SATA SSDs

A SATA SSD connects over the same interface a hard drive uses, which caps it at around 550MB/s — slower than NVMe on paper.

In practice that matters far less than the numbers suggest. The transformative jump is from hard drive to any SSD; the difference between SATA and NVMe is noticeable in large file transfers and much less so in booting, launching applications and everyday use.

Where SATA is still the right purchase: older laptops and desktops with no M.2 slot, where a 2.5in SATA SSD is the single best upgrade available; adding bulk storage to a machine whose M.2 slots are full; and budget builds, where SATA is usually cheaper per gigabyte.

One point of confusion worth clearing up: a SATA SSD can come in a 2.5in case or as an M.2 stick. An M.2 SATA drive looks like an NVMe drive but is not one — check what your motherboard’s M.2 slot supports, as some accept only NVMe.

The range covers Kingston, Samsung, Team Group, Patriot, ADATA and PNY. See also NVMe SSDs.