MB/s | Write velocity: 4,300MB/s

In the event you’re assured sufficient to open your Steam Deck to put in a brand new, increased 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 latest reductions on this mannequin, it’s dropped sufficient in value the place you possibly can lower your expenses by shopping for the 512GB Steam Deck OLED mannequin and putting in extra storage later.

Cons

• Costly relative to full-sized NVMe drives

$100 at Amazon

Corsair

Capability: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB | Connection: M.2 | Learn velocity: 7,100 MB/s | Write velocity: 6,800MB/sec

Engadget has a separate information devoted to the best PlayStation 5 SSDs, however for those who got here to this web page searching for a advice on what NVMe to purchase in 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, that means all it’s essential do is set up it into your PS5 and also you’re good to go.

Professionals

• Good PS5 compatibility
• Pre-installed heatsink
• Straightforward to put in

Cons

• Cheaper so as to add your personal heatsink

$170 at Amazon

Essential

Capability: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | Connection: USB-C | Learn velocity: 1,050MB/s | Write velocity: 975MB/s

For carrying information on the go, the Crucial X9 Pro is a conveyable SSD with the right combination of efficiency, options and price. There are technically sooner choices on the market, however its 10 Gbps speeds ought to 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 checks. It’s tremendous tiny and sufficiently rugged on prime of that, with an IP55-rated case produced from aluminum and rubber. A five-year guarantee helps as properly. Simply be aware 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

Professionals

• IP55-certified water and mud safety
• 5-year guarantee

Cons

• No USB-A cable included
• Not the quickest

$89 at Amazon

SAMSUNG

Capability: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB | Connection: USB 3.1 | Learn velocity: As much as 400MB/s relying on the mannequin | Write velocity: As much as 400MB/s

The Samsung Fit Plus has about all of the options you possibly can need on a USB drive. It connects to your laptop over USB 3.1 and helps file switch speeds of as much as 300MB/s. The Match Plus can be compact and has a useful slot for attaching it to your keychain. The one draw back of Samsung’s USB drive is that it’s on the dear aspect.

Professionals

• USB 3.1
• Glossy design
• 5-year guarantee

Cons

• Could be too small
• No indicator gentle

$23 at Adorama

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 couple of 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 method 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 for those who don’t wish to fear about compatibility since nearly each laptop made within the final 20 years will embrace a motherboard with Serial ATA connections. For that motive, the perfect SATA SSDs are a superb alternative if you wish to prolong the lifetime of an older PC construct. Set up is easy, too. When you’ve secured the interior SSD in a drive cage, all it’s essential 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 will likely be considerably sooner than the perfect mechanical drives. And with high-capacity, 1TB SATA SSDs costing about $100, they’re a superb bulk-storage possibility.

In case your PC is newer, there’s a superb probability it contains area for a number of M.2 SSDs. The shape issue represents your ticket to the quickest SSDs in the marketplace, however the difficult half is navigating all of the completely different requirements and specs concerned.

M.2 drives can characteristic both a SATA or PCIe connection. SSDs with the latter are generally known as Non-Unstable 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 know-how 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.

In the event you’re operating an AMD system, which means at the very least a Ryzen 3000 or 5000 CPU and an X570 or B550 motherboard. With Intel, in the meantime, you’ll want at the very least an eleventh or twelfth Gen processor and a Z490, Z590 or Z690 motherboard. Needless to say Gen4 SSDs sometimes value greater than their Gen3 counterparts as properly.

Dearer nonetheless are the most recent Gen5 fashions, which supply sequential learn speeds of as much as 16,000MB/s. Nonetheless, even when your laptop helps the usual, you’re higher off shopping for a extra reasonably priced Gen4 or Gen3 drive. In the mean time, only a few video games and purposes can benefit from Gen3 NVMe speeds, not to mention Gen4 and Gen5 speeds. What’s extra, Gen5 NVMe drives can run scorching, which might result in efficiency and longevity points. Your cash is healthier spent on different parts, like upgrading your GPU, for now.

As for why you’d 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 laptop by putting in the SSD immediately onto the motherboard. That will sound intimidating, however in apply the method entails a single screw that you simply first take away to attach the drive to your laptop after which retighten to safe the SSD in place. As an added bonus, there aren’t any wires concerned, making cable administration simpler.

Be aware that you would be able to set up a SATA M.2 SSD into an M.2 slot with a PCIe connection, however you may’t insert an NVMe M.2 SSD right into a M.2 slot with a SATA connection. Until you wish to proceed utilizing an outdated M.2 drive, there’s little motive to benefit from that characteristic. Talking of backward compatibility, it’s additionally doable to make use of a Gen4 drive via a PCIe 3 connection, however you gained’t get any of the velocity advantages of the sooner NVMe.

One very last thing to contemplate is that M.2 drives come in several 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 mentioned, verify your laptop’s documentation or firmware earlier than shopping for a drive to make sure you’re selecting up a suitable dimension.

In the event you’re shopping for a alternative SSD for the Steam Deck or Steam Deck OLED, issues are simpler. For Valve’s handheld, you have to a 2230 dimension NVMe. Easy. In the event you don’t wish to open your Steam Deck, it’s additionally doable to increase its storage by putting in a microSD card. Engadget has a separate guide dedicated to SD card storage, so verify that out for added shopping for recommendation.

I alluded to this earlier, however the perfect shopping for recommendation I can supply 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 checks differ lower than you suppose.

In case your price range 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 kind of SSD that’s too small for wants. Drives can sluggish dramatically as they method capability, and you’ll in all probability find yourself buying one with a better gigabyte capability sooner or later.

What to search for in moveable and USB flash drives

Transportable SSDs are a considerably completely different beast to their inside 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 out a USB 3.2 Gen 2 x 2 connection. Even amongst newer PCs, that’s one thing of a premium characteristic. For that motive, most individuals are greatest off shopping for a conveyable drive with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 or Thunderbolt connection. The previous affords switch speeds of as much as 10Gbps. The perfect exterior laborious drives additionally let you switch knowledge out of your Home windows PC to a Mac, or different gadget, if suitable. Remember to take into account this beforehand for those who plan to make use of your moveable drive throughout a number of units.

Moreover, for those who plan to take your drive on journeys and commutes, it’s worthwhile to purchase a mannequin with IP-certified water and mud proofing. Some corporations like Samsung supply rugged variations of their hottest drives, together with the Samsung SSD T7 Defend, with a excessive endurance score. For added peace of thoughts, 256-bit AES {hardware} encryption will assist stop somebody from accessing your knowledge for those who ever lose or misplace your exterior SSD.

A few of the similar options contribute to a terrific thumbstick drive. Our favourite picks for greatest price range exterior SSD fashions characteristic USB 3.0 connections and a few type of {hardware} encryption.

A be aware 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 doable 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 affords 512GB, 1TB and 2TB fashions, with probably the most reasonably priced beginning at a not-so-trivial $90. Western Digital’s Growth Playing cards are inexpensive, with pricing beginning at $80 for the 512GB mannequin. The excellent news is that each choices are ceaselessly on sale. Your greatest guess is to set an alert for the mannequin you need through the use of a value tracker like CamelCamelCamel.

With Sony’s PlayStation 5, upgrading the console’s inside storage is barely extra concerned. As a substitute of using a proprietary answer, the PS5 makes use of NVMe storage. Fortunately, there aren’t as many potential configurations as you’d discover on a PC. Engadget maintains a comprehensive guide to the best SSDs for PS5; briefly, your greatest guess is a high-capacity Gen4 drive with a built-in heatsink. Try 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 affords 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB and 8TB variations of the drive. Anticipate to pay about $110 for the 1TB variant and about $200 for 2TB.

For these nonetheless enjoying on a earlier technology console, you will get barely sooner sport load occasions from a PlayStation 4 by swapping the included laborious drive to a 2.5-inch SSD, however going out of your method to take action in all probability 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 a substitute.

SSD FAQs

What dimension SSD is greatest?

There isn’t a one dimension matches all rule for SSDs, however we typically suggest getting at the very least a 1TB SSD for those who’re seeking to improve PC or sport console storage, or wanting so as to add an exterior drive to your toolkit. A 1TB drive will likely be loads for most individuals who want further cupboard space for pictures, paperwork and packages. In the event you’re a hardcore gamer, it’s possible you’ll wish to spend money on much more storage contemplating many high-profile titles right now can take up a ton of area.

Is a 256GB SSD higher than a 1TB laborious drive?

The quick reply is that it is determined by what you want your drive for. Basically, SSDs are sooner and extra environment friendly than HDDs, however HDDs are normally cheaper. We suggest springing for an SSD for many use instances right now — upgrading a PC, saving essential pictures and paperwork, storing video games long run, and so forth. However for those who’re targeted on getting probably the most quantity of additional area doable (and sticking to a price range), an HDD may very well be a superb possibility for you.

Does greater SSD imply sooner?

Getting an even bigger SSD doesn’t all the time translate right into a sooner drive general. A much bigger SSD will present a better storage capability, which implies extra space for storing digital information and packages. To grasp how briskly an SSD will likely be, you’ll wish 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 be sure you try these numbers earlier than you make a purchase order.