One of the best SSDs in 2025

In case your laptop is beginning to really feel slightly sluggish, otherwise you’re bored with ready for video games and apps to load, upgrading to among the finest SSD choices on the market could be a game-changer. Strong-state drives (SSDs) are a lot quicker than conventional laborious drives, serving to your system boot up in seconds, load massive recordsdata 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 artistic tasks, the appropriate SSD can critically enhance efficiency.

However with so many specs to think about — PCIe Gen 4, Gen 5, SATA, NVMe — it’s straightforward to get misplaced within the jargon. That’s the place we are available! We’ve rounded up the very best SSD choices that can assist you discover the appropriate stability of pace, capability and worth, so you may get the improve you want with out overpaying for options you received’t use.

Desk of contents

Greatest SSDs in 2025

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 benefit from these capabilities proper now.

Nonetheless, when you’re set on outfitting your laptop with the quickest potential storage, I feel the Crucial T700 affords a compelling mixture of worth and efficiency. The T700 is without doubt one of the quickest NVMe drives available on the market proper now, and after launching at $180, it’s potential to search out it on sale for about $143. Word that in case your motherboard didn’t include a heatsink in your NVMe drives, you will want to purchase the T700 mannequin that features one, which additional will increase the associated fee.

Professionals

• Very quick
• Helps DirectStorage
• 5-year guarantee

$140 at Adorama

WD_BLACK

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

Supplied you personal the required {hardware}, Gen4 NVMe drives provide fairly good worth proper now. After testing a number of 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 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 need 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 vital apps.

Professionals

• Quick
• DirectStorage help
• 5-year guarantee

$94 at Amazon

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 beneficial the Essential P2 as an awesome 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 at the moment are extra inexpensive than ever. Take the Crucial P3, as an example. 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 provides 3,500MB/s learn speeds.

Professionals

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

Cons

• Could possibly be quicker
• Endurance stats should not the very best

$60 at Adorama

SABRENT

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

In the event you’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 difficulty, 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 pace: 7,100 MB/s | Write pace: 6,800MB/sec

Engadget has a separate information devoted to the best PlayStation 5 SSDs, however when you got here to this web page searching for a suggestion 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, which means all you could do is set up it into your PS5 and also you’re good to go.

Professionals

• Excellent PS5 compatibility
• Pre-installed heatsink
• Simple to put in

Cons

• Cheaper so as to add your personal heatsink

$170 at Amazon

Essential

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

For carrying recordsdata on the go, the Crucial X9 Pro is a conveyable SSD with the correct mix of efficiency, options and price. There are technically quicker choices on the market, however its 10 Gbps speeds needs 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 assessments. It’s tremendous tiny and sufficiently rugged on high of that, with an IP55-rated case constituted of aluminum and rubber. A five-year guarantee helps as nicely. Simply be aware 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

Professionals

• IP55-certified water and dirt 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 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 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 aspect.

Professionals

• USB 3.1
• Smooth design
• 5-year guarantee

Cons

• Is perhaps too small
• No indicator mild

$23 at Adorama

How we check SSDs

I’ve both examined or personally use every day each storage drive beneficial 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

Essentially the most inexpensive means 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 when you don’t need to fear about compatibility since nearly each laptop made within the final 20 years will embody a motherboard with Serial ATA connections. For that cause, the very best SATA SSDs are a wonderful selection 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 you could 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 information transfers to 600MB/s. However even the slowest SSD can be considerably quicker than the very best 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 likelihood it consists of area 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 function both a SATA or PCIe connection. SSDs with the latter are referred to as Non-Risky 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 a minimum of a Ryzen 3000 or 5000 CPU and an X570 or B550 motherboard. With Intel, in the meantime, you’ll want a minimum of an eleventh or twelfth Gen processor and a Z490, Z590 or Z690 motherboard. Take into account that Gen4 SSDs usually value greater than their Gen3 counterparts as nicely.

Costlier nonetheless are the most recent Gen5 fashions, which supply sequential learn speeds of as much as 16,000MB/s. Nevertheless, 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 benefit from Gen3 NVMe speeds, not to mention Gen4 and Gen5 speeds. What’s extra, Gen5 NVMe drives can run sizzling, which might result in efficiency and longevity points. Your cash is healthier 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 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. 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 laptop after which retighten to safe the SSD in place. As an added bonus, there aren’t any wires concerned, making cable administration simpler.

Word that you may 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 benefit from that function. Talking of backward compatibility, it’s additionally potential to make use of a Gen4 drive by means of a PCIe 3 connection, however you received’t get any of the pace advantages of the quicker NVMe.

One last item to think about 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 characterize 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 multiple measurement 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 appropriate measurement.

In the event you’re shopping for a substitute SSD for the Steam Deck or Steam Deck OLED, issues are simpler. For Valve’s handheld, you will want a 2230 measurement NVMe. Easy. In the event you don’t need to open your Steam Deck, it’s additionally potential to broaden its storage by putting in a microSD card. Engadget has a separate guide dedicated to SD card storage, so verify that out for extra 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 assessments differ lower than you assume.

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 gradual 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

Moveable SSDs are a considerably totally different beast to their inside siblings. Whereas learn and write speeds are vital, they’re nearly secondary to how an exterior drive connects to your PC. You received’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 function. For that cause, most individuals are finest 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. One of the best exterior laborious drives additionally let you switch information out of your Home windows PC to a Mac, or different machine, if appropriate. Make sure you contemplate this beforehand when you plan to make use of your moveable drive throughout a number of units.

Moreover, when 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 extra peace of thoughts, 256-bit AES {hardware} encryption will assist forestall somebody from accessing your information when you ever lose or misplace your exterior SSD.

A number of the similar options contribute to an awesome thumbstick drive. Our favourite picks for finest price range exterior SSD fashions function 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 potential storage is way 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 inexpensive 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 ceaselessly on sale. Your finest wager is to set an alert for the mannequin you need by utilizing a worth tracker like CamelCamelCamel.

With Sony’s PlayStation 5, upgrading the console’s inside storage is barely extra concerned. As an alternative 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 comprehensive guide to the best SSDs for PS5; in brief, your finest wager is a high-capacity Gen4 drive with a built-in heatsink. Try 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. Anticipate 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 instances from a PlayStation 4 by swapping the included laborious drive to a 2.5-inch SSD, however going out of your means to take action in all probability isn’t price 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 measurement SSD is finest?

There is no such thing as a one measurement suits all rule for SSDs, however we typically advocate getting a minimum of a 1TB SSD when 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 can be a lot for most individuals who want additional cupboard space for photographs, paperwork and applications. In the event you’re a hardcore gamer, it’s possible you’ll need to spend money on much more storage contemplating many high-profile titles at this time can take up a ton of area.

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

The brief reply is that it depends upon what you want your drive for. Basically, SSDs are quicker and extra environment friendly than HDDs, however HDDs are normally cheaper. We advocate springing for an SSD for many use instances at this time — upgrading a PC, saving vital photographs and paperwork, storing video games long run, and many others. However when you’re targeted on getting probably the most quantity of additional area potential (and sticking to a price range), an HDD could possibly be a superb possibility for you.

Does larger SSD imply quicker?

Getting an even bigger SSD doesn’t at all times translate right into a quicker drive total. An even bigger SSD will present a better storage capability, which suggests extra space for storing digital recordsdata and applications. To grasp how briskly an SSD can be, you’ll need to have 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 checklist their approximate learn/write speeds of their specs, so make sure to try these numbers earlier than you make a purchase order.