Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
Best M.2 SSD for Most Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 4.0)
Crucial P5 Plus
Pros & Cons
Superb PCMark 10 overall and program-loading scores
Good SSD management software suite
256-bit AES hardware-based full-disk encryption
Five-year warranty
Slow Crystal DiskMark 4K write speeds
Specs & Configurations
Internal or External
Internal
Internal Form Factor
M.2 Type-2280
Interface (Computer Side)
M.2 Type-2280
Capacity (Tested)
1 TB
NAND Type
TLC
Controller Maker
Micron
Bus Type
PCI Express 4.0
Rated Maximum Sequential Read
6600 MBps
Rated Maximum Sequential Write
5000 MBps
Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating
600 TBW
Warranty Length
5 years
Bottom Line
The PCIe 4.0-compatible Crucial P5 Plus posts excellent program-loading times in our testing and offers a solid software package and warranty.
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Crucial P5 Plus Review
Best Premium M.2 SSD for Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 4.0)
ADATA XPG Gammix S70 Blade
Pros & Cons
Blazing sequential read and write speeds
Good to excellent scores in nearly all our standard tests
Exceeds Sony’s PS5 compatibility requirements
256-bit AES hardware-based encryption
Includes ADATA’s SSD Toolbox software suite
Competitively priced
Modest AS-SSD copy speed (folder-to-folder) scores
Specs & Configurations
Internal or External
Internal
Internal Form Factor
M.2 Type-2280
Interface (Computer Side)
M.2 Type-2280
Capacity (Tested)
2 TB
NAND Type
TLC
Controller Maker
InnoGrit
Bus Type
PCI Express 4.0
Rated Maximum Sequential Read
7400 MBps
Rated Maximum Sequential Write
6800 MBps
Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating
1480 TBW
Warranty Length
5 years
Bottom Line
Sizzling fast yet thin enough (even with its heatsink on) to fit a laptop or PlayStation 5, ADATA’s XPG Gammix S70 Blade is a killer internal SSD for gaming.
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ADATA XPG Gammix S70 Blade Review
Best Budget M.2 SSD for Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 4.0)
Samsung SSD 990 EVO
Pros & Cons
Supports AES 256-bit full-disk hardware encryption
TCG/Opal V2.0 security compliant
Heat-spreader label minimizes throttling
Five-year warranty
Tested sequential write speed well short of rating
Specs & Configurations
Internal or External
Internal
Internal Form Factor
M.2 Type-2280
Interface (Computer Side)
M.2 Type-2280
Capacity (Tested)
2 TB
NAND Type
TLC
Controller Maker
Samsung
Bus Type
PCI Express 4.0
Rated Maximum Sequential Read
5000 MBps
Rated Maximum Sequential Write
4200 MBps
Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating
1200 TBW
Warranty Length
5 years
Bottom Line
The SSD 990 EVO is an excellent-value mainstream M.2 internal SSD, with whizzy performance and the class-leading warranty, software, and security that you’d expect from Samsung.
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Samsung SSD 990 EVO Review
Best M.2 SSD for Most Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 3.0)
Crucial P3
Pros & Cons
Available in capacities up to 4TB
Low cost per gigabyte for all models
Includes link for Acronis True Image cloning software
Good benchmark results for a PCI Express 3.0 drive
Relatively low write-durability (TBW) ratings
Lacks 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption
Specs & Configurations
Internal or External
Internal
Internal Form Factor
M.2 Type-2280
Interface (Computer Side)
M.2 Type-2280
Capacity (Tested)
2 TB
NAND Type
QLC
Controller Maker
Phison
Bus Type
PCI Express 3.0 x4
Rated Maximum Sequential Read
3500 MBps
Rated Maximum Sequential Write
3000 MBps
Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating
440 TBW
Warranty Length
5 years
Bottom Line
The Crucial P3 provides good performance in a PCI Express 3.0 NVMe SSD. Its QLC NAND flash memory keeps the P3’s price down while allowing capacities up to 4TB. It’s a spot-on pick for upgrading older PCs that don’t support PCIe 4.0.
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Crucial P3 Review
Best Budget M.2 SSD for Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 3.0)
Addlink S70
Pros & Cons
Great value.
Fast sequential speeds.
High durability rating.
Five-year warranty.
4K speeds proved lacking in our tests.
No software management tools.
Specs & Configurations
Internal or External
Internal
Internal Form Factor
M.2 Type-2280
Interface (Computer Side)
M.2 Type-2280
Capacity (Tested)
1 TB
NAND Type
TLC
Controller Maker
Phison
Bus Type
PCI Express 3.0 x4
Rated Maximum Sequential Read
3400 MBps
Rated Maximum Sequential Write
3000 MBps
Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating
1200 TBW
Warranty Length
5 years
Bottom Line
If you’re on a budget but still want blisteringly quick sequential read and write speeds from your new SSD, look no further than what the new Addlink S70 has to offer.
Learn More
Addlink S70 Review
Best M.2 SSD for Upgrading a Gaming Laptop
WD Black SN850X
Pros & Cons
Capacities up to 4TB
Available with or without heatsink
Exceeded both its sequential read and write speed ratings
Aced PCMark and 3DMark storage tests
Lacks 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption
Specs & Configurations
Internal or External
Internal
Internal Form Factor
M.2 Type-2280
Interface (Computer Side)
M.2 Type-2280
Capacity (Tested)
2 TB
NAND Type
TLC
Controller Maker
SanDisk
Bus Type
PCI Express 4.0
Rated Maximum Sequential Read
7300 MBps
Rated Maximum Sequential Write
6600 MBps
Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating
1200 TBW
Warranty Length
5 years
Bottom Line
The WD Black SN850X takes the company’s flagship PCIe 4.0 gaming SSD and makes it even better, offering higher capacity and improved test results (including a new PC Labs record in the 3DMark Storage benchmark). About all it lacks is hardware-based security.
Learn More
WD Black SN850X Review
Best SATA SSD for Everyday Laptop Upgrades
Samsung SSD 870 EVO
Pros & Cons
Record-setting 4K results for SATA drives
Strong write-durability rating
Samsung Magician is the gold standard of SSD management software
SATA drives still have a lower ceiling than PCI Express for large file transfers
Specs & Configurations
Internal or External
Internal
Internal Form Factor
2.5-Inch
Interface (Computer Side)
SATA
Capacity (Tested)
4 TB
NAND Type
TLC
Controller Maker
Samsung
Bus Type
Serial ATA
Rated Maximum Sequential Read
560 MBps
Rated Maximum Sequential Write
530 MBps
Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating
2400 TBW
Warranty Length
5 years
Bottom Line
The Samsung SSD 870 EVO offers the peak of Serial ATA SSD performance, and moves so fast in 4K random read and write operations you’d almost be forgiven for confusing it with PCI Express 3.0.
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Samsung SSD 870 EVO Review
Best SATA SSD for Peak Capacity in a Laptop Upgrade
Samsung SSD 870 QVO
Pros & Cons
Excellent price-to-performance ratio for a SATA-based SSD
Very fast 4K read and write speeds
Feature-rich Magician management software
8TB version coming soon
Warranty is only three years
QLC’s modest durability ratings make it less suited to heavy write duty
Specs & Configurations
Internal or External
Internal
Internal Form Factor
2.5-Inch
Interface (Computer Side)
SATA
Capacity (Tested)
2 TB
NAND Type
QLC
Controller Maker
Samsung
Bus Type
Serial ATA
Rated Maximum Sequential Read
560 MBps
Rated Maximum Sequential Write
530 MBps
Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating
720 TBW
Warranty Length
3 years
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for one of the best 2.5-inch SATA SSDs in terms of value and performance for the money, search no further than Samsung’s SSD 870 QVO, a stellar followup to its first QLC-based outing.
Learn More
Samsung SSD 870 QVO Review
Best M.2 SSD for Peak Capacity in a Laptop Upgrade
Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus
Pros & Cons
Huge capacity options (up to 8TB)
In testing, matched Sabrent’s rated sequential write speed
Zippy at copying large ISO files
Includes Acronis True Image software
High cost per gig at 4TB and 8TB capacities
Somewhat sluggish in PCMark and 3DMark tests
Must register drive to boost warranty from two to five years
Specs & Configurations
Internal or External
Internal
Internal Form Factor
M.2 Type-2280
Interface (Computer Side)
M.2 Type-2280
Capacity (Tested)
8 TB
NAND Type
TLC
Controller Maker
Phison
Bus Type
PCI Express 4.0
Rated Maximum Sequential Read
7000 MBps
Rated Maximum Sequential Write
6000 MBps
Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating
5600 TBW
Warranty Length
2 years
Bottom Line
Sabrent’s Rocket 4 Plus is a durable internal PCI Express 4.0 SSD tested at its gigantic 8TB top capacity. It costs a premium, and proved slightly sluggish in our testing, but it’ll let you max out an M.2 slot.
Learn More
Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus Review
Buying Guide: The Best SSDs for Upgrading Your Laptop in 2024
The Basics: Understanding Laptop SSD Upgrades”SSDs: Okay, where can I get one?” might be your first question. You’ll need to do some homework to see if your laptop can accept an SSD upgrade in the first place. If it’s just a few years old, it might be able to. Really old models might not have BIOS support for SSDs at all, but a laptop that elderly probably isn’t worth upgrading to start with. What you need to know is the kind of drive that’s inside the laptop now and whether you can get at it easily for a swap.Some mainstream laptops will afford you access to the hard drive through a bottom hatch, a slide-out bay along the edge, or failing that, by removing the whole bottom panel or perhaps the keyboard. First, flip over your laptop and check for a hatch on the underside secured by a small screw or two. If the hatch happens to say “HDD” or something similar, so much the better.The best places to get the skinny on drive access, if you can’t find an obvious access hatch yourself from the laptop’s outside, are the laptop maker’s tech-support site, online forums, YouTube, and documents maintained online by the maker. Laptops vary wildly in how easy or hard it is to access the main hard drive. So doing your homework before buying—or doing anything else, for that matter—is key. Don’t pry at the laptop’s bits at random.Alas, the trend with many manufacturers in recent years has been to make it either difficult or impossible to access the parts inside the laptop on your own. The chassis might use proprietary or uncommon screws that have no civilian screwdriver equivalent, or the back might be sealed to the front in such a way that the only way inside is with a specialized process or tool only the manufacturer’s repair team is privy to.
(Credit: Zlata Ivleva)
In this same vein, the other recent issue with laptop storage upgrades: As more and more machines move toward thin, light profiles, so do the drives themselves. To accommodate the demand for thinner machines, manufacturers have moved almost fully away from 2.5-inch SSDs, which are the same size as the hard drives they replace. Instead, what you may find inside will be an M.2 solid-state drive, which is a tiny sliver of a drive shaped like a stick of gum. In most cases, an M.2 drive will use the PCI Express bus and employ a speed-up technique called NVMe; otherwise, it will use the conventional Serial ATA (SATA) bus. While M.2 drives are great as space conservers, it can be trickier to figure out how to replace them. Also, in some cases, the laptop will have neither a 2.5-inch drive nor an M.2 drive: The SSD will be soldered to the motherboard itself. In that case, sorry, no internal upgrade for you! (Consolation: Check out our guide to the best external SSDs.) Again, we should stress that nowadays even looking in the direction of your laptop with a screwdriver in our hand might mean voiding your warranty. So make sure you read the details of your warranty coverage (if it’s still in force) before undertaking this process.Identifying the Kind of SSD You NeedThe key thing to know from the outset is the specific kind of drive your laptop has inside. For an upgrade to be worthwhile, you’ll be moving (1) from a platter-based, 2.5-inch hard drive to a 2.5-inch SSD, (2) from a hard drive to a higher-capacity hard drive or SSD, or (3) from a cramped SSD to a roomier one.If the system has a hard drive inside that needs to be upgraded, it will be a 2.5-inch “laptop-style” hard drive using a Serial ATA (SATA) interface and running over the SATA bus. (To learn more about all the terms you need to know in the world of mobile storage, check out our SSD dejargonizer.) This type of drive is easy to swap out in favor of a 2.5-inch SATA-based SSD, assuming you can get physical access to the drive. Many of the SSDs available to consumers are 2.5-inch drives, with the SSD enclosed in a shell the size and shape of a laptop hard drive. There is also the possibility that the laptop already has an SSD inside in the 2.5-inch drive form factor, the same size and shape as a platter drive. You can simply swap that out for another (presumably roomier) one.
(Credit: Zlata Ivleva)
Another possibility, especially in a thin, late-model laptop: It may already have an SSD inside in one of two alternative form factors: mSATA or M.2. These days, manufacturers use only M.2 in new laptops; some laptop models from years back made use of the now-defunct mSATA. Both, though, implement the SSD as a wafer-thin, bare circuit board. (To tell them apart: Most mSATA SSDs measure 31mm wide by 50mm long; M.2 drives are skinnier at 22mm wide.) They can save a lot of space inside a laptop, but obviously, you can’t swap a much bigger 2.5-inch drive into their place.
(Credit: Zlata Ivleva)
An mSATA SSD can only be swapped for another mSATA SSD, but it signals an old laptop. If what you have is an M.2 boot drive, it’s only worthwhile upgrading that M.2 SSD for another of a greater capacity. (See our roundup of the best M.2 solid-state drives for more on M.2 and the rising variety of these drives.) Bear in mind that M.2 “gumstick”-style SSDs all look similar, but they can use either PCI Express or SATA as their bus interface. Your laptop likely supports only one bus type or the other on the M.2 slot, so make sure you know which you need and what you’re getting.Most older laptops with an accessible PCI Express bus interface use PCI Express (aka PCIe) 3.0. Manufacturers have been introducing M.2 SSDs that support a more recent and faster flavor, PCI Express 4.0, and laptop makers have largely adopted them in newer models. PCI Express 4.0 drives tend to be fast and generate a lot of heat, but an M.2 stick with a hulking heatsink won’t fit in a laptop’s M.2 slot; one with a thin graphene heat spreader might. Granted, most laptops with a PCIe 4.0-capable M.2 slot will likely come with a compatible SSD already in place. (If you put a PCIe 4.0 drive in a PCIe 3.0 slot, it will default to PCI Express 3.0 speeds.) As for the latest PCI Express 5.0 SSDs, fuhgeddaboutit. Even if laptops had the hardware to support these speedsters, they would generate enough heat to require massive heatsinks that wouldn’t fit in the computer’s frame. Yes, you could run one in an M.2 slot in any recent laptop, but it would revert to PCIe 3.0 or 4.0 speeds, defeating the purpose of investing in the thing.M.2 SSDs also come in different lengths, so you don’t want to buy one that’s too long for the available space. (A shorter one might work, depending on the design.) Most M.2 drives come in what’s known as the Type-2280 form factor, which stands for the drive’s width and length: 22mm wide and 80mm long. A Type-2242 (42mm) or Type-2260 (60mm) drive might be used by a laptop maker for space savings. M.2 drives also come in varying thicknesses that will more often than not correspond to their available storage size. The more storage cells an M.2 drive needs, the more likely it is to be double-sided. Again, you need to know what type of drive you have before you buy, so we recommend looking in the manual, checking any available datasheets, or contacting support as a first resort.Speaking of drive thickness, if the laptop is more than a few years old, in many cases you’ll have a humdrum 2.5-inch hard drive in there. So you’ll want to consider a 2.5-inch drive’s profile height, too.
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Through Thick or Thin: Drive-Height ConsiderationsAlmost all recent-model 2.5-inch SATA SSDs are 7mm thick, but in years past, 9.5mm-thick drives were more common. Those measurements were not arbitrary: Older 2.5-inch hard drives meant for laptops tended to be 9.5mm thick, so early SATA SSDs’ outer cases were sized to fill those bays. Now, laptop drive bays in laptops vary in height, so thinner SSDs are necessary.
(Credit: Zlata Ivleva)
A 2.5-inch drive bay inside the laptop will be engineered to accept only one of those thicknesses. If it’s a 9.5mm-high bay, most current SSDs will have a little bit of wiggle room in the bay. That’s not a bad thing, but not ideal; you want the SSD to fit snugly, so wobble inside the bay doesn’t stress the SATA connector (and you don’t hear any unnerving rattling). You should check whether the SSD vendor bundles a spacer to keep the drive seated firmly in the bay, if you need one. Fewer and fewer SSD makers do nowadays. You could always improvise one out of (non-conductive, please!) scrap materials, but a ready-made one will fit better and feel more professional.If the 2.5-inch bay is 7mm high, then it will fit most modern SSDs snugly.Know Your SSD SoftwareSome drives will come with a license for a drive-copy or “ghosting” app such as Acronis TrueImage. This is a nice premium, but we don’t consider the inclusion or absence of such software a deal-breaker, as we’ve had good luck performing the kind of tasks involved (such as drive cloning) with free software such as EaseUS Disk Copy Home.That said, some makers are better than others in terms of drive-specific utility software. Some SSDs come with none; others, such as Samsung’s SSD EVO and Pro drives, come with sophisticated tweaking and monitoring apps, epitomized by Samsung’s Magician app.Ready to Buy the Right SSD for Your Laptop?Our top picks include SSDs for every type of laptop that’s upgradable, but there’s also the question of whether or not all this trouble is actually worth it. If you simply want to add more storage to your laptop, and the prospects of getting inside the chassis are bleak (or the SSD is soldered down), check out our roundups of the best external SSDs, as well as the best external hard drives for Mac and the best external hard drives overall. If you just want a place to keep more photos, music, or files that you don’t access all that often, one of these external solutions might suffice, with no screwdriver required.
