Consumer SSD Reviews
StorageReview.com SSD reviews cover both consumer and enterprise SSD reviews. Flash storage comes in a variety of interfaces which is how the SSD communicates with the computer. Our SSD reviews category covers NVMe SSDs and SATA SSDs for end users. NVMe SSDs are typically much faster, but more expensive, than SATA SSDs. NVMe SSD adoption is accelerating though as the SATA lifecycle is nearing the end; most new laptops and desktops will have NVMe flash storage inside. NVMe SSDs aren't always going to be high-performance though, NVMe SSD speed depends on a variety of factors. StorageReview SSD reviews clearly focus on SSD speed, but there's much more to consider like flash technology used, SSD controller, drive capacity, and price, to best understand where each SSD is best.
NVMe may be the most popular interface for consumer SSDs, but SSDs come in a number of shapes and sizes as well. Most common still is the standard 2.5" form factor that SSDs have used for years. M.2 NVMe SSDs are gaining popularity in space constrained use cases, like notebooks and portable workstations. PCs often use M.2 NVMe SSDs too, because many more of them can be put into a system often via PCIe card that can house four or even eight drives. 2.5" NVMe SSDs still have a capacity advantage though, as there's more room to put flash storage modules on the PCB. Lastly some vendors prefer the NVMe add-in card (PCIe card) because it offers the most room for flash inside a PC.
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July 26th, 2019 by Adam Armstrong
Toshiba BG4 NVMe SSD Review
Back at CES this year, Toshiba announced its new BG4 lineup. BG4 stands for the fourth generation of the company’s ball grid array (BGA) SSD product line. These new SSDs come in the tiny M.2 2230 form factor making them ideal for ultra-mobile PCs, 2-in-1 notebook PCs, IoT/embedded devices, and server and storage array boot drives. Though the drives are small in size they do come in capacities ranging from 128GB to 1TB.
July 3rd, 2019 by Adam Armstrong
ADATA XPG SX6000 M.2 PCIe SSD Review
The ADATA XPG SX6000 is the latest in the company's line of M.2 PCIe SSDs. The drive is touted as being a better performer at the same costs, or offering a better cost-performance ratio. The drive comes in a M.2 (2280) form factor and leverages PCIe3x2 interface (NVMe 1.2 supported). The drive utilizes 3D NAND that gives it quoted speeds of 1GB/s read and 800MB/s write.
July 1st, 2019 by Adam Armstrong
Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB Review
Released earlier this year, the Samsung 970 EVO Plus line is the latest NVMe SSD portfolio from the company. The 970 EVO Plus line comes in M.2 2280 form factor and is aimed at IT professionals, pro gamers, creative professionals, and general tech enthusiasts. Not part of the initial release, Samsung has now rolled out a 2TB capacity of the drive. The new version doubles the initial 1TB capacity and brings a few performance bumps with reported speeds of 3.5GB/s read 3.3GB/s write sequentially, and random (QD32) of 620K IOPS read and 560K IOPS write, with random (QD1) of 19K IOPS read and 62K IOPS write.
June 3rd, 2019 by Lyle Smith
Seagate BarraCuda 510 NVMe SSD Review
The Seagate BarraCuda 510 is a consumer drive for users looking to leverage the NVMe interface inside their ultra-thin laptops, workstations, and desktop PCs, though it’s also available in a 2.5 SATA model. First revealed during CES 2019 in January, the BarraCuda 510 features 3D cTLC NAND and capacities up to 512GB. The new Seagate drive also comes bundled with SeaTools SSD, which is the company’s free software that tests and analyzes their drives for health monitoring.
June 2nd, 2019 by Adam Armstrong
Kingston KC2000 NVMe SSD Review
The Kingston KC2000 SSD is the company’s next generation M.2 NVMe drive that is geared toward power users. The drive leverages 96-layer, 3D TLC NAND and the latest Gen 3.0 x 4 controller to deliver quoted speeds of 3.2GB/s read and 2.2GB/s write. With the drive’s performance and endurance, Kingston states it would be a good fit for desktops, workstation, and high-performance computing systems.
April 22nd, 2019 by Adam Armstrong
Intel Optane Memory H10 Review
Announced at CES this year, Intel Optane Memory H10 is the marriage of two technologies that brings Optane performance in a higher capacity SSD, without the higher associated costs. Intel Optane flash and Intel QLC 3D NAND are combined on a single M.2 2280 form factor in a hybrid storage configuration. Optane brings the performance for end user workloads, while QLC brings affordable capacity.
April 11th, 2019 by Marshall Gunnell
WD Blue SN500 NVMe SSD Review
The WD Blue SN500 NVMe SSD, announced mid-March, is the first SSD in the WD Blue family that utilizes NVMe technology, whereas the previous WD Blue models used SATA technology. The WD Blue SN500 is an M.2 form factor, consumer-focused, entry point NVMe SSD, ideal for those looking to gain a performance boost by upgrading from their HDD or older SATA SSD.
February 15th, 2019 by Adam Armstrong
WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD Review
Earlier this year, Western Digital announced the second generation in its WD Black line of enthusiasts SSD, the WD SN750 NVMe. The SN750 is an M.2 2280 SSD with the option of a heatsink for longer peak performance, though it will take up more space. The drive is quoted of hitting speeds in the upward of 3.47GB/s read, 3GB/s write with throughput of 515K IOPS read and 560K IOPS write.
January 22nd, 2019 by Marshall Gunnell
Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB Review
Announced today, the 970 EVO Plus is Samsung’s latest enhancement to its NVMe SSD portfolio. Succeeding the 970 EVO, the 970 EVO Plus comes in an M.2 2280 form factor and, as with its predecessor, is ideal for IT professionals, pro gamers, creative professionals, and general tech enthusiasts, providing reliability and handling intensive workloads on PCs and workstations.
November 27th, 2018 by Adam Armstrong
Samsung 860 QVO SSD Review
Today Samsung released its own take of quad-level cell (QLC) NAND with the 860 QVO SSD. Samsung continues to do its own thing, even with naming conventions, and refers to the technology as 4-bit. The 860 QVO is aimed at maintaining Samsung’s 3-bit performance while lower the costs and thus creating a more efficient and cost-effective product.