The Best Ssds In 2025

Table of contents

Best SSDs successful 2025

How we trial SSDs

I’ve either tested aliases personally usage regular each retention thrust recommended connected this list. Out of our apical picks, I bought 4 pinch my ain money aft doing astir a twelve hours of research. Separately, Engadget Senior Reporter Jeff Dunn has besides tested a fistful of our recommendations, including nan Crucial X9 Pro listed above.

What to look for successful a PC SSD

The astir affordable measurement to adhd accelerated retention abstraction to a machine is pinch a 2.5-inch SATA drive. It’s besides 1 of nan easiest if you don’t want to interest astir compatibility since almost each machine made successful nan past 2 decades will see a motherboard pinch Serial ATA connections. For that reason, nan champion SATA SSDs are an fantabulous prime if you want to widen nan life of an older PC build. Installation is straightforward, too. Once you’ve secured nan soul SSD successful a thrust cage, each you request to do is to link it to your motherboard and powerfulness supply.

The 1 downside of SATA drives is that, successful position of responsiveness, they’re slower than their high-performance NVMe counterparts, pinch SATA III limiting information transfers to 600MB/s. But moreover nan slowest SSD will beryllium importantly faster than nan champion mechanical drives. And pinch high-capacity, 1TB SATA SSDs costing astir $100, they’re a bully bulk-storage option.

If your PC is newer, there’s a bully chance it includes abstraction for 1 aliases much M.2 SSDs. The shape facet represents your summons to nan fastest SSDs connected nan market, but nan tricky portion is navigating each nan different standards and specs involved.

M.2 drives tin characteristic either a SATA aliases PCIe connection. SSDs pinch nan second are known arsenic Non-Volatile Memory aliases NVMe drives and are importantly faster than their SATA counterparts, pinch Gen3 models offering sequential constitute speeds of up to 3,000MB/s. These drives trust connected NVMe NAND exertion for their superior capacity and durability. You tin get doubly nan capacity pinch a Gen4 SSD, but you’ll request a motherboard and processor that supports nan standard.

If you’re moving an AMD system, that intends astatine slightest a Ryzen 3000 aliases 5000 CPU and an X570 aliases B550 motherboard. With Intel, meanwhile, you’ll request astatine slightest an 11th aliases 12th Gen processor and a Z490, Z590 aliases Z690 motherboard. Keep successful mind that Gen4 SSDs typically costs much than their Gen3 counterparts arsenic well.

More costly still are nan latest Gen5 models, which connection sequential publication speeds of up to 16,000MB/s. However, moreover if your machine supports nan standard, you’re amended disconnected buying a much affordable Gen4 aliases Gen3 drive. At nan moment, very fewer games and applications tin return advantage of Gen3 NVMe speeds, fto unsocial Gen4 and Gen5 speeds. What’s more, Gen5 NVMe drives tin tally hot, which tin lead to capacity and longevity issues. Your money is amended spent connected different components, for illustration upgrading your GPU, for now.

As for why you would bargain an M.2 SATA thrust complete a likewise specced 2.5-inch drive, it comes down to easiness of installation. You adhd M.2 retention to your machine by installing nan SSD straight onto nan motherboard. That whitethorn sound intimidating, but successful believe nan process involves a azygous screw that you first region to link nan thrust to your machine and past retighten to unafraid nan SSD successful place. As an added bonus, location aren’t immoderate wires involved, making cablegram guidance easier.

Note that you tin instal a SATA M.2 SSD into an M.2 slot pinch a PCIe connection, but you can’t insert an NVMe M.2 SSD into a M.2 slot pinch a SATA connection. Unless you want to proceed utilizing an aged M.2 drive, there’s small logic to return advantage of that feature. Speaking of backward compatibility, it’s besides imaginable to usage a Gen4 thrust done a PCIe 3 connection, but you won’t get immoderate of nan velocity benefits of nan faster NVMe.

One past point to see is that M.2 drives travel successful different beingness sizes. From shortest to longest, nan communal options are 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280 and 22110. (The first 2 numbers correspond width successful millimeters and nan second denote nan length.) For nan astir part, you don’t person to interest astir that since 2280 is nan default for galore motherboards and manufacturers. Some boards tin accommodate much than 1 size of NVMe SSD acknowledgment to aggregate standoffs. That said, cheque your computer’s archiving aliases firmware earlier buying a thrust to guarantee you’re picking up a compatible size.

If you’re buying a replacement SSD for nan Steam Deck aliases Steam Deck OLED, things are little complicated. For Valve’s handheld, you will request a 2230 size NVMe. Simple. If you don’t want to unfastened your Steam Deck, it’s besides imaginable to grow its retention by installing a microSD card. Engadget has a separate guideline dedicated to SD paper storage, truthful cheque that retired for further buying advice.

I alluded to this earlier, but nan champion buying proposal I tin connection is don’t get excessively caught up astir being connected nan bleeding separator of retention tech. The sequential publication and constitute speeds you spot manufacturers database connected their drives are theoretical and real-world capacity benchmark tests alteration little than you think.

If your fund forces you to take betwixt a 1TB Gen3 NVMe and a 512GB Gen4 model, spell for nan higher-capacity one. From a applicable standpoint, nan worst point you tin do is bargain a type of SSD that’s excessively mini for needs. Drives tin slow dramatically arsenic they attack capacity, and you will astir apt extremity up purchasing 1 pinch a higher gigabyte capacity successful nan future.

What to look for successful portable and USB flash drives

Portable SSDs are a somewhat different beast to their soul siblings. While publication and constitute speeds are important, they are almost secondary to really an outer thrust connects to your PC. You won’t get nan astir retired of a exemplary for illustration nan SanDisk Extreme Pro V2 without a USB 3.2 Gen 2 x 2 connection. Even among newer PCs, that’s thing of a premium feature. For that reason, astir group are champion disconnected buying a portable thrust pinch a USB 3.2 Gen 2 aliases Thunderbolt connection. The erstwhile offers transportation speeds of up to 10Gbps. The champion outer difficult drives besides let you to transportation information from your Windows PC to a Mac, aliases different device, if compatible. Be judge to see this beforehand if you scheme to usage your portable thrust crossed aggregate devices.

Additionally, if you scheme to return your thrust connected trips and commutes, it’s worthwhile to bargain a exemplary pinch IP-certified h2o and particulate proofing. Some companies for illustration Samsung connection rugged versions of their astir celebrated drives, including nan Samsung SSD T7 Shield, pinch a precocious endurance rating. For further bid of mind, 256-bit AES hardware encryption will thief forestall personification from accessing your information if you ever suffer aliases misplace your outer SSD.

Some of nan aforesaid features lend to a awesome thumbstick drive. Our favourite picks for champion fund outer SSD models characteristic USB 3.0 connections and immoderate shape of hardware encryption.

A statement connected console storage

If PC gaming isn’t your point and you ain an Xbox Series X|S aliases PS5, outfitting your fancy caller console pinch nan fastest imaginable retention is acold much straightforward than doing nan aforesaid connected PC. With a Series X aliases Series S, your options are constricted to options from Seagate and Western Digital. The erstwhile offers 512GB, 1TB and 2TB models, pinch nan astir affordable starting astatine a not-so-trivial $90. Western Digital’s Expansion Cards are little expensive, pinch pricing starting astatine $80 for nan 512GB model. The bully news is that some options are often connected sale. Your champion stake is to group an alert for nan exemplary you want by utilizing a value locator for illustration CamelCamelCamel.

With Sony’s PlayStation 5, upgrading nan console’s soul retention is somewhat much involved. Instead of employing a proprietary solution, nan PS5 uses NVMe storage. Thankfully, location aren’t arsenic galore imaginable configurations arsenic you would find connected a PC. Engadget maintains a comprehensive guideline to nan champion SSDs for PS5; successful short, your champion stake is simply a high-capacity Gen4 thrust pinch a built-in heatsink. Check retired that guideline for a afloat database of gaming SSD recommendations, but for a speedy go-to, see nan Corsair MP600 Pro LPX I urge above. It meets each nan representation specifications for Sony’s latest console and you won’t tally into immoderate clearance issues pinch nan heatsink. Corsair offers 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB and 8TB versions of nan drive. Expect to salary astir $110 for nan 1TB version and astir $200 for 2TB.

For those still playing connected a erstwhile procreation console, you tin get somewhat faster crippled load times from a PlayStation 4 by swapping nan included difficult thrust to a 2.5-inch SSD, but going retired of your measurement to do truthful astir apt isn’t worthy it astatine this constituent and you’re amended disconnected redeeming your money for 1 of nan caller consoles and updating your operating strategy instead.

SSD FAQs

What size SSD is best?

There is nary 1 size fits each norm for SSDs, but we mostly urge getting astatine slightest a 1TB SSD if you’re looking to upgrade PC aliases crippled console storage, aliases looking to adhd an outer thrust to your toolkit. A 1TB thrust will beryllium plentifulness for astir group who request other retention abstraction for photos, documents and programs. If you’re a hardcore gamer, you whitethorn want to put successful moreover much retention considering galore high-profile titles coming tin return up a ton of space.

Is a 256GB SSD amended than a 1TB difficult drive?

The short reply is that it depends connected what you request your thrust for. In general, SSDs are faster and much businesslike than HDDs, but HDDs are usually cheaper. We urge springing for an SSD for astir usage cases coming — upgrading a PC, redeeming important photos and documents, storing games agelong term, etc. But if you’re focused connected getting nan astir magnitude of other abstraction imaginable (and sticking to a budget), an HDD could beryllium a bully action for you.

Does bigger SSD mean faster?

Getting a bigger SSD doesn’t ever construe into a faster thrust overall. A bigger SSD will supply a higher retention capacity, which intends much abstraction for storing integer files and programs. To understand really accelerated an SSD will be, you’ll want to look astatine its read/write speeds: publication speeds measurement really accelerated a thrust tin entree information, while constitute speeds measurement really accelerated nan thrust tin prevention information. Most SSDs database their approximate read/write speeds successful their specs, truthful beryllium judge to cheque retired those numbers earlier you make a purchase.