The best cheap SSDs 2021: lightning-fast speeds on a budget
Once upon a time, the best cheap SSDs weren’t actually so cheap. In fact, having a solid state drive was an extravagance reserved for premium systems. Thankfully a lot has changed since then. There are plenty of reasonably priced SSDs available these days that can perform just as well as any of those expensive drives from a few years ago.
While there are still plenty of high-end solid-state drives on the market, you’ll find that some of the best cheap SSDs can match them when it comes to performance, if not in capacity. So, you’ve come to the right place if you’re looking to upgrade your storage capability, no matter if you’re a creative, gamer, or wanting to increase the data access performance on your enterprise machine.
We’ve had the opportunity to test many SSDs throughout the years and in every price range. If you’re looking for the best cheap SSDs, we’re more than able to help you find something. Not only are there plenty of options but you don’t have to compromise on performance to find something at your preferred price point. Maybe you’re looking for the latest PCIe M.2 SSD, an external SSD, or a SATA-compatible one. You’ll find something that will work for you here no matter what your storage needs are.
Capacity: 240GB/480GB/960GB | Interface: PCIe Gen 3 x4 M.2 | Warranty: 5 Years
Phenomenal performance-to-price ratio
Fast random read/write speeds
Sequential write speed lags a bit
The latest SSDs come with a PCIe M.2 interface, which are far and away faster than a standard SATA connection. These new SSDs slot directly into the motherboard, giving it the ability to read and write data extremely fast. In the case of the Adata XPG SX8200 SSD, we're talking speeds of up to 3,060 MB/s for sequential read and 1,765 MB/s for sequential write. It even boasts a random access read of 403 MB/s.
These are impressive numbers, but they are even more so once you realize that you can find the Adata XPG SX8200 SSD prices anywhere from $50 - $85 for a 256GB SSD. The price-to-performance ratio makes it hands down one of the best cheap SSDs you're going to find anywhere.
Capacity: 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB | Interface: SATA 3 | Warranty: 3-Year
Very long useful life
Inexpensive
Not the fastest SSD out there at this price
While PCIe is the next step for SSDs, not every motherboard supports those interfaces. The HP S700 Pro SSD uses the standard SATA 3 connector, so it isn't nearly as fast as the newer PCIe SSDs, but it is about as fast as you're ever going to get over a SATA cable. With a sequential read speed of 562 MB/s and a sequential write speed of 509 MB/s, the S700 Pro is still plenty fast fore most users and is still miles ahead of an HDD with spinning disks.
One of the major issues with those spinning disks, besides the sluggish speeds, is their eventual failure from wear and tear. This is where the HP S700 Pro really stands out in that its MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) is rated at 2,000,000 hours, so it'll keep your data safe for a long time to come.
Portable SSDs offer the advantage of quick data access while remaining portable enough to carry with you to work or school. Perfect for laptops with lower capacity drives, the Seagate Fast SSD is one of the best cheap SSDs to give you the added space you're looking for.
Portability comes at a cost, however, and portable SSDs aren't the fastest on the market by any stretch, but Seagate's Fast SSD lives up to its billing with a sequential read speed of 440 MB/s and sequential write of 439 MB/s according to our CrystalDiskMark tests. You're not going to get that kind of performance out of many portables out there, making the Seagate Fast SSD a top choice for the best cheap SSD for users on the go.
Essentially the same hardware as earlier, slower models
One of the best cheap SSDs we've ever tested is the WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD. The WD Black SN750 NVMe relies on nearly the same memory architecture as the earlier WD Black NVMe, managing some decent performance gains through updates to the device's firmware alone.
The 500GB model featuring a sequential read speed of 3,470 MB/s and a sequential write speed of 2,600 MB/s, all for under $100. With performance like this at this price, the WD Black SN750 NVMe is definitely one of the best cheap SSDs for the hardcore gamers out there who don't have a lot of money to spend on something other than their graphics card.
Capacity: 256GB/512GB/1TB/2TB/4TB | Interface: SATA 3 | Warranty: 5-year
Improved security and encryption
Fastest you're going to get from a SATA 3
Not much faster than the Samsung 850 Pro
When it comes to SATA SSDs, Samsung has been leading the industry for a while now. That hasn't changed, thanks to the Samsung 860 Pro SSD. An improvement over the 850 Pro, the 860 Pro has a sequential read speed of 562.9 MB/s and a sequential write speed of 532.7 MB/s, making it about as fast as anyone is ever going to get with a SATA SSD.
Better still, Samsung says the 860 Pro is able to write 4,800 TB of data without failing, meaning that if you're looking for a SATA SSD that you can count on for the long haul, the Samsung 860 Pro has you covered.
Windows 11 gains back File Explorer features that shouldn't have disappeared
As Microsoft works on the first major update to Windows 11, codenamed Sun Valley 2, there's already some improvements to the File Explorer for Windows Insider users.
As of Windows 11 Insider build 22557 and above - which allows you to sign up to features in testing that are not ready for a final release, you can have OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud service, integrated to the top right of a window, so you can see which files are synced and are being uploaded.
Alongside this, folder previews are seeing a return, so you can look at what the folder contains without having to double-click it. You can also pin files to an Explorer window, as well as folders as before, making managing your content a lot easier than before.
It's yet another example of Microsoft listening to feedback, such as drag and drop coming back to the taskbar, alongside folders to the start menu. But these features to File Explorer arguably shouldn't have disappeared in the first place, and would have avoided some unneeded irritation to users.
Analysis: Restoring features like a yo-yo isn't a great experience for users
Sometimes the little features make a big difference when you use a PC or Mac every day. Dragging and dropping to the Windows 11 taskbar is another example of a feature being in Windows 10, being absent in the launch of Windows 11, and being brought back in a forthcoming update.
Apple has introduced and removed features for a later date before, but arguably only when there's been public beta programs for major software updates. A bunch of new features to the Files app and iCloud in iOS 13 were held back and weren't seen in a final version 5 months after they debuted.
But Microsoft does this with public releases, and it's getting to the point of wondering - why?
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Folder previews and the drag and drop function of the taskbar are features that didn't need to be removed in the first place. They're the little features that help the user in their workflows, whether that's for a day job or gaming.
But on the flip side of this upcoming build, seeing OneDrive integration into the File Explorer window, alongside pinned files are new features that are going to be welcomed by plenty of users. Its functions can help highlight the files that are most important to you, and it's encouraging to see Microsoft focus on the smaller features of its existing applications.
However, if a Windows 12 does appear, one of the best efforts the company could do is to simply not remove the useful features that have no justification in doing so. Build on them, redesign them, but removing them in public releases will only irritate users.
Microsoft has uncovered loads of Windows 11 security threats – here’s what you need to do
Microsoft has revealed that it has discovered several serious security vulnerabilities in Windows 11, as well as other versions including Windows 10.
The revelations came as part of January 2022’s ‘Patch Tuesday’ – the day of the month that Microsoft releases a swathe of patches to fix issues in its software.
While many of the vulnerabilities, which don’t just affect new versions of Windows, but also older versions such as Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2019, were fixed with patches, six of the threats were highlighted as zero day threats.
While many security vulnerabilities are thankfully found and fixed before malicious users find and exploit them, zero day threats are vulnerabilities that are already out in the wild, which means they are particularly worrying.
In total, Microsoft announced the existence of 97 new exploits – which is certainly a troubling number. As a report in Forbes explains, Microsoft has limited the information about the zero day exploits to ensure it has time to address them before they are exploited. Microsoft believes that so far, there have not been any attacks using the vulnerabilities. Obviously, though, time is of the essence.
Important - CVE-2021-36976 - Libarchive Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Important - CVE-2022-21919 - Windows User Profile Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Important - CVE-2022-21836 - Windows Certificate Spoofing Vulnerability
Important - CVE-2022-21874 - Windows Security Center API Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Important - CVE-2022-21839 - Windows Event Tracing Discretionary Access Control List Denial of Service Vulnerability (limited to Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019)
Of the 97 vulnerabilities, eight are labeled as ‘critical’, with 88 labeled as ‘important’. This means they are particularly dangerous, so users should make sure they are protected against them as soon as possible.
What should you do?
Microsoft’s warning is certainly troubling, but there’s no need to panic, as long as you take some precautionary steps. While the zero day threats are in the wild, they’ve not been used and Microsoft is actively working on fixes.
Meanwhile, it has also created patches for many of the other vulnerabilities. So, the best thing you can do right now is ensure that Windows 11 (or whichever version you have installed) is updated with the latest security patches.
They should download automatically, and If that’s the case you may see a prompt in the taskbar to restart your PC. You may also notice when you go to turn off your PC that there are options to ‘Update and restart’ and ‘Update and shut down’ – make sure you pick one of those.
You should also check to make sure there are no updates waiting for you. To do this, open up Settings and go to Windows Update > Check for Updates. If any are found, download and install them.
If you have any anti-virus or anti-malware software installed, make sure they are updated as well.
Hopefully Microsoft will continue to investigate and fix these vulnerabilities ASAP.
