The cheapest laptop SSD is the cheapest drive that physically fits and does not cost you battery life. That depends on the slot, not the brand. This guide identifies the slot, lists the drives in our comparison that fit each one, and gives a dated price benchmark so you know what cheap means in October 2026.
2015–2018 laptop with a 2.5-inch bay: a 1TB SATA drive — Crucial MX500 or Samsung 870 Evo if you want DRAM, Kingston A400 if you want the lowest price. M.2 2280 NVMe slot (most laptops since 2018): a single-sided, DRAM-less TLC drive such as the WD SN7100 or Samsung 990 Evo Plus; the Kingston NV3 is cheaper but QLC. M.2 2230 (Steam Deck, ROG Ally, Surface): WD SN740 / Black SN770M, Corsair MP600 Mini, Sabrent Rocket 2230 or Crucial P310 2230. In October 2026 the street sample puts mainstream drives at $133–$250 per TB, so a 1TB laptop drive under $185 is a fair price.
Check the service manual, the maker’s support page for your model number, or open the bottom cover: a 2280 slot is 80 mm long with the screw at the far end; a 2230 slot has the screw 30 mm from the connector.
12 SATA drives in our comparison. SATA tops out around 550 MB/s, which is still five times a laptop hard drive and the single biggest upgrade an older machine can get. The Crucial MX500 and Samsung 870 Evo have a DRAM cache and stay fast when full; the Kingston A400, Crucial BX500 and TeamGroup QX are the budget picks and fine for light use.
| Capacity | Interface | Gen | Read | Write | NAND | Warranty | Cond. | Product |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 TB | 2.5 SATA | SATA | 560 MB/s | 530 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Samsung 870 Evo 4TB |
| 4 TB | 2.5 SATA | SATA | 560 MB/s | 520 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | WD Blue SA510 4TB |
| 4 TB | 2.5 SATA | SATA | 540 MB/s | 500 MB/s | QLC | 3 yr | New | Crucial BX500 4TB |
| 2 TB | 2.5 SATA | SATA | 560 MB/s | 510 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Crucial MX500 2TB |
| 2 TB | 2.5 SATA | SATA | 560 MB/s | 530 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Samsung 870 Evo 2TB |
| 2 TB | 2.5 SATA | SATA | 560 MB/s | 500 MB/s | QLC | 3 yr | New | TeamGroup QX 2TB |
| 2 TB | M.2 SATA | SATA | 560 MB/s | 520 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | WD Blue SA510 2TB M.2 |
| 1 TB | 2.5 SATA | SATA | 560 MB/s | 510 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Crucial MX500 1TB |
| 1 TB | 2.5 SATA | SATA | 560 MB/s | 530 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Samsung 870 Evo 1TB |
| 1 TB | 2.5 SATA | SATA | 500 MB/s | 450 MB/s | TLC | 3 yr | New | Kingston A400 1TB |
| 500 GB | M.2 SATA | SATA | 560 MB/s | 510 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | WD Blue SA510 500GB M.2 |
| 480 GB | 2.5 SATA | SATA | 500 MB/s | 450 MB/s | TLC | 3 yr | New | Kingston A400 480GB |
Note on price: SATA is no longer the cheap option. In the 16 Oct 2026 street sample a mainstream SATA drive sits at about the same price per terabyte as an entry NVMe drive, so pay for SATA only when the laptop has no NVMe slot. Full list and when SATA still makes sense: SATA SSDs.
For a laptop the right NVMe drive is single-sided (fits thin slots and the heat pad), DRAM-less with HMB (lower idle power, better battery life), Gen 4 or Gen 3 (no need for Gen 5 heat), and TLC rather than QLC if it is the only drive. These 19 drives meet those criteria:
| Capacity | Interface | Gen | Read | Write | NAND | Warranty | Cond. | Product |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 7,000 MB/s | 6,500 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Lexar NM790 8TB |
| 4 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 7,250 MB/s | 6,900 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB |
| 4 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 7,250 MB/s | 6,900 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | WD Black SN7100 4TB |
| 4 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 6,900 MB/s | 6,200 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | WD Blue SN5100 4TB |
| 2 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 7,400 MB/s | 6,500 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Lexar NM790 2TB |
| 2 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 7,250 MB/s | 6,900 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | WD Black SN7100 2TB |
| 2 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 7,150 MB/s | 6,300 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Samsung 990 Evo Plus 2TB |
| 2 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 7,100 MB/s | 6,000 MB/s | QLC | 5 yr | New | Crucial P310 2TB |
| 2 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 6,000 MB/s | 5,000 MB/s | QLC | 3 yr | New | Kingston NV3 2TB |
| 2 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 5,150 MB/s | 4,900 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | WD Blue SN5000 2TB |
| 2 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 3 | 2,400 MB/s | 1,800 MB/s | TLC | 3 yr | New | ADATA Legend 710 2TB |
| 1 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 7,250 MB/s | 6,500 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | WD Black SN7100 1TB |
| 1 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 7,150 MB/s | 6,300 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | Samsung 990 Evo Plus 1TB |
| 1 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 7,100 MB/s | 6,000 MB/s | QLC | 5 yr | New | Crucial P310 1TB |
| 1 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 6,000 MB/s | 5,000 MB/s | QLC | 3 yr | New | Kingston NV3 1TB |
| 1 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 3 | 3,200 MB/s | 2,500 MB/s | QLC | 3 yr | New | WD Green SN350 1TB |
| 1 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 3 | 2,400 MB/s | 1,800 MB/s | TLC | 3 yr | New | ADATA Legend 710 1TB |
| 500 GB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 6,000 MB/s | 4,000 MB/s | QLC | 3 yr | New | Kingston NV3 500GB |
| 500 GB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 4,150 MB/s | 4,150 MB/s | TLC | 5 yr | New | WD Blue SN580 500GB |
The WD Black SN7100 and Samsung 990 Evo Plus are the TLC picks; the WD Blue SN5000 / SN5100 and SN580 are the budget TLC options; the Kingston NV3, Crucial P310 and Silicon Power UD90 are cheaper still but QLC. Flagship drives with DRAM (990 Pro, SN850X) work in laptops too — they just draw more power at idle for performance a laptop rarely uses. More on that trade-off: SSDs with a DRAM cache.
These are not in our comparison tables yet, but the short list is stable. 2230: WD SN740 (OEM) and WD Black SN770M, Corsair MP600 Mini, Sabrent Rocket 2230, Crucial P310 2230, Kioxia BG5 / BG6 (OEM). All are single-sided, DRAM-less and run cool enough for a handheld. 1TB and 2TB are the practical capacities; 4TB 2230 drives exist but carry a steep premium. 2242: fewer options; a 2230 drive with a 2242 adapter bracket is the usual answer.
Price benchmark: 2230 drives cost noticeably more per terabyte than 2280 drives for the same NAND, because the market is small. Expect to pay above the 2280 street sample, and compare on $/TB with the calculator rather than on sticker price.
The dated street sample on our SSD Price Index runs $133–$250 per terabyte for mainstream 1–2TB drives (16 Oct 2026), median $185/TB. For a laptop upgrade that means a 1TB drive at or under $185 is a normal price and anything near $133 is a good one; a 2TB drive should land under roughly twice that. These are shortage prices — NAND contract prices are 5.7× their mid-2023 level and forecast +15 to +20% in 4Q26 — so waiting is unlikely to help before 2027. Details: will SSD prices go down?
Cloning keeps Windows and your files: connect the new drive with a USB enclosure (M.2 NVMe enclosures cost $15–25), clone with the free tool from the drive’s maker (Samsung Magician, WD / SanDisk Dashboard, Crucial’s Acronis edition) or Macrium Reflect Free, then swap. A clean install from a Windows USB stick is simpler if the old drive is small or the install is old. Either way, back up first, and keep the old drive untouched until the new one has booted a few times.
Laptop-specific checks: remove the battery or disconnect it where the manual says so; keep any thermal pad that was on the old drive; and do not force a double-sided drive into a slot designed for single-sided ones.