The very best SSDs in 2025

On the subject of boosting your system’s efficiency, upgrading to one of many quickest SSDs is a no brainer. Whether or not you’re constructing a gaming PC, rushing up an older laptop computer or just craving lightning-fast load occasions, an SSD is the way in which to go. Not like conventional arduous drives, SSDs depend on NAND flash storage, that means you get quicker information switch speeds, improved reliability and a extra responsive expertise general.

Trendy SSDs are fairly versatile, catering to everybody from players chasing the very best efficiency to these trying to find the very best finances choices that also ship stable velocity. Pair a high quality SSD with a strong GPU, and also you’re set for seamless gaming and multitasking. Plus, with superior firmware bettering effectivity and sturdiness, SSDs are actually higher than ever at dealing with high-intensity workloads. On this shopping for information, we’ll discover the very best SSDs available on the market, whether or not you’re after uncooked velocity, affordability or a mix of the 2.

Greatest 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 if 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 reap the benefits of these capabilities proper now.

Nonetheless, in case you’re set on outfitting your laptop with the quickest doable storage, I believe the Essential T700 affords a compelling mixture of worth and efficiency. The T700 is among the quickest NVMe drives available on the market proper now, and after launching at $180, it’s doable to seek out it on sale for about $143. Notice that in case your motherboard didn’t include a heatsink on your NVMe drives, you’ll need to purchase the T700 mannequin that features one, which additional will increase the associated fee.

Execs

• Very quick
• Helps DirectStorage
• 5-year guarantee

$135 at Amazon

WD_BLACK

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

Supplied you personal the required {hardware}, Gen4 NVMe drives provide fairly good worth proper now. After testing just a few 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 capable of 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 inexpensive 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.

Execs

• Quick
• DirectStorage help
• 5-year guarantee

$80 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 fantastic finances 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 previous high-end Gen3 drives are actually extra inexpensive than ever. Take the Essential 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.

Execs

• Reasonably priced and often on sale
• 5-year guarantee

Cons

• Could possibly be quicker
• Endurance stats are usually not the very best

$62 at Amazon

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 is going to slot into the Steam Deck’s M.2 slot with out challenge, and also you don’t want to fret about it overheating. With latest reductions on this mannequin, it’s dropped sufficient in worth the place you would get monetary savings 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 greatest PlayStation 5 SSDs, however in case you got here to this web page on the lookout for a advice on what NVMe to purchase on your PS5, look no additional than the Corsair MP600 Professional LPX. It meets all of Sony’s compatibility necessities and comes with a pre-installed heatsink, that means all you want to do is set up it into your PS5 and also you’re good to go.

Execs

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

Cons

• Cheaper so as to add your individual heatsink

$155 at Amazon

Essential

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

For carrying recordsdata on the go, the Essential X9 Professional is a transportable SSD with the correct mix of efficiency, options and value. There are technically quicker 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 high of that, with an IP55-rated case produced from aluminum and rubber. A five-year guarantee helps as nicely. Simply observe that the included USB-C cable is pretty brief, and there’s no adapter for USB-A ports within the field. — Jeff Dunn, Senior Reporter, Shopping for Recommendation

Execs

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

Cons

• No USB-A cable included
• Not the quickest

$138 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 Match Plus has about all of the options you would 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 also 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 expensive facet.

Execs

• USB 3.1
• Smooth design
• 5-year guarantee

Cons

• Is perhaps too small
• No indicator mild

$22 at Adorama

How we take a look at SSDs

I’ve both examined or personally use each day each SSD advisable on this checklist. Out of our high 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

Probably the most inexpensive 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 in case you don’t wish to fear about compatibility since virtually each laptop made within the final twenty years will embody a motherboard with Serial ATA connections. For that cause, the very best SATA SSDs are a superb selection if you wish to prolong the lifetime of an older PC construct. Set up is easy, too. When you’ve secured the inner SSD in a drive cage, all you want to do is to attach it to your motherboard and energy provide.

The one draw back of SATA drives is that, by way of responsiveness, they’re slower than their high-performance NVMe counterparts, with SATA III limiting information transfers to 600MB/s. However even the slowest SSD shall be considerably quicker than the very best mechanical drives. And with high-capacity, 1TB SATA SSDs costing about $100, they’re a very good bulk-storage possibility.

In case your PC is newer, there’s a very good likelihood it contains 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 completely different requirements and specs concerned.

M.2 drives can function both a SATA or PCIe connection. SSDs with the latter are generally known as Non-Unstable Reminiscence or NVMe drives and are considerably quicker 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 will 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 working an AMD system, which means at the least a Ryzen 3000 or 5000 CPU and an X570 or B550 motherboard. With Intel, in the meantime, you’ll want at the least an eleventh or twelfth Gen processor and a Z490, Z590 or Z690 motherboard. Remember that Gen4 SSDs usually value greater than their Gen3 counterparts as nicely.

Dearer nonetheless are the newest Gen5 fashions, which provide 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 inexpensive Gen4 or Gen3 drive. For the time being, only a few video games and purposes can reap the benefits 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 healthier spent on different parts, 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 all the way down to ease of set up. You add M.2 storage to your laptop by putting in the SSD immediately onto the motherboard. Which will sound intimidating, however in observe the method entails a single screw that you just 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.

Notice you could set up a SATA M.2 SSD into an M.2 slot with a PCIe connection, however you possibly can’t insert an NVMe M.2 SSD right into a M.2 slot with a SATA connection. Until you wish to proceed utilizing an previous M.2 drive, there’s little cause to reap the benefits of that function. Talking of backward compatibility, it’s additionally doable to make use of a Gen4 drive by means of a PCIe 3 connection, however you received’t get any of the velocity advantages of the quicker NVMe.

One last item to contemplate is that M.2 drives come in several bodily sizes. From shortest to longest, the widespread choices are 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280 and 22110. (The primary two numbers characterize width in millimeters and the latter denote the size.) For essentially 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 multiple dimension of NVMe SSD due to a number of standoffs. That mentioned, examine your laptop’s documentation earlier than shopping for a drive to make sure you’re selecting up a appropriate 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’ll need a 2230 dimension NVMe. Easy. In the event you don’t wish to open your Steam Deck, it’s additionally doable to broaden its storage by putting in a microSD card. Engadget has a separate information devoted to SD card storage, so examine that out for added shopping for recommendation.

I alluded to this earlier, however the very best 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 checklist on their drives are theoretical and real-world efficiency benchmark checks range 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 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 bigger storage capability sooner or later.

What to search for in moveable and USB flash drives

Moveable SSDs are a considerably completely different beast to their inside siblings. Whereas learn and write speeds are essential, they’re virtually secondary to how an exterior drive connects to your PC. You received’t get essentially 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 function. For that cause, most individuals are greatest off shopping for a transportable drive with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 or Thunderbolt connection. The previous affords switch speeds of as much as 10Gbps. The very best exterior arduous drives additionally mean you can switch information out of your Home windows PC to a Mac, or different system, if appropriate. Make sure to contemplate this beforehand in case you plan to make use of your moveable drive throughout a number of units.

Moreover, in case you plan to take your drive on journeys and commutes, it’s worthwhile to purchase a mannequin with IP-certified water and mud proofing. Some firms like Samsung provide rugged variations of their hottest drives with a excessive endurance ranking. For added peace of thoughts, 256-bit AES {hardware} encryption will assist forestall somebody from accessing your information in case you ever lose or misplace your exterior SSD.

A number of the identical options contribute to a fantastic thumbstick drive. Our favourite picks for greatest finances exterior SSD fashions function USB 3.0 connections and a few type of {hardware} encryption.

A observe on console storage

If PC gaming isn’t your factor and also you personal an Xbox Sequence X|S or PS5, outfitting your fancy new console with the quickest doable storage is much extra simple than doing the identical on PC. With a Sequence X or Sequence S, your choices are restricted to choices from Seagate and Western Digital. The previous affords 512GB, 1TB and 2TB fashions, with essentially the most inexpensive beginning at a not-so-trivial $90. Western Digital’s Growth Playing cards are cheaper, with pricing beginning at $80 for the 512GB mannequin. The excellent news is that each choices are often on sale. Your greatest guess is to set an alert for the mannequin you need through the use of a worth 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 resolution, 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 complete information to the very best SSDs for PS5; in brief, your greatest guess is a high-capacity Gen4 drive with a built-in heatsink. Take a look at that information for a full checklist of gaming SSD suggestions, however for a fast go-to, contemplate 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 received’t run into any clearance points with the heatsink. Corsair affords 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 may get barely quicker recreation load occasions from a PlayStation 4 by swapping the included arduous 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.

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 least a 1TB SSD in case you’re trying to improve PC or recreation console storage, or trying so as to add an exterior drive to your toolkit. A 1TB drive shall be loads for most individuals who want further cupboard space for images, paperwork and applications. 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 at present can take up a ton of house.

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

The brief reply is that it depends upon what you want your drive for. Normally, SSDs are quicker and extra environment friendly than HDDs, however HDDs are normally cheaper. We suggest springing for an SSD for many use circumstances at present — upgrading a PC, saving essential images and paperwork, storing video games long run, and many others. However in case you’re targeted on getting essentially the most quantity of additional house doable (and sticking to a finances), an HDD could possibly be a very good possibility for you.

Does greater SSD imply quicker?

Getting an even bigger SSD doesn’t at all times translate right into a quicker drive general. An even bigger SSD will present the next storage capability, which suggests extra space for storing digital recordsdata and applications. To grasp how briskly an SSD shall be, you’ll wish to take a look at its learn/write speeds: learn speeds measure how briskly a drive can entry info, whereas write speeds measure how briskly the drive can save info. Most SSDs checklist their approximate learn/write speeds of their specs, so make sure you take a look at these numbers earlier than you make a purchase order.