The very best SSDs in 2025

In case your pc is beginning to really feel somewhat sluggish, otherwise you’re uninterested in ready for video games and apps to load, upgrading to among the best SSD choices on the market could be a game-changer. Stable-state drives (SSDs) are a lot quicker than conventional arduous 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 initiatives, the correct SSD can critically 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 one of the best SSD choices that will help you discover the correct stability of velocity, capability and worth, so you may 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 when you’ve got 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, should you’re set on outfitting your pc with the quickest potential storage, I feel the Crucial T700 presents 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 potential to search out it on sale for about $143. Word that in case your motherboard didn’t include a heatsink on your NVMe drives, you will want 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 provide 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 capable of pay lower than $100 for the 1TB mannequin throughout a sale.

When you’re set on shopping for a Gen4 mannequin, however wish to avoid wasting cash, Western Digital presents 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 really useful the Essential P2 as an excellent funds 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 example. 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 gives 3,500MB/s learn speeds.

Professionals

• Inexpensive and regularly on sale
• 5-year guarantee

Cons

• Might be quicker
• Endurance stats are usually not one of the best

$60 at Adorama

SABRENT

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

When 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 is going to 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 worth 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 should you got here to this web page searching for a advice on what NVMe to purchase on 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 you might want to 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 transportable 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 checks. It’s tremendous tiny and sufficiently rugged on high of that, with an IP55-rated case constructed from aluminum and rubber. A five-year guarantee helps as nicely. Simply observe 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 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 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 pc 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 dear facet.

Professionals

• USB 3.1
• Glossy design
• 5-year guarantee

Cons

• Could be too small
• No indicator gentle

$23 at Adorama

How we check SSDs

I’ve both examined or personally use day by day each storage drive really useful 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 reasonably priced method so as to add quick space for storing to a pc is with a 2.5-inch SATA drive. It’s additionally one of many best should you don’t wish to fear about compatibility since nearly each pc made within the final twenty years will embody a motherboard with Serial ATA connections. For that cause, one of the 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 interior SSD in a drive cage, all you might want 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 will likely be considerably quicker than one of the best mechanical drives. And with high-capacity, 1TB SATA SSDs costing about $100, they’re a great bulk-storage choice.

In case your PC is newer, there’s a great probability 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 tough 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 often called 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 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.

When you’re operating an AMD system, meaning 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. Remember the fact that Gen4 SSDs sometimes price greater than their Gen3 counterparts as nicely.

Dearer nonetheless are the most recent Gen5 fashions, which supply sequential learn speeds of as much as 16,000MB/s. Nonetheless, even when your pc 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 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 all the way 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 apply the method includes a single screw that you simply 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.

Word which 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 outdated M.2 drive, there’s little cause to benefit from that characteristic. Talking of backward compatibility, it’s additionally potential to make use of a Gen4 drive by way of a PCIe 3 connection, however you gained’t get any of the velocity advantages of the quicker NVMe.

One final 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 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 a couple of dimension of NVMe SSD due to a number of standoffs. That stated, examine your pc’s documentation or firmware earlier than shopping for a drive to make sure you’re choosing up a appropriate dimension.

When you’re shopping for a alternative SSD for the Steam Deck or Steam Deck OLED, issues are simpler. For Valve’s handheld, you will want a 2230 dimension NVMe. Easy. When you don’t wish 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 examine that out for added shopping for recommendation.

I alluded to this earlier, however one of the 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 fluctuate lower than you assume.

In case your funds 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 gradual dramatically as they strategy capability, and you’ll in all probability find yourself buying one with a better gigabyte capability sooner or later.

What to search for in transportable 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 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 greatest off shopping for a transportable drive with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 or Thunderbolt connection. The previous presents switch speeds of as much as 10Gbps. The very best exterior arduous drives additionally let you switch knowledge out of your Home windows PC to a Mac, or different gadget, if appropriate. You should definitely think about this beforehand should you plan to make use of your transportable drive throughout a number of gadgets.

Moreover, should 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 Defend, with a excessive endurance ranking. For added peace of thoughts, 256-bit AES {hardware} encryption will assist stop somebody from accessing your knowledge should you ever lose or misplace your exterior SSD.

A few of the similar options contribute to an excellent thumbstick drive. Our favourite picks for greatest funds exterior SSD fashions characteristic 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 potential 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 presents 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 cheaper, with pricing beginning at $80 for the 512GB mannequin. The excellent news is that each choices are regularly 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 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; briefly, your greatest guess 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, think about 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 presents 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 enjoying on a earlier era console, you may get barely quicker sport load instances 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 and updating your working system as a substitute.

SSD FAQs

What dimension SSD is greatest?

There is no such thing as a one dimension suits all rule for SSDs, however we typically suggest getting at the very least a 1TB SSD should you’re trying 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 space for storing for pictures, paperwork and applications. When you’re a hardcore gamer, it’s possible you’ll wish to put money into much more storage contemplating many high-profile titles right now can take up a ton of house.

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

The quick reply is that it is determined by what you want your drive for. Generally, SSDs are quicker and extra environment friendly than HDDs, however HDDs are often 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 many others. However should you’re targeted on getting probably the most quantity of additional house potential (and sticking to a funds), an HDD may very well be a great choice for you.

Does greater SSD imply quicker?

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