Over the years, we’ve tested many hard drives of all kinds, from premium options to budget options. That’s why we’re here to help you find the best cheap SSD drives for your storage needs. You’ll find plenty of options that don’t compromise on performance in any budget range you’re looking for. Whether you’re looking for the latest PCIe M.2 SSD (opens in a new tab)external SSD or SATA compatible, there is something to do for you, whatever your storage needs.
When solid-state drives were first introduced, there was no such thing as the best cheap SSDs. SSD was expensive. These were premium updates to any computer system that received them. Fortunately, a lot has changed since then, and finding inexpensive solid-state drives is now relatively easy. And they’re just as good as the more expensive ones from previous years – especially when you consider that SSDs are often heavily discounted in the annual Black Friday deals that are coming now.
Although there are many expensive solid state drives (opens in a new tab) also on the market, the best cheap SSDs can keep up when it comes to performance, although they may not offer the same amount of memory. Whether you’re on a budget and need more capacity, whether it’s for storing creative projects, overcrowding games, or all of your work papers, here’s the solution to your storage problems.
Best NVMe M.2 SSD offering
The Crucial P5 Plus is now our pick for the best SSD deal if you’re looking for the fastest NVMe storage possible. While not the fastest product on the market, it is by far the most cost-competitive PCIe 4.0 option, meaning it supports the latest hardware in terms of non-tech laymen. It’s just a fantastic option for everything from gaming to creative apps – and a limited 5-year warranty will help protect your build for the future.
The best budget NVMe SSD deal
The Crucial P3 is the more budget-focused sibling of the P5 Plus and has even more value if you’re simply looking for a decent NVMe SSD on a budget. It’s PCIe 3.0, which means it won’t be as fast (only has write speeds of up to 3500MB / s), but it’s more than capable of virtually any application. It is also much faster than the equivalent of a 2.5-inch SSD, which typically only offers around 500MB / s. Overall, it’s a super solid drive that offers plenty of excellent storage options, ranging from 500MB to 2TB.
The best deal for a 2.5 inch SSD
No list of the best SSDs ever seems complete without the Samsung 850 Evo consistently leading the pack. While the 850 Evo is available as an M.2 and mSATA drive, it’s a standard 2.5-inch drive that proves time and again to be an SSD that you can’t go wrong with.
The 850 EVO is available in many different sizes, letting you choose what best fits your budget. With fast read and write speeds and reliable 3D NAND memory backed by a 5-year warranty, the 850 Evo is a great drive from a reputable brand. While the price may fluctuate a bit, now’s a great time to pick it up – especially with the launch of the Samsung 860 Evo.
The best deal for a 2.5 inch SSD
The Crucial MX500 SSD offers incredible value, giving you plenty of storage space for your dollar. It comes in a standard 2.5-inch drive size, so it should fit any standard desktop computer, and will also fit in many laptops.
At the peak of the MX500’s great value is its great performance. Despite its affordable price, the MX500 is built with high-speed, durable 3D NAND flash memory and comes with a 5-year backup warranty. It speeds up the reading and writing of data, both large and small, and keeps up with the competition.
The best SSD for a laptop
Do you want to upgrade your laptop? SanDisk has the answer. The SanDisk Ultra II offers great value and performance per dollar, and with a standard 2.5 ” drive size and only 7mm thick, it should fit a wide range of laptops.
The speed of the SanDisk Ultra II keeps pace with its closest competitors, but at its best, 500GB undercuts the price of other drives. This makes it a sweet choice for a laptop upgrade. It has a 3-year warranty.
The best offer for an external SSD
Western Digital has an external SSD that is worth the money. While many other external SSDs warrant serious consideration of building your own external SSD by purchasing a normal SSD and USB enclosure separately, WD’s My Passport offers a price that is only slightly higher than an internal SSD of the same size. Plus, you won’t find a third-party enclosure smaller than a WD My Passport SSD drive.
My Passport external SSD, supporting USB-C and USB 3.1 Gen 2, can communicate with the computer quickly. It’s also small and light, measuring just 1.8 x 3.5 x 0.39 inches and weighing 1.44 ounces. Of course, with portability comes the security issue, but My Passport includes 256-bit encryption to keep your data safe from intruders, and is drop tested up to 6.4 feet to keep your data safe from accidents.