Supercheap SSDs

While high-end SSDs still command top-shelf prices, there’s plenty of lower-priced options. Josh Collins tests 12.

Something that the age of solidstate has made abundantly clear is that the hardware you use for storing data plays a key role in a PC’s overall system performance. The storage medium can have a profound impact on system responsiveness and the user experience. Simply switching your OS drive from a comparatively slow mechanical hard disk drive (HDD) — be it 5,400rpm, 7,200rpm or even 10,000rpm — to a solid-state drive (SSD) can make a huge, positive difference to how you work or play.

The immediate positives to be taken from swapping out an HDD for a SSD include significantly improved read and write speeds, smaller and lighter drive footprints, drastically improved shock resistance and, for mobile device users, increased battery life due to reduced power consumption in both idle and active states.

When first launched a decade ago, SSDs demanded a high premium for the luxury of the above mentioned attributes. However, over the years, development in SSD technologies and the associated manufacturing techniques have helped put downward pressure on pricing. This has forced cost per gigabyte values to not just dip below the $1/GB mark, but many drives in the entry-level market are nearing the $0.50/GB.

This month, we’ve collected a range of affordable SSDs to test to help you narrow down which ones best suit your needs... and budget.