Four years ago I wrote a story proclaiming I’d never buy a hard drive again, and every year since, that promise has gotten easier to maintain as flash-based storage just keeps getting cheaper. If I didn’t already have several 2TB SSDs (yes, I have a storage problem), I’d be sorely tempted to pick up one of the 4TB options below, most at their lowest prices ever.
Crucial and TeamGroup lead the SATA affordability pack, with the 4TB MX 500 for just $269 (opens in new tab) and a two-pack of 2TB AX2 SATA SSDs for an incredible $185 (opens in new tab). Don’t expect extreme speed from either of these drives—especially the entry-level AX2s. But if you need lots of space to store your games or media, it’s hard to complain about paying less than a nickel per gigabyte. And the endurance on both options is quite good, with the Crucial drive rated to 1,000TBW, and the TeamGroup drives promising 1,600TBW per drive.
If you prefer WD and/or the color blue, B&H has the mid-range 4TB WD Blue SATA SSD on sale for $289 (opens in new tab), also an all-time low. Looking for something at the top of the SATA drive stack? Samsung’s 4TB 870 Evo is also down to its lowest price ever, at just $299 (opens in new tab). This drive tops our Best SSD list for a consumer SATA drive for its class-leading performance, 256-bit AES encryption and long 5-year warranty.
Stepping up in speed and down in physical dimensions is TeamGroup’s 4TB MP34 M.2 PCIe 3.0 SSD for $329 (opens in new tab), or about $30 less than it’s ever been. With 3,500/2,900 MB/s rated sequential reads and writes, it would do quite well as a cavernous boot drive or fast secondary storage. It’s also rated to an astounding 2,400TBW of endurance and comes with a 5-year warranty.
Last up, and fastest of this SSD deals pack – although no leader in its PCIe 4.0 class – is Crucial’s P3 Plus M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD, at $299 (opens in new tab). Rated at 4,800 MB/s sequential reads and 4,100 sequential writes, it’s at the low end of the speed PCIe 4.0 spectrum, but still faster than PCIe 3.0 drives. And it comes with a nice 5-year warranty. This drive would make a good boot drive in a new mid-range build, or a great secondary storage drive in a high-end build with a much faster PCIe 4.0 drive, like the Samsung 990 Pro.
