One of the most effective ways to improve an aging laptop is to install a new solid-state drive (SSD). Choose the right one, and you can supercharge its storage capacity and its performance. How to find the one for your needs? That’s where we come in. We've been testing storage devices since the dawn of the PC more than four decades ago using rigorous, repeatable benchmarks. We analyze and review the performance, specs, features, strengths, and weaknesses of each drive we recommend. Our current top pick for most laptop upgrades, the Crucial P5 Plus, is a PCI Express 4.0 drive that delivers excellent value. We've laid out the strengths of that and a host of other top laptop-friendly SSDs we have tested, chosen for specific upgrade scenarios. Read on to see them all, plus detailed guides and spec breakouts that illustrate how to choose the right drive for your specific laptop.
Overview
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![Crucial P5 Plus]()
Best M.2 SSD for Most Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 4.0)Crucial P5 Plus
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![Samsung SSD 990 Pro]()
Best Premium M.2 SSD for Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 4.0)Samsung SSD 990 Pro
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![Samsung SSD 990 EVO]()
Best Budget M.2 SSD for Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 4.0)Samsung SSD 990 EVO
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![Crucial P3]()
Best M.2 SSD for Most Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 3.0)Crucial P3
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![Addlink S70]()
Best Budget M.2 SSD for Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 3.0)Addlink S70
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![WD Black SN850X]()
Best M.2 SSD for Upgrading a Gaming LaptopWD Black SN850X
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![Samsung SSD 870 EVO]()
Best SATA SSD for Everyday Laptop UpgradesSamsung SSD 870 EVO
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![Samsung SSD 870 QVO]()
Best SATA SSD for Peak Capacity in a Laptop UpgradeSamsung SSD 870 QVO
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![TeamGroup MP44]()
Best M.2 SSD for Peak Capacity in a Laptop UpgradeTeamGroup MP44
You Can Trust Our Reviews
Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
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![Crucial P5 Plus]()
Best M.2 SSD for Most Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 4.0)Crucial P5 Plus
Pros & Cons
Bottom Line:
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.Specs & Configurations
Bus Type PCI Express 4.0 Capacity (Tested) 1 Controller Maker Micron Interface (Computer Side) M.2 Type-2280 Internal Form Factor M.2 Type-2280 Internal or External Internal NAND Type TLC NVMe Support Rated Maximum Sequential Read 6600 Rated Maximum Sequential Write 5000 Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating 600 Warranty Length 5 Learn More Crucial P5 Plus Review -
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![Samsung SSD 990 Pro]()
Best Premium M.2 SSD for Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 4.0)Samsung SSD 990 Pro
Pros & Cons
Bottom Line:
Bottom Line:
Samsung's SSD 990 Pro is a zippy PCI Express 4.0 internal drive that's a step up from its predecessor, offering excellent performance for creative tasks, if not necessarily for gaming.Specs & Configurations
Bus Type PCI Express 4.0 Capacity (Tested) 2 Controller Maker Samsung Interface (Computer Side) M.2 Type-2280 Internal Form Factor M.2 Type-2280 Internal or External Internal NAND Type MLC NVMe Support Rated Maximum Sequential Read 7450 Rated Maximum Sequential Write 6900 Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating 600 Warranty Length 5 Learn More Samsung SSD 990 Pro Review -
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![Samsung SSD 990 EVO]()
Best Budget M.2 SSD for Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 4.0)Samsung SSD 990 EVO
Pros & Cons
Bottom Line:
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.Specs & Configurations
Bus Type PCI Express 4.0 Capacity (Tested) 2 Controller Maker Samsung Interface (Computer Side) M.2 Type-2280 Internal Form Factor M.2 Type-2280 Internal or External Internal NAND Type TLC NVMe Support Rated Maximum Sequential Read 5000 Rated Maximum Sequential Write 4200 Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating 1200 Warranty Length 5 Learn More Samsung SSD 990 EVO Review -
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![Crucial P3]()
Best M.2 SSD for Most Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 3.0)Crucial P3
Pros & Cons
Bottom Line:
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.Specs & Configurations
Bus Type PCI Express 3.0 x4 Capacity (Tested) 2 Controller Maker Phison Interface (Computer Side) M.2 Type-2280 Internal Form Factor M.2 Type-2280 Internal or External Internal NAND Type QLC NVMe Support Rated Maximum Sequential Read 3500 Rated Maximum Sequential Write 3000 Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating 440 Warranty Length 5 Learn More Crucial P3 Review -
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![Addlink S70]()
Best Budget M.2 SSD for Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 3.0)Addlink S70
Pros & Cons
Bottom Line:
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.Specs & Configurations
Bus Type PCI Express 3.0 x4 Capacity (Tested) 1 Controller Maker Phison Interface (Computer Side) M.2 Type-2280 Internal Form Factor M.2 Type-2280 Internal or External Internal NAND Type TLC NVMe Support Rated Maximum Sequential Read 3400 Rated Maximum Sequential Write 3000 Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating 1200 Warranty Length 5 Learn More Addlink S70 Review -
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![WD Black SN850X]()
Best M.2 SSD for Upgrading a Gaming LaptopWD Black SN850X
Pros & Cons
Bottom Line:
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.Specs & Configurations
Bus Type PCI Express 4.0 Capacity (Tested) 2 Controller Maker SanDisk Interface (Computer Side) M.2 Type-2280 Internal Form Factor M.2 Type-2280 Internal or External Internal NAND Type TLC NVMe Support Rated Maximum Sequential Read 7300 Rated Maximum Sequential Write 6600 Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating 1200 Warranty Length 5 Learn More WD Black SN850X Review -
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![Samsung SSD 870 EVO]()
Best SATA SSD for Everyday Laptop UpgradesSamsung SSD 870 EVO
Pros & Cons
Bottom Line:
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.Specs & Configurations
Bus Type Serial ATA Capacity (Tested) 4 Controller Maker Samsung Interface (Computer Side) SATA Internal Form Factor 2.5-Inch Internal or External Internal NAND Type TLC Rated Maximum Sequential Read 560 Rated Maximum Sequential Write 530 Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating 2400 Warranty Length 5 Learn More Samsung SSD 870 EVO Review -
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![Samsung SSD 870 QVO]()
Best SATA SSD for Peak Capacity in a Laptop UpgradeSamsung SSD 870 QVO
Pros & Cons
Bottom Line:
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.Specs & Configurations
Bus Type Serial ATA Capacity (Tested) 2 Controller Maker Samsung Interface (Computer Side) SATA Internal Form Factor 2.5-Inch Internal or External Internal NAND Type QLC Rated Maximum Sequential Read 560 Rated Maximum Sequential Write 530 Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating 720 Warranty Length 3 Learn More Samsung SSD 870 QVO Review -
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![TeamGroup MP44]()
Best M.2 SSD for Peak Capacity in a Laptop UpgradeTeamGroup MP44
Pros & Cons
Bottom Line:
Bottom Line:
The TeamGroup MP44 internal SSD's benchmark results make it a good boot-drive candidate for a budget or mainstream PC, though its random write speeds keep it from the top of the performance pack.Specs & Configurations
Bus Type PCI Express 4.0 Capacity (Tested) 2 Controller Maker Maxio Technology Interface (Computer Side) M.2 Type-2280 Internal Form Factor M.2 Type-2280 Internal or External Internal NAND Type TLC NVMe Support Rated Maximum Sequential Read 7400 Rated Maximum Sequential Write 7000 Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating 2500 Warranty Length 5 Learn More TeamGroup MP44 Review -
Compare Specs
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Rating |
4.5 Outstanding |
4.0 Excellent |
4.0 Excellent |
4.5 Outstanding |
4.0 Excellent |
4.5 Outstanding |
4.5 Outstanding |
4.0 Excellent |
3.5 Good |
4.5 Outstanding |
4.0 Excellent |
4.0 Excellent |
Best For | Best M.2 SSD for Most Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 4.0) | Best Premium M.2 SSD for Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 4.0) | Best Budget M.2 SSD for Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 4.0) | Best M.2 SSD for Most Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 3.0) | Best Budget M.2 SSD for Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 3.0) | Best M.2 SSD for Upgrading a Gaming Laptop | Best SATA SSD for Everyday Laptop Upgrades | Best SATA SSD for Peak Capacity in a Laptop Upgrade | Best M.2 SSD for Peak Capacity in a Laptop Upgrade | Best M.2 SSD for Most Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 4.0) | Best Premium M.2 SSD for Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 4.0) | Best Budget M.2 SSD for Laptop Upgrades (PCI Express 4.0) |
Internal or External | Internal | Internal | Internal | Internal | Internal | Internal | Internal | Internal | Internal | Internal | Internal | Internal |
Internal Form Factor | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 | 2.5-Inch | 2.5-Inch | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 |
Interface (Computer Side) | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 | SATA | SATA | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 | M.2 Type-2280 |
Capacity (Tested) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
NAND Type | TLC | MLC | TLC | QLC | TLC | TLC | TLC | QLC | TLC | TLC | MLC | TLC |
Controller Maker | Micron | Samsung | Samsung | Phison | Phison | SanDisk | Samsung | Samsung | Maxio Technology | Micron | Samsung | Samsung |
Bus Type | PCI Express 4.0 | PCI Express 4.0 | PCI Express 4.0 | PCI Express 3.0 x4 | PCI Express 3.0 x4 | PCI Express 4.0 | Serial ATA | Serial ATA | PCI Express 4.0 | PCI Express 4.0 | PCI Express 4.0 | PCI Express 4.0 |
NVMe Support | ||||||||||||
Rated Maximum Sequential Read | 6600 | 7450 | 5000 | 3500 | 3400 | 7300 | 560 | 560 | 7400 | 6600 | 7450 | 5000 |
Rated Maximum Sequential Write | 5000 | 6900 | 4200 | 3000 | 3000 | 6600 | 530 | 530 | 7000 | 5000 | 6900 | 4200 |
Terabytes Written (TBW) Rating | 600 | 600 | 1200 | 440 | 1200 | 1200 | 2400 | 720 | 2500 | 600 | 600 | 1200 |
Warranty Length | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Buying Guide: The Best SSDs for Upgrading Your Laptop in 2026
The Basics: Understanding Laptop SSD Upgrades
"SSDs: OK, 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. Really, really old models might not have BIOS support for SSDs at all, but a laptop that old 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 (uncommon), a slide-out bay along the edge (very uncommon), or, failing that, by removing the whole bottom panel or perhaps the keyboard (most common). 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, such as prying—is key. Don't disassemble 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 you'll need special tools to remove, or the underside might be sealed on in such a way that the only way inside is with a specialized process or tool that only the manufacturer's repair team is privy to.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)In this same vein, the other recent issue with laptop storage upgrades: As more and more machines move toward thin, light profiles, so have the drives themselves. To accommodate the demand for thinner machines, manufacturers have moved away from 2.5-inch SSDs, which are the same size as the hard drives that once dominated inside of laptops. 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. On most recent laptops, an M.2 drive will use the PCI Express bus and employ a speed-up technique called NVMe; otherwise, it might 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 rare 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 Need
The 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 SATA hard drive to a 2.5-inch SATA SSD, (2) from a 2.5-inch SATA hard drive to a higher-capacity SATA hard drive (or a roomier 2.5-inch SSD), or (3) from a cramped SSD of one kind to a roomier one of the same kind.
If the laptop 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 kind 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: Joseph Maldonado)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: Joseph Maldonado)An mSATA SSD can only be swapped for another mSATA SSD, but the mere presence of mSATA signals an old laptop. If what you have is an M.2 boot drive, it's usually only worthwhile upgrading that M.2 SSD for another of greater capacity. (See our roundup of the best M.2 solid-state drives for more on M.2 and the perplexing 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 in the M.2 slot, so make sure you know which you need and what you're getting.
Note that it's not common, but some larger, recent-vintage workstation laptops for power users and big gaming machines can have more than one M.2 slot inside. You may be able to add a second or third M.2 SSD, as opposed to just swapping out the boot drive. That's why checking with the laptop maker matters.
Most older laptops with an accessible PCI Express M.2 slot 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 bit 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 work, but it will default to PCI Express 3.0 speeds.)
As for the latest PCI Express 5.0 SSDs, generally the word is fuhgeddaboutit. Even if typical laptops had the hardware to support these speedsters, they would generate enough heat to require thick 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.
That said, PCIe 5.0 M.2 is not entirely banned from laptops: Some cutting-edge high-end laptops do now have a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot or two, and a few PCI Express 5.0 sticks with power conservation and heat dissipation features can run in these slots. However, although these SSDs tally PCIe 5.0 throughput speeds, it remains to be seen whether they offer much performance benefit for everyday storage tasks, the graphic arts, or gaming over the best PCIe 4.0 SSDs we have tested. PCIe 4.0 is really the laptop-SSD sweet spot for M.2 drives.
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.
Through Thick or Thin: Drive-Height Considerations
Almost 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 accommodate only the 7mm size, so thinner SSDs are necessary.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)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 plastic 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 SATA 2.5-inch SSDs snugly.
Know Your SSD Software
Some 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 or OS transfer required.