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When you’re looking for the best laptop for you, whether you’re looking for the best gaming laptop, the best laptop to replace a desktop, or anything else, storage capacity can take the backseat as a concern over more important characteristics like CPU, GPU, RAM, and display. However, you might still want to upgrade your laptop’s storage solution, be it for speed, capacity, or reliability.
Luckily, we’ve done the research and found all the top drives for all kinds of laptops.
Corsair MP600 Pro NH
Editor’s choice
Great speeds for great prices
$83 $85 Save $2
This PCIe 4.0 SSD from Corsair comes in several different capacities, including 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB, while it also supports read speeds up to 7000MB/sec and write speeds up to 6500MB/sec. Most of all, this SSD won’t break the bank, offering up a sweet spot of value.
Pros
- Affordable
- Up to 7000MB/sec read + 6500MB/sec write
- PCIe 4.0
Cons
- Beaten in speed by more premium options
If you’re looking for a fantastic all-around SSD upgrade for your laptop, put Corsair’s MP600 Pro on your radar. This drive features a large variety of capacities, including 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB options, and it sports some blazing fast PCIe 4.0 speeds with up to 7000MB/sec read and 6500MB/sec write. Perhaps most importantly, though, this drive won’t cost you as much as the most expensive SSDs, especially if you find one on sale.
It’s also worth noting that in our review of the MP600, even though this drive is rated for 7000MB/sec read and 6500MB/sec write, we were able to see up to 7400MB/sec read and 7100MB/sec write, making it an even faster drive than originally thought. Now, you may not see these kinds of speeds in a random workload, but the fact that, in benchmarks, this drive was able to compete with PCIe 5.0 drives is undoubtedly impressive.
In short, the MP600 Pro is an extremely versatile drive. If you’re looking for serious speed, it has it. If you want a wide range of capacities, it has it. If you want something that you could reasonably afford on a budget, you can. Considering its impressive all-around set of features and features, the MP600 Pro is a good pick of SSD for just about anyone, making it our overall top choice of SSD.
Samsung 990 Pro
Premium pick
A truly premium drive
$100 $220 Save $120
The 990 Pro SSD from Samsung comes in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities, features read speeds up 7450MB/sec and write speeds up to 6900MB/sec, and it has some of the best reliability out there when it comes to drives. It’s on the expensive side, but it’s an excellent SSD.
Pros
- Blazing fast
- Historic Samsung reliability
- Up to 4TB capacity
If you’re looking for a premium SSD for your laptop, Samsung’s 990 Pro is an excellent choice. This drive comes in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities, features read speeds up to 7450MB/sec and write speeds up to 6900MB/sec, can be kitted out with a heatsink for an extra fee, and most importantly has Samsung’s now-trademark reliability when it comes to drives. It’s on the pricier end of SSDs, sure, but there’s little to be disappointed by here.
In our review of the 990 Pro, we called this drive ‘the pinnacle of Gen 4 SSD performance’, which was a great choice for folks who were transferring large files often or simply wanted one of the best-performing SSDs out there. In short, the 990 Pro is a premium drive that has some seriously premium performance. It will run you a bit more than a drive like the MP600 Pro above, but it’s not a huge price differential, and the 990 Pro is definitely worth the money.
WD Blue SN580 Gen 4 SSD
Best value
Save some cash on a reliable SSD
$60 $65 Save $5
Western Digital’s SN580 SSD features read speeds up to 4000MB/sec and write speeds up to 2000MB/sec, comes in a variety of capacities as low as 250GB for just $30, and supports the PCIe Gen 4 spec. It’s not the fastest drive out there, but it’s an affordable, reliable option.
Pros
- Good variety of capacities
- Affordable
- Reliable
Cons
- Much faster speeds out there
If you’re looking to save money but don’t want to buy from a brand you’ve never heard of before, the WD Blue SN580 is worth checking out. This SSD packs in write speeds up to 4000MB/sec and read speeds up to 2000MB/sec, a good selection of capacities that go down to 250GB for very cheap, and supports PCIe 4.0. Plus, Western Digital drives are historically reliable with low failure rates, too, meaning you won’t have to worry much.
It’s true that the speeds on the SN580 don’t compete with heavyweights like the MP600 Pro or the 990 Pro, but as a budget option, it’s tough to beat. You can grab a 250GB SN580 for just $35 (or even less on sale) and a meaty 2TB for $100 at the time of writing, which will save you a decent chunk of change over more premium drives. If you’re looking for budget M.2 storage and don’t need the fastest speeds, the SN580 is a great pick.
Samsung 870 EVO SSD
Best SATA SSD
Great for older laptops
$80 $120 Save $40
If you’re looking for a SATA SSD, Samsung’s 870 EVO is one of the best out there. This drive features 560MB/sec read and 530MB/sec write speeds, up to a 2TB capacity, and is the perfect drive for upgrading an older laptop that doesn’t rely on an M.2 drive.
Pros
- Samsung reliability
- Great for older laptops
- Solid SATA speeds
Cons
- Not as performant as M.2s
- Older format
If you’ve got an older laptop without an M.2 slot that instead relies on SATA drives, Samsung’s 870 EVO may be the drive for you. This SSD features write speeds up to 560MB/sec and read speeds up to 530MB/sec, capacities up to 2TB, and with Samsung’s history of producing reliable drives, you won’t have to worry much about possible failure or overall reliability.
While this drive is an excellent choice for replacing an older laptop’s SSD, it’s also quite versatile. When you upgrade to a new laptop, this drive is a great candidate for slotting into an enclosure and becoming an external storage SSD, too. At about the limit of what SATA is capable of speed-wise, you can’t really do much better with this interface, so whether you’re running an OS or simply storing your files, the EVO is a great pick for SATA drive.
Crucial T700 NVMe SSD
Best PCIe 5.0
The latest and greatest in drives
$160 $200 Save $40
Crucial’s T700 PCIe Gen 5 NVMe drive is one of the fastest out there. With read speeds up to 11700MB/sec and write speeds up to 9500MB/sec on the 1TB model, suffice it to say that this drive is blazing fast. If you’re ready for the PCIe 5.0 era of SSDs, this is a great choice.
Pros
- Amazing speeds
- PCIe 5.0
- Up to 4TB capacity
If you’re ready for a PCIe 5.0 drive, Crucial’s T700 should be on your list. This SSD sports read speeds up to 11700MB/sec and write speeds up to 9500MB/sec on the 1TB model (and 2400MB/s reads and 11800MB/s writes on the larger capacities), and you can get this drive in up to a meaty 4TB version, too. It’s pricey, but the speeds cannot be beat.
In our T700 review, we called this the “king of PCIe Gen5 SSDs†and thought it was the choice of SSD to buy if you’re looking for a PCIe 5.0 drive. Whether it makes sense to go for 5.0 just yet is a different question, but if you’ve decided to make the plunge, and your budget can support it, it’s hard to imagine that you’ll be disappointed by the blazing fast speeds on offer here.
Silicon Power P34A60
Best PCIe 3.0
Lots of storage for cheap
This PCIe 3.0 drive offers some serious storage for a not-so-serious price. If you aren’t too concerned about storage speeds but are on a tight budget, the P34A60 is an overall great choice, especially for more casual computing on lower-end machines. Plus, who doesn’t like a 1TB drive for around $50?
Pros
- Very affordable
- Up to 2TB capacity
- Enough speed for casual use
Cons
- Older PCIe spec
- Slower speeds
If you aren’t looking to spend money on a new drive for a machine used mostly for casual internet browsing and word processing, Silicon Power’s P34A60 is an extremely affordable option that can get the job done. This drive features read speeds up to 2200MB/sec and write speeds up to 1600MB/sec, has capacities up to 2TB, and best of all, retails for some very affordable prices that go as low as around $50 for a 1TB model.
Not every laptop is built for serious processing power, and not every laptop needs the fastest speeds imaginable, so there may be little reason to spend on a pricey, blazing-fast drive, especially if your laptop only supports up to PCIe 3.0. If that’s your situation, the P34A60 is a great way to expand your storage potential. Plus, this drive’s already cheap retail price drops even lower on sale, so make sure to keep an eye out for deals.
Samsung 870 QVO SATA III 2.5-inch SSD
Best large-capacity SATA
Tons and tons of storage
$500 $645 Save $145
If you need a SATA drive for your laptop, but you want a ton of storage, like as much as 8TB on a single drive, Samsung’s 870 QVO SSD is more than worth the money. This drive has about the fastest speeds you can get with SATA, and it also comes with Samsung’s famous reliability.
Pros
- Up to 8TB of storage
- Fast SATA speeds
- Reliable
Cons
- Expensive
- Can’t compete with modern M.2 speeds
If you need a SATA drive for your laptop but need a huge amount of storage for a movie collection (or anything else), Samsung’s 870 QVO is a great choice. This drive features read speeds up to 560MB/sec and write speeds up to 530MB/sec and up to a massive 8TB capacity. Like with other Samsung drives, you also get to enjoy Samsung’s famous reputation for reliability, so you likely won’t have to worry about failure, either.
SATA drives may not be the fastest in 2023, but with an older laptop without an M.2 slot, you don’t have much choice. For SATA drives, the 870 QVO has about the fastest speeds you can get, and for consumer-grade SSDs, 8TB is usually about as high as 2.5-inch SSDs go, too. If you can afford all that storage, though, it’ll be tough to find a better SSD that does what the 870 QVO does.
Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 4TB SSD
Best large-capacity M.2
Lots of M.2 storage, but not for cheap
$450 $1000 Save $550
If you’re looking for a modern M.2 drive with capacities up to a massive 8TB, the Rocket 4 Plus is your drive. This SSD features write speeds up to 3500MB/sec and read speeds up to 7000MB/sec, while it comes in a variety of capacities as well as with options for heatsinks.
Pros
- Large capacity
- Great PCIe Gen 4 speeds
- Option for heatsink
If your laptop supports the more modern PCIe Gen 4 spec for storage, and you want a huge storage capacity drive, the Rocket 4 Plus gets that job done. This drive features some impressive Gen 4 speeds with reads up to 3500MB/sec and writes up to 7000MB/sec, as well as a variety of capacities that include 4TB and 8TB options. You will be paying a premium for the high end of capacity, but you are getting a lot for the money.
The Rocket 4 Plus isn’t the very fastest Gen 4 SSD, but it’s close to it, and that upper-end 8TB model isn’t something that every Gen 4 SSD has options for. Plus, you also get some goodies like a copy of Acronis True Image and an optional heatsink. The 8TB will cost you around $1000, which is a lot, but if you’ve only got one M.2 slot, and you need many terabytes of storage, the Rocket 4 Plus is an excellent answer to that problem.
Best SSDs for laptops: Bottom line
Overall, what SSD you go with will depend on what you need, like which PCIe spec you’re working with, how fast you need your storage to be, and how much storage you’re looking to get. However, there are definitely some drives that are easier to recommend.
Our top recommendation is the Corsair MP600 Pro. This PCIe 4.0 drive features some very impressive speeds, up to 7400MB/sec read and 7100MB/write we found in our review, and a huge variety of different capacities. Plus, this drive doesn’t cost as much as the most expensive drives out there, either. All around, its blend of value and performance is hard to beat, making it a great choice for any laptop that supports PCIe 4.0.
Corsair MP600 Pro NH
Editor’s choice
$83 $85 Save $2
This PCIe 4.0 SSD from Corsair comes in several different capacities, including 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB, while it also supports read speeds up to 7000MB/sec and write speeds up to 6500MB/sec. Most of all, this SSD won’t break the bank, offering up a sweet spot of value.
** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **
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