Best SSDs: Q3 2019

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Best SSDs: Q3 2019

A solid state drive is often the most important component for making a PC feel fast and responsive; any PC still using a mechanical hard drive as its primary storage is long overdue for an upgrade. The SSD market is broader than ever, with a wide range prices, performance and form factors.

In the six months since the last edition of this guide, not much has changed in the retail SSD market. The constant price drops that kept the SSD market exciting through most of 2018 are over and prices have generally stabilized. Entry-level NVMe SSDs no longer carry a premium over SATA SSDs, and for most consumers a NVMe SSD should now be the default choice over SATA. Products using 64-layer 3D TLC still outnumber newer products using 9x-layer 3D TLC, and the newer drives are for the most part more expensive without offering much tangible improvement in performance, power efficiency or reliability.

Above are some recommendations of good deals in each market segment. Some of these aren't the cheapest option in their segment and instead are quality products worth paying a little extra for.

The next table is a rough summary of what constitutes a good deal on a current model in today's market. Sales that don't beat these prices are only worth a second glance if the drive is nicer than average for its product segment.

As always, the prices shown are merely a snapshot at the time of writing. We make no attempt to predict when or where the best discounts will be. Instead, this guide should be treated as a baseline against which deals can be compared. Most of the drives recommended here are models we have tested in at least one capacity or form factor, but in many cases we have not tested every capacity and form factor, or have tested just one of the several brands selling the same turnkey solution. For older drives not mentioned in this guide, our SSD Bench database can provide performance information and comparisons.
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