(PCMag/Amazon, BestBuy)
Part of getting a bargain on PC storage is calculating how many gigabytes you get per dollar, but that's just the start when it comes to SSDs.
You need to answer a few key questions: Which bus type of drive do you need (SATA or PCI Express)? Is the form factor (2.5-inch or M.2) right for your laptop or desktop? And does your PC have the right stuff to deliver the speed the SSD is rated for? A deal on an SSD might look great, but it'll be a bummer in the end if you can't fit the drive or you pay for speed potential you can't squeeze from your PC.
I’ve been covering PC storage for more than three decades for various websites and tech magazines. (Remember those?) So I remember the transition from platter drives to solid state drives, or SSDs, and what a sea change that was. Whether it's your first or your tenth, an SSD is almost always worth it. So let me take you through the best Cyber Monday Deals I could find on SSDs.
Seeking an SSD Deal on Cyber Monday? Look at 3 Key Types of Drive
Our deep-dive guide to the best M.2 SSDs, updated all year around, demystifies the many facets of modern SSDs that you need to understand to buy a drive that will work as a new boot drive or added storage for your desktop or laptop. But even knowing all the lingo and nuances of SSDs gets you only part of the way to deal discernment. (Also, internal M.2 drives are just one kind of SSD.)
Scouring the pack of deals on offer from the major retailers, to that end, I’ve selected the best SSD deals I’ve seen in three main categories:
- Internal 2.5-inch SATA SSDs
- Internal M.2 PCI Express SSDs
- External SSDs
Almost all desktops and some rather aged laptops can take a 2.5-inch SATA SSD; for desktops, you merely need a SATA-III motherboard port and an open 2.5-inch bay. Those, though, are showing the least impressive deals this Cyber Monday.
Where much of the deal action is at this year is with PCI Express-bus M.2 drives, the gumstick-size drives that now dominate the SSD field. M.2 drives are broadly found in recent desktops and many laptops (those that don’t have their storage drive soldered down to the motherboard), but the nuances of bus types, NVMe speeds, and drive lengths warrant a crash course in drive lingo.
External SSDs, meanwhile, generally support a flavor of USB or, more rarely, Thunderbolt, and require less thought about compatibility so long as you have a matching interface. There, it’s more about getting the terabytes you need at a price you’re happy with.
Among our selections below, each one is a bargain in its own right and rates its own category. All you need to do is figure out which one is the best fit for the storage bind you find yourself in.
Based on our observations in 2025, it's unlikely that we'll see lots of big discounts on Serial ATA 2.5-inch SSDs anymore; these are now becoming legacy upgrades that are increasingly becoming niche items as M.2 SSDs take over. That said, this under-$200 Crucial drive is a very decent upgrade for an older laptop you're trying to rehabilitate that still uses a 2.5-inch hard drive. It's also a fine deal for a desktop PC that can take a 2.5-inch SATA drive but not an M.2. It won't be as fast as a PCI Express M.2 SSD, but it'll blow away any platter hard drive, and it's easy to install if you have an open bay for it.
Recommended by Our Editors
If you're replacing a 2.5-inch hard drive in an old laptop, an SSD like this will do it a world of good in terms of boot times and program launches. (You don't have to go all-in on 4TB, either; 1TB models are around $70 from Best Buy.) It's not especially easy to find name-brand 4TB-capacity SSDs of any kind for under $200, but this Crucial one stands out for its long-standing presence on the market (we reviewed a 480GB version of the BX500 back in 2019!), its three-year warranty, and the eye-poppingly low cost per gigabyte. This is the dictionary definition of "good value mass storage."
High capacity, high speed: This particular deal on the Samsung 9100 Pro ticks both boxes. (And it ticks the "bargain" one, too, of course.)
This 80mm-long M.2 NVMe SSD supports the PCI Express 5.0 bus, making it an excellent match for a late-model desktop or a PC build you may be planning in your latest dream-rig spreadsheet. You'll need an up-to-the-minute motherboard with specific M.2 PCI Express 5.0 support (not all recent boards have it) to leverage the full speed of this scorcher of a drive. But if you can support it, it will make you very happy, with its roomy capacity, 14,000MB-per-second peak speeds, and five-year warranty.
The deal here is on the roomy 4TB model, which we bet will serve as a superb new boot drive or as the most luxurious video scratch drive or game storage drive you'll ever own. Just a few things to know: A desktop motherboard may have multiple M.2 slots, and only some may support PCI Express 5.0. Be sure this drive will have an open slot before you buy. Also, know that few modern laptops support PCI Express 5.0 quite yet; they'll dial down to version 4.0 speeds if you install this drive. This is mostly a desktop dreamer's deal.
Crucial's a division of memory giant Micron, so this deal is a step above external drives from SSD makers who are not also memory-chip manufacturers. The sleek little X9 is a perfect fit for general-use mass storage at an aggressive price for a 2TB drive. Crucial's "Pro" version of the X9 features an aluminum case and a measure of ruggedization, whereas this non-Pro model is the more basic, plastic-cased version of the drive, meant for less rough-and-tumble use. (It still has a measure of shock- and drop-proofing, however.) It employs a basic USB-C 3.2 interface, supporting speeds of up to 1,050MB per second, and is compatible with Windows PCs, Macs, gaming consoles, and Android devices.
Check out our in-depth coverage of all the Cyber Monday deals, steals, sales, and discounts that we've found so far!
FAQs
Which Brand of SSD Is the Most Reliable?
It's impossible to pinpoint a single brand as more reliable than another; SSD makers employ a variety of grades and types of flash memory to hit specific price points. That said, the length of the drive's warranty tends to reflect a drive's rated "write life."
SSDs' memory cells have a finite lifespan in terms of the number of times they can be written. In many cases, the warranty ends when the specified number of years is up, or when the drive reaches its TBW (terabytes written) rating. The longer the TBW for a given capacity, the more "write durable" the vendor deems the drive to be. Also look for ruggedized drives, which can forestall an early drive death due to a drop or an unexpected dunking.
Are SSDs Actually at Their Cheapest on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or Later?
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are among the best times to find a deal on an SSD all year long. Having covered a series of Amazon Prime Days and other "shopping events," we don't typically see many SSDs drop much lower than they do during this period. Indeed, you may see some drives on sale throughout the year, but you'll see a much bigger variety on sale at one time during these four days. If you want to have more choice, this is one of the best times of year to jump in.