Best SSDs 2022: Top SATA and NVMe Drives

The FireCuda 530 delivers on everything an SSD should with stellar performance, incredible lifespan and effective thermal management if you use a heatsink.

There’s even a special warranty with three years of data recovery should the drive fail – something that’s normally reserved for enterprise-class devices.

It’s a great choice for PC and console owners who want the best-in-class PCIe 4.0 drive. You just might struggle to afford one, especially at the 4TB capacity.

There’s very little to dislike about the MP600 Pro LPX as long as you avoid the slower speeds of the smallest 500GB capacity.

It comes with a heatsink and unlike the MP600 Pro fits into the PS5. The performance is actually beyond what Sony’s console can take advantage of but the price is cheaper than the FireCuda 530 so it doesn’t really matter.

For PC users, firmware enhancements and hardware encryption make the LPX all the more tempting.

Kingston’s latest effort is another good option – alongside Seagate and Corsair – for those wanting a Gen 4 drive in a PC or PS5.

The KC3000 offers excellent performance in a range of challenging use cases and the heat spreader is thin enough to ensure it fits neatly into Sony’s next-gen console.

There are only minor points putting it behind the competition such as price, the lack of hardware encryption and a small power consumption issue.

Still, if you see it on offer somewhere it will make for a decent drive.

We’re blown away by the MP510 which is a drive that offers everything you could want from an SSD. It combines performance, endurance, capacity and price. 

PCI bus connected NVMe cards are historically be expensive and lower capacity, but not anymore. The newer and faster PCIe 4.0 is available elsewhere, but this is still a solid choice for a lot of users out there.

You can even get it in 4TB but the price is high enough that you should consider the jump to PCIe 4.0.

WD has done a great job of designing an SSD that strips functionality back to the bare minimum to make it cheap enough for most PC owners to consider as an affordable upgrade.

This doesn’t provide ultimate speed or hardware encryption then but it’s still substantially quicker than any SATA drive. We’d like a 2TB model and you’re better off getting the larger capacities but the Blue SN550 comes highly recommended from us.

It’s the fuss-free way to upgrade to NVMe if you’re on a budget.

Using PCIe 4.0 technology, the Samsung 980 Pro is super fast offering double the speeds of PCIe 3.0 drives.

While the 980 Pro will work in older PCIe 3.0 slots, you won’t be getting the full speed so upgrading your motherboard might be necessary. And on that front, you’ll currently need an AMD Ryzen processor in a B550 or X570 chipset slot.

As you might expect for a new standard, the price per GB is high so upgrading is costly. Especially if you go for higher capacities, which in this case, is advisable as Samsung doesn’t offer consistent specs across the range.

It’s not the most affordable PCIe 4.0 drive but it’s easy to see why the SN850X is a successful successor to the SN850.

The drive now comes in up to 4TB and there’s a clear boost in performance with 7,300MB/s read speeds with write speeds not far behind. It’s compatible with PC and PS5 but there are some caveats.

Although the drive has a stylish heatsink, this is not available on the 4TB option making it a no go for PlayStation 5 owners who want that much space. You’ll also want to avoid paying the full RRP and not that hardware encryption remains awol.

Although there’s no 4TB option and the 250GB model doesn’t represent good value, the other SN770 capacities make for a solid option for those wanting a cheap Gen 4 NVMe.

It’s very affordable and it offers decent performance overall making it a great option for a daily workhorse if you want to spend money elsewhere on your build.

There’s no heatsink option making it a no-go for PS5 users and there’s no hardware encryption either. Still, the SN770 offers good bang for your buck if you don’t have these kinds of tick boxes.

The 970 Evo Plus is an unusual addition to Samsung’s SSD range, but a welcome one nevertheless.

It’s an even better version of the 970 Evo at around the same price so it’s really a no-brainer on that front. If it’s NVMe performance you want this Plus model is astounding.

However, the Corsair MP510 and Kingston KC2500 are cheaper making them better value if you don’t need the fastest performance at PCIe 3.0.

It might look like a video card without fans but WD has come up with a clever solution for those wanting NVMe performance but are lacking the M.2 slot normally required.

Not only that, but it offers better than PCIe 3.0 x4 performance, although you’ll need to be careful about where you plug it in due to PCI lane issues (read the review to find out more). Since there are two cards inside, you also benefit from RAID 0 striping.

The downside is you can’t switch to RAID 1 and there’s no encryption. It’s also expensive but could be cheaper than upgrading your motherboard to M.2.

There’s not much to get excited about here but the P3 is a solid NVMe drive from Crucial. It’s really what the P2 should have been in the first place and also, contrary to logic, replaced the P5 as well.

This is an affordable PCIe 4.0 SSD which is available in a range of capacities and offers solid performance. Just bear in mind the P3 Plus doesn’t cost much more if you want more speeds.

Still, the P3 makes for a good value option for those wanting a no-nonsense SSD for devices like laptops or a PC build you don’t want to cost the earth.

Unless you’re going to be using this drive for editing 4K video every day or need a 4TB device, the MX500 provides an almost perfect combination of performance and price.

If you can afford the bigger capacities, you get a bonus not only in cost-per-GB, but they also have a much longer lifespan, too.

This is the SATA drive to get if you can’t go down the NVMe route.

A SATA SSD is never going to beat an NVMe option but if you’re limited to the form factor for whatever reason the Kingston KC600 makes for a decent choice.

It’s comparable to the excellent Samsung 860 EVO but is available at a lower price and is just as fast.

Kingston also provides one of the best upgrade kits we’ve seen making it easier for a novice to install the drive.

The FireCuda 530 delivers on everything an SSD should with stellar performance, incredible lifespan and effective thermal management if you use a heatsink.

There’s even a special warranty with three years of data recovery should the drive fail – something that’s normally reserved for enterprise-class devices.

It’s a great choice for PC and console owners who want the best-in-class PCIe 4.0 drive. You just might struggle to afford one, especially at the 4TB capacity.

There’s very little to dislike about the MP600 Pro LPX as long as you avoid the slower speeds of the smallest 500GB capacity.

It comes with a heatsink and unlike the MP600 Pro fits into the PS5. The performance is actually beyond what Sony’s console can take advantage of but the price is cheaper than the FireCuda 530 so it doesn’t really matter.

For PC users, firmware enhancements and hardware encryption make the LPX all the more tempting.

Kingston’s latest effort is another good option – alongside Seagate and Corsair – for those wanting a Gen 4 drive in a PC or PS5.

The KC3000 offers excellent performance in a range of challenging use cases and the heat spreader is thin enough to ensure it fits neatly into Sony’s next-gen console.

There are only minor points putting it behind the competition such as price, the lack of hardware encryption and a small power consumption issue.

Still, if you see it on offer somewhere it will make for a decent drive.

We’re blown away by the MP510 which is a drive that offers everything you could want from an SSD. It combines performance, endurance, capacity and price. 

PCI bus connected NVMe cards are historically be expensive and lower capacity, but not anymore. The newer and faster PCIe 4.0 is available elsewhere, but this is still a solid choice for a lot of users out there.

You can even get it in 4TB but the price is high enough that you should consider the jump to PCIe 4.0.

WD has done a great job of designing an SSD that strips functionality back to the bare minimum to make it cheap enough for most PC owners to consider as an affordable upgrade.

This doesn’t provide ultimate speed or hardware encryption then but it’s still substantially quicker than any SATA drive. We’d like a 2TB model and you’re better off getting the larger capacities but the Blue SN550 comes highly recommended from us.

It’s the fuss-free way to upgrade to NVMe if you’re on a budget.

Using PCIe 4.0 technology, the Samsung 980 Pro is super fast offering double the speeds of PCIe 3.0 drives.

While the 980 Pro will work in older PCIe 3.0 slots, you won’t be getting the full speed so upgrading your motherboard might be necessary. And on that front, you’ll currently need an AMD Ryzen processor in a B550 or X570 chipset slot.

As you might expect for a new standard, the price per GB is high so upgrading is costly. Especially if you go for higher capacities, which in this case, is advisable as Samsung doesn’t offer consistent specs across the range.

It’s not the most affordable PCIe 4.0 drive but it’s easy to see why the SN850X is a successful successor to the SN850.

The drive now comes in up to 4TB and there’s a clear boost in performance with 7,300MB/s read speeds with write speeds not far behind. It’s compatible with PC and PS5 but there are some caveats.

Although the drive has a stylish heatsink, this is not available on the 4TB option making it a no go for PlayStation 5 owners who want that much space. You’ll also want to avoid paying the full RRP and not that hardware encryption remains awol.

Although there’s no 4TB option and the 250GB model doesn’t represent good value, the other SN770 capacities make for a solid option for those wanting a cheap Gen 4 NVMe.

It’s very affordable and it offers decent performance overall making it a great option for a daily workhorse if you want to spend money elsewhere on your build.

There’s no heatsink option making it a no-go for PS5 users and there’s no hardware encryption either. Still, the SN770 offers good bang for your buck if you don’t have these kinds of tick boxes.

The 970 Evo Plus is an unusual addition to Samsung’s SSD range, but a welcome one nevertheless.

It’s an even better version of the 970 Evo at around the same price so it’s really a no-brainer on that front. If it’s NVMe performance you want this Plus model is astounding.

However, the Corsair MP510 and Kingston KC2500 are cheaper making them better value if you don’t need the fastest performance at PCIe 3.0.

It might look like a video card without fans but WD has come up with a clever solution for those wanting NVMe performance but are lacking the M.2 slot normally required.

Not only that, but it offers better than PCIe 3.0 x4 performance, although you’ll need to be careful about where you plug it in due to PCI lane issues (read the review to find out more). Since there are two cards inside, you also benefit from RAID 0 striping.

The downside is you can’t switch to RAID 1 and there’s no encryption. It’s also expensive but could be cheaper than upgrading your motherboard to M.2.

There’s not much to get excited about here but the P3 is a solid NVMe drive from Crucial. It’s really what the P2 should have been in the first place and also, contrary to logic, replaced the P5 as well.

This is an affordable PCIe 4.0 SSD which is available in a range of capacities and offers solid performance. Just bear in mind the P3 Plus doesn’t cost much more if you want more speeds.

Still, the P3 makes for a good value option for those wanting a no-nonsense SSD for devices like laptops or a PC build you don’t want to cost the earth.

Unless you’re going to be using this drive for editing 4K video every day or need a 4TB device, the MX500 provides an almost perfect combination of performance and price.

If you can afford the bigger capacities, you get a bonus not only in cost-per-GB, but they also have a much longer lifespan, too.

This is the SATA drive to get if you can’t go down the NVMe route.

A SATA SSD is never going to beat an NVMe option but if you’re limited to the form factor for whatever reason the Kingston KC600 makes for a decent choice.

It’s comparable to the excellent Samsung 860 EVO but is available at a lower price and is just as fast.

Kingston also provides one of the best upgrade kits we’ve seen making it easier for a novice to install the drive.