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We’ve tested many types of hard drives over the years, from premium to budget options. So we’re here to help you find the best cheap SSDs for your storage needs. You’ll find plenty of choices that don’t compromise on performance in whatever budget range you’re looking for. Whether you’re looking for the latest PCIe M.2 SSD (opens in new tab)an external SSD or a SATA-compatible SSD, you’ll find something here that’s right for you, whatever your storage needs.
There was no such thing as the best cheap SSDs when solid state drives were first introduced. An SSD was expensive. These were premium upgrades for any computer system that received one. Fortunately, a lot has changed since then and it’s relatively easy to find reasonably priced solid state drives these days. And they’re just as good as those pricier ones from years past – especially when you consider that SSDs are often heavily discounted during Black Friday and Cyber Monday seasonal sales events.
While there are plenty of expensive solid state drives (opens in new tab) Also on the market, the best cheap SSDs can keep pace when it comes to performance, although they may not offer the same amount of storage space. Either way, if you’re on a tight budget and need more capacity, whether it’s to store your creative projects, your plethora of games, or all your work documents, here’s the solution to your storage woes.
Best NVMe M.2 SSD deal
The Crucial P5 Plus gets our pick for the overall best SSD deal right now if you’re looking for the fastest NVMe storage possible. While it’s not the fastest product on the market, it’s easily the most competitively priced PCIe 4.0 option, meaning it supports the latest hardware in terms of non-technical laypeople. It’s simply a fantastic option for all usage scenarios – from gaming to creative applications – and a 5-year limited warranty will help future-proof your build into the future.
Best budget NVMe SSD deal
The Crucial P3 is the more budget-oriented sibling of the P5 Plus and is even better value if you’re just looking for a decent NVMe SSD on a budget. It’s PCIe 3.0, which means it won’t be that fast (only has write speeds up to 3500 MB/s), but it’s more than suitable for just about any application. It’s also still much faster than the equivalent 2.5-inch SSD, which generally only offers speeds of around 500MB/s. Overall, this is a super solid drive that comes with plenty of excellent storage options, from 500 MB to 2 TB.
Best 2.5-inch SSD deal
No list of the best SSDs ever seems complete without the Samsung 850 Evo, which consistently ranks among the frontrunners. While the 850 Evo is available in M.2 and mSATA drives, it’s the standard 2.5-inch drive that proves time and time again to be an SSD you can’t ignore.
The 850 EVO comes in a number of different storage sizes, so you can choose what best fits your budget. With fast read and write speeds and reliable 3D NAND backed by a 5-year warranty, the 850 Evo is a great drive from a respected brand. While the price may fluctuate a bit, now is a good time to buy one – especially after the introduction of the Samsung 860 Evo.
Best budget 2.5-inch SSD deal
The Crucial MX500 SSD offers incredible value, giving you a lot of storage space per dollar. It comes in the standard 2.5-inch drive size, so it should fit any standard desktop version, and it will fit many laptops too.
On top of the MX500’s great value is its great performance. Despite the budget price, the MX500 is built using fast, durable 3D NAND flash storage and comes with a 5-year warranty to back it up. Its speeds in reading and writing data, both large and small, also keep pace with the competition.
Best SSD deal for laptops
Do you want to upgrade your laptop? SanDisk has the answer. The SanDisk Ultra II offers great value for money and performance per dollar, and with its standard 2.5-inch drive size and only 7mm thick, it should fit a wide range of laptops.
The SanDisk Ultra II’s speeds keep pace with its closest competitors, but with the 500GB sweet spot, it undercuts the price of other drives. This makes it a good choice for a laptop upgrade. It comes with a 3-year warranty.
Best external SSD deal
Western Digital has an external SSD that is worth the price. While plenty of other external SSDs warrant serious consideration in building your own external SSD by just buying a regular SSD and a USB enclosure separately, the WD’s My Passport manages to command a price that’s only slightly higher. than an internal SSD of the same size. Plus, you won’t find a third-party enclosure smaller than the WD My Passport SSD.
The My Passport external SSD supports USB-C and USB 3.1 Gen 2 and is capable of high-speed communication with a PC. It’s also small and light, measuring just 1.8 x 3.5 x 0.39 inches and weighing 1.44 ounces. With portability comes the issue of security, of course, but the My Passport includes 256-bit encryption to protect your data from intruders, and it’s been drop-tested up to 2.5 meters to protect your data from accidents.