Samsung's 9100 Pro 2TB SSD has dropped to AU$434.47 at Amazon Australia, well below the typical AU$699 pricing it's selling for at other retailers. Even on Amazon it was AU$644.83 before the current discount.

This isn't a deal to snooze on either, with the sale due to end at 12pm on July 29. Just note that it ships from Amazon US, so delivery can take up to two weeks.

AU$434 is still a lot to spend on a 2TB SSD, particularly if you remember how cheap storage was until relatively recently.

But SSD prices have shifted hugely since last year, and these days this is an excellent deal on Samsung's flagship PCIe 5.0 drive, which can reach sequential read speeds of up to 14,700MB/s and writes of up to 13,400MB/s.

In our review of the 9100 Pro we said, "Samsung's first true PCIe 5.0 drive is the best there is", as well as "This is a very professional-specific drive in ways that previous Samsung Pro SSDs were not. If you're not a professional user, there are better PCIe 5.0 drives out there, but for pros, there's none better than the 9100 Pro."

This is a premium 2TB SSD, so it's aimed at those who can actually take advantage of its performance, whether that's moving huge files, working with demanding creative projects or running workloads that benefit from very fast storage.

But what makes this deal particularly compelling is that the 9100 Pro is currently cheaper than some of Samsung's slower PCIe 4.0 drives. At the time of writing, the 2TB 990 EVO Plus is AU$446 at Amazon, while the 2TB 990 Pro is AU$517.67.

You don't necessarily need a PCIe 5.0 system to take advantage of the deal either. The 9100 Pro is backwards compatible with PCIe 4.0, so it'll work just fine in an older machine, albeit with its performance capped by the slower interface.

That makes it a great buy even if you're upgrading a PCIe 4.0 PC today, or using the drive in a handheld device. Plus, if you do move it to a PCIe 5.0 system later, you can unlock the full performance the drive is capable of.

Just keep in mind that this deal is specifically for the 2TB model without a heatsink as the other versions and capacities of the 9100 Pro aren't discounted.

And yes, AU$434.47 is still frustratingly pricey for 2TB of storage by historical standards, but I think getting Samsung's flagship PCIe 5.0 SSD for less than its slower models makes this an excellent deal considering current prices.

• A Steam user has found a way to store games on SSDs with an auto-navigation and auto-start script
• These are effectively physical 'game cartridges' complete with key art
• However, costly SSDs means this is a pricey endeavor (the Steam gamer was lucky enough to pick up used drives on the cheap)

Physical copies of PlayStation games are coming to an end from January 2028, and as the backlash around that continues, a restoration of physical media on PC has been discovered — and it's novel to say the least.

A Steam user on Reddit has managed to store games on 'cheap 2.5-inch' SATA SSDs, effectively acting as old-school 'game cartridges' with key art, and a script that auto-navigates Steam to each game's page. The user also notes that automatically starting games from each drive is possible.

This comes amid a significant uproar from gamers following the revelation of Sony's plan to eradicate physical game discs, supposedly by the time its next PlayStation console arrives. It's a very controversial move that has united gamers across all platforms to fight to retain discs and to ensure game ownership remains intact.

With that said, physical media for PC has been dead for a long while, since a modern desktop PC doesn't come with a disc drive, and there are hardly any publishers selling physical copies for the platform.

With most games only accessible digitally on PC, in theory those titles can be taken away from buyers at any time. The trouble is that consumer-friendly figures like Gabe Newell, who leads Valve, the owner of Steam, won't be in charge forever.

So in the future, under new leadership, it's possible more anti-consumer measures might be introduced, or other aspects of PC gaming that consumers dislike, such as DRM (like Denuvo).

Steam Game Cartridges from r/pcmasterrace

Imagine if this 'game cartridge' system was adopted by PC game publishers? It's a smart idea, and a nice thought, but clearly not a realistic one. For starters, it'd be a prohibitively expensive method of reintroducing physical PC game copies.

Of course, platforms like Epic Games and Steam require users to be logged in and have their app installed to play games, so it's still a long way off true game copy ownership, anyway.

However, this concept would be paired perfectly with GOG, a platform that is DRM-free and doesn't require the launcher to play purchased games — in other words, you fully own purchased games on GOG.

Admittedly, publishers releasing PC game cartridges in the form of SSDs is a pipe dream, especially with the current state of the hardware market, and the RAM crisis, complete with skyrocketing SSD prices.

The idea comes at the wrong time, then, but if the RAM crisis ever settles down, then maybe this is something we'll see more PC hobbyists doing — and perhaps even the odd publisher.

I’m sure this scenario is familiar to you — you buy an external hard drive for a certain capacity, thinking that it would have more than enough space to store all your current files, and many more in the future — but then you soon realise that you’ve filled it up in no time. You’re then forced to delete some files to make enough room for new ones that you need to back up or archive. And so it goes.

I can definitely relate, having filled up a couple of hard drives ranging from 2TB to 6TB containing photo libraries, videos and Steam game backups, then later finding myself auditing those files more often than I’d like to clear up storage space.

If you’re in the same boat as me, Amazon has discounted the 20TB Seagate Expansion Desktop external hard drive by 32% to AU$623.73. That price averages to around 3 cents per gigabyte, which is brilliant value for a backup drive that’s also fast enough to be used regularly. I don't know about you, but it would certainly cure my storage anxiety woes.

This deal can also benefit those who work with large files regularly, like content creators, video editors, data professionals, graphic artists and more, where they can focus on their work and not constantly worry about storage.

In our best external hard drives buying guide, our reviewer called the Seagate Expansion Desktop the best-performing HDD they'd tested thanks to the read and write speeds of 242 MB/s and 237 MB/s, respectively, and for its relatively compact size compared to others in this category.

The main downsides the tester mentioned were the hard drive’s external power requirement — which is something I would certainly live with for a capacity of this size — and the expensive RRP, which this 32% discount handily takes care of.

While you can invest in some network attached storage (NAS) devices for your growing storage needs, the Seagate Expansion Desktop is an easier plug-and-play solution that won’t require much fiddling to set up — it’s as easy as plugging the drive in and moving files to it via Windows Explorer or macOS Finder. Plus, this deal is a much cheaper alternative as the NAS devices themselves without drives cost around the same or even more in some cases.

On the other hand, this external drive can be used in a NAS device (or your PC, even) through “shucking”, or removing the external casing and installing the bare drive into a hard drive bay to add more storage for redundancy or otherwise. Do note that this will void the drive’s warranty.

In any case, a deal like this in a period of storage component shortages is hard to pass up for anyone in need of extra storage space for backups, archiving or any work that involves large file sizes.

If you have tried to buy one of the best portable SSDs recently, you have likely noticed a painful reality: storing photos and videos has become an incredibly expensive business. Over the past year, flash memory prices have skyrocketed, with some popular portable SSDs doubling or even tripling in cost. For photographers and videographers, who routinely generate many gigabytes of data on a single shoot, this price hike has turned a standard administrative task into a massive financial headache.

The underlying problem is a classic case of demand exceeding supply, which has unfortunately triggered a knock-on effect on pricesacross the entire industry. As high-speed Solid State Drives (SSD) became more costly and harder to source, creators naturally looked for alternatives, driving up the prices of traditional mechanical hard drives (HDDs) in the process. When you couple expensive backup drives with modern cameras that churn out massive file sizes, ignoring your storage workflow is no longer an option. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and it is time to change how we manage our data.

Fortunately, you don't need to empty your bank account to keep your portfolio safe. Surviving this storage crunch is not about buying the biggest, fastest drive on the market - it's about working smarter with the tools you already have. By adopting a strict digital diet, separating your fast working drives from your slower archival backups, and rethinking your camera settings before you fire the shutter, you can reduce your storage footprint without sacrificing your creative freedom.

In this guide, I share the exact strategies I use to navigate these rising costs. From sourcing high-capacity secondhand bargains safely to exploiting hidden compression settings in a camera's built-in menus. I cover why changing your shooting habits can save you terabytes of space in the long run, how to avoid the hidden costs of a hardware upgrade, and how to build a rock-solid backup system on a budget. And if you absolutely must buy new hardware, I've also rounded up the best flash storage deals available right now, so you can expand your setup for less.

1. Use HDDs for back ups

HDD drives, also called mechanical Hard Disk Drives, use a spinning disk inside of the hard drive enclosure to store files. Because there’s a disk with a needle, a little bit like a vinyl player, it takes longer to locate and find your files and also write data to HDDs. Flash storage, such as the SSDs which we’ve seen explode in value over the past year, work much in the same way as your camera’s memory card and can locate files instantly and write much faster – but that comes with a higher price tag.

To keep costs down, the trick is to keep all of your archived content and finished projects on the more affordable HDDs as soon as you can. SDDs are great for working on live projects due to their speed, reliability and portability. You can use one of the best portable SSD drives or the flash hard drive on your laptop, so you’re not limited by the speed of an HDD when you’re working on live projects.

With SSDs going up in price this has had a knock on effect with the price of the best HDD drives being pushed up too. I’ve actually been buying up cheap second hand HDD drives from Facebook Marketplace where I can get much more gigabytes for my dollar. I must stress second-hand drives are a risky business and I always check them with a drive health checker first too, such as CrystalDiskInfo. I only use HDDs for backing up files, so if my second-hand drives ever fail, I at least have another copy somewhere else.

2. Cull your photos

In years gone by I would say there’s not a lot of point going through drives and deleting your ‘duff’ shots or video. However, because we’ve seen some storage drives double, or even triple in price in just the past 12 months alone, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Currently, when I import a batch of photos I think carefully whether I really want to take up valuable space on my hard drives with shots that are never going to see the light of day. This has helped me be more self critical of my work, and motivated me to absolutely nail compositions, focus and exposure settings every time I'm out shooting.

Once a project has been delivered I might even go as far as to go through and delete images that were sub-par and didn’t make the grade. It’s also worth using a disk analyser tool such as WizTree to locate big files that are taking up a lot of hard drive space and aren’t being used so you can erase any large memory hogs.

Once your project is finished be sure to transfer the files from your pricey SSD to your cheaper HDD, to free up space for your next project. This saves you from having to buy a new expensive SSD drive when it gets full. Modern SSDs are incredibly durable and can withstand hundreds of terabytes of data being written over their lifespan, so there is no problem formatting them after you’ve transferred the contents to an HDD and backed them up properly.

3. Choose the right format

The more detailed and information-packed your files are, the larger they will be. So it’s more important now than ever to carefully assess whether you should shoot a scene in RAW or compressed JPEG. The same goes for recording video too, do you really need 8K or the highest possible bit rates, or is that overkill?

I often shoot in 4K which gets downsampled to 1080p for a lot of my social media content. While shooting 4K provides extra editing options (especially cropping), it is quite a wasteful way of working. You could also switch from the H.264 codec to H.265 which compresses 4K to half the size, with no visible loss in quality.

If you’re shooting on a compact camera with built-in picture styles such as the Fujifilm X100VI then it may be preferable to shoot in JPEG to make full use of its various film effects. If you’re shooting a lot of RAW files with pre-capture then you may want to consider switching from RAW to a compressed RAW format to save space, instead. It all depends on your style of photography and finding out the compromize that works for you.

4. Think twice before upgrading your camera

Before you jump into buying a new camera body you should also carefully assess the costs here, too. I’ve been lucky enough to get hands-on with the new Sony A7R VI, which produces mammoth 67MP files, at rates of up to 30 fps. This means memory cards and hard drives fill much more quickly than a camera with say 30MP, usually considered to be the ‘sweet spot’ for most general subjects.

Many of today's pro cameras need pricier CFexpress type memory cards to unlock their full performance potential and avoid any bottlenecks to the memory buffer, rather than cheap and cheerful SD cards. So even if you find a deal you're happy with for a new camera, there are hidden costs such as these pricier memory card types.

Another hidden cost of upgrading to a super high resolution camera is that your computer may struggle with the large stills and video. If that’s the case then you’re now not only forking out for a new camera, pricey CFexpress cards and hard drive storage, but you'll also need to budget for a new high-end laptop or computer that's capable of handing all of that data! The costs can rack up rather quickly.

5. Make use of free cloud storage

I always follow the 3-2-1 method for a secure and robust way of backing up my files; that's backing up three times on at least two different types of media, with one copy kept off site.

For different types of media, this could be one HDD drive and another an SSD, or a DVD, memory stick or even cloud storage. The latter also helps tick the box for keeping one copy of your data off-site, too.

Cloud storage from reputable companies such as Backblaze is of course a great option, but you do have to pay a monthly subscription. For working professionals this is a solid reliable option worth the money.

However, for more casual photographers I’d recommend making full use of free cloud storage from companies like Google Drive (15GB), Microsoft OneDrive (5GB) and Apple iCloud (5GB). Of course, this isn’t a huge amount of free cloud storage, though if you're clever you can 'pool' your free storage together from different companies and it can add up to something substantial. That being said, even the 5GB free options should be more than enough to store backups of your favorite JPEG photos.

Save money today on the best portable SSD deals

Portable SSD deals are hard to come by right now, but I've included the best deals I've found at the time of writing, with discounts on tried and tested Samsung and SanDisk models.

Today's best portable SSD deal (US)

Today's best portable SSD deal (UK)

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: sign up for a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire TV, Ring & Blink from £24.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: AirPods Pro 3 for a record-low price
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja, Tefal & Sage
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from under £10
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Father's Day: up to 50% off gifts & drinks
• Headphones: up to 50% off
• Laptops: from £149.99
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £125
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Eufy & Roborock
• Wearables: Garmin & Huawei from £36.99

You might have noticed that recently the cost of upgrading (or building) your PC has skyrocketed, and this is mainly due to the pressures an explosion in AI has caused to supply chains, with artificial intelligence companies demanding an increasing amount of memory, which has had knock-on effects for the rest of the world.

That means memory-based components, especially SSDs, RAM and graphics cards, have become more costly.

The good news is that due to early Amazon Prime Day sales, I've found some brilliant offers on large SSDs, such as the WD_Black SN7100 2TB NVMe SSD and Samsung 990 PRO SSD 2TB NVMe M.2.

• View the full Amazon Prime Day sale

The reason why I love these deals (which I've included below) is that these aren't just cheap drives from companies you've never heard of; the likes of Samsung and Western Digital are highly trusted brands in the storage world, and that's important when looking for an SSD or hard drive, as you'll be storing important files and documents, so you need to know that your new drive won't break in the future, potentially losing your files.

These SSDs also use the NVMe M.2 ports of your PC — most modern PCs, including laptops, support these SSDs and they offer incredible speeds. Pop Windows 11 on there and it'll boot up in seconds, while installing apps or games means they load incredibly quickly as well. Before buying you should check that your PC has a spare M.2 port if you want to add one of these drives to your existing storage.

If you're replacing an existing SSD or hard drive, then you should see a huge increase in speed, especially if you're using a hard drive.

Another thing I love is that these deals prove you can still get large capacity storage for a relatively affordable amount — something many of us feared would no longer be possible until the memory crisis, sometimes dubbed the 'RAMpocolypse', is over.

Unfortunately, the memory crisis is far from over, so deal events like Prime Day might be our best shot at getting affordable SSDs for our PCs for now — and because these are in such high demand, I recommend grabbing these deals ASAP before they sell out.

Amazon Prime Day deals – quick links

• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199

Great-value SSDs

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

More Amazon Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: sign up for a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire TV, Ring & Blink from £21.99
• Apple: AirPods Pro 3 for a record-low price
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja, Tefal & Sage
• Essentials: household goods from under £10
• Laptops: from £149.99
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £125
• TVs: from £129.99

• Google has cut the price of Gemini AI Plus from $7.99 to $4.99 per month
• Subscribers now get 400GB of Google storage instead of 200GB
• Here's how Gemini AI Plus compares with OpenAI's $8 ChatGPT Go plan

Google just slashed the price of its Google AI Plus plan to $4.99/month (£4.99 /AU$7.99), down from $7.99, and at the same time doubled the included cloud storage from 200GB to 400GB. This makes Google AI Plus significantly cheaper than its main rival, ChatGPT Go, which costs $8 a month. But which one offers the better value? Let's find out.

The first thing to note is that both of these offerings sit on the bottom rung of OpenAI's and Google's and paid subscription ladders. They're the first step toward the more fully featured ChatGPT Plus on one hand, and Google AI Pro subscription on the other, both of which cost around $20 a month (Google's is slightly cheaper at $18.99).

That said, both plans offer significant improvements over their free counterparts. The free versions are great for occasional use, but you'll soon start running into limits, particularly when it comes to image generation and other advanced features.

Usage improvements

Everything with AI models is measured in usage. Once you've used up your daily allocation, you start to lose access to the better parts of the models, meaning things can slow down considerably or, in the case of image generation, stop working altogether.

To make matters more confusing, neither company is particularly transparent about exactly how much usage you get each day. That's because limits are often dynamic, and can vary depending on demand.

Google AI Plus comes with usage limits that are up to “twice as high” as those on the free version of Gemini. You also get access to additional features, including video generation.

ChatGPT Go, on the other hand, simply promises "more" access than the free version of ChatGPT without specifying exactly how much more. OpenAI says subscribers get more access to GPT-5.5 Instant, along with higher limits for messaging, uploads, image creation, and memory.

If you look at the small print of OpenAI's offer, you'll also notice it states that "this plan may include ads", which is an immediate red flag for me.

What else do you get with Gemini?

Gemini does seem to offer more than ChatGPT. As well as the increased usage limits, you also get a few extras, including access to Nano Banana, Gemini's image generator in Google Search, and 200 Google Flow credits for creating cinematic video scenes.

But the really interesting addition is NotebookLM, Google's AI-powered research and writing assistant. Subscribers get higher limits for Audio Overviews, the feature that automatically generates podcast-style summaries, along with more notebooks for organizing projects and research.

And let's not forget the 400GB of cloud storage, which can be shared across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos. That’s almost worth the price alone, and you’re getting more Gemini access thrown in.

The story Google AI Plus starts to tell is one of integration. If you already rely on Gmail, Google Drive, Google Photos, and other Google services, the subscription feels less like a standalone AI chatbot and more like an upgrade for your entire Google account.

That's where ChatGPT Go starts to look a little less compelling. ChatGPT remains one of the best AI assistants available, but at this price point, Google is offering a broader package that combines AI tools, research features, video generation, and a substantial amount of cloud storage.

Whether that's enough to tempt existing ChatGPT users away from OpenAI is another question. But if you've been curious about paying for AI and didn't want to spend $20 a month, Google's new $4.99 price point makes Gemini AI Plus one of the most affordable ways to get access to a premium AI experience.

If you’re constantly running out of storage space on your laptop or PC (as much as I love my Mac mini, 256GB for a desktop computer is not a lot), or you need to work with large files across different devices, then it may be worth investing in a high-speed portable SSD. In fact, a portable SSD is also a very reliable backup device for all your important files, whether you're a professional, creative or student.

Now, admittedly external SSDs aren't necessarily as fast as the best internal SSDs, but some high-performance models can deliver read/write speeds of up to 2GB per second, much like our choice for the best overall portable SSD, the Samsung T9.

The T9 follows in the footsteps of the Samsung T5 and T7, both of which were excellent backup devices in their own right, but the T9 is pricey, retailing for AU$549 for 1TB of storage on Samsung's own website.

So it's a good thing that the 1TB T9 portable SSD is down to AU$369 on Amazon for EOFY. That's a 33% price drop, much more than the 16% off that Amazon is listing and works out to just 37 cents per gig of storage.

• Follow our live coverage of all the best EOFY 2026 sales for more deals and discounts

In addition to the blazing fast 2GB per second read and write speeds, the Samsung T9 also takes advantage of a caching system to maintain writing performance. Our testing found read speeds of between 1,700MB/s and 2,000 MB/s as well as writes between 1,300MB/s and 1,900MB/s depending on the workload. For reference, that’s a sizable jump from the previous generation of portable SSDs.

Also helping with the speeds is Samsung’s Dynamic Thermal Guard technology to prevent overheating to help sustain the same performance. For a different kind of security, users can protect the contents with an AES 256-bit encrypted password.

Samsung claims the T9 has a drop resistance of up to 3m with its rugged exterior, while also being compact at 88mm x 60mm x 14mm and lightweight at 122g.

With soaring storage prices, we are on a mission to inform our readers of any SSD deals as soon as they come along. One of the best offers at the moment is this Samsung 9100 Pro 1TB SSD at Amazon for just £165 (was £267.09) — a surprisingly strong discount considering the current situation.

The price drop is even more impressive when you consider how good this NVMe SSD is. We rated it an almost-perfect 4.5 stars in our Samsung 9100 Pro SSD review, with notable praise for its best-in-class sequential read and write performance.

This is a limited-time deal that ends on May 23 or while promotional stock lasts. So, if you've been waiting for the right time to buy some speedy storage, I'd suggest moving fast before the deal's gone.

Today's best NVMe SSD deal

In our Samsung 9100 Pro SSD review, we said: “this is a drive for professional users and for those who need to save or otherwise write large files to disk regularly, and for that, the Samsung 9100 Pro is the best M.2 SSD on the market.”

Despite being Samsung's first 'true' PCIe 5.0 SSD, it still delivers "fantastic performance with the fastest write speeds" our reviewer has ever tested. With rated sequential read/write speeds of 14.8/13.4GBps, it's fast enough for video, editing, LLM training, gaming, and other heavy-duty workloads.

It's worth pointing out that larger capacities are available (2TB, 4TB, and 8TB), although none of those are currently discounted. You might still choose to go for a larger size if you want to future-proof your system.

Our extensive and in-depth guide to the best SSDs is a great starting point if you're looking to explore your options. You might also like to browse the best laptops if you're also thinking that a complete system overhaul could be on the cards.

• Samsung and Kingston are increasing SSD prices according to a report from China
• We're told there will be a 'price increase of at least 10% for solid-state drives'
• On top of that, AMD Ryzen CPUs have seemingly leapt in price in Japan

SSD prices are reportedly set for another increase, and we're hearing news about CPUs getting hiked, too.

Wccftech spotted a report from Chinese tech site IT Home claiming that Samsung and Kingston have "both notified their distribution channels of a price increase of at least 10% for solid-state drives".

This comes from a source in the supply chain, we're told, and seemingly Samsung has notified three major domestic distributors of this price increase which comes into effect now.

As Wccftech makes clear, we've already seen price hikes on high-end SSDs from Samsung and Western Digital earlier this month, applied as stealth increases that amount to a doubling in cost for some models (the really big drives).

Wccftech also flagged up major price rises for AMD Ryzen processors in the Japanese market, as claimed in a report from PC Watch.

The current-gen Zen 5 lineup has been hit with around 40%-50% price hikes in some cases, with the biggest increases hitting the Ryzen 7 9700X (which is up 57%) and Ryzen 9 9900X (up 37%).

A bunch of Ryzen 9000 models have had around 20% increases applied in Japan, including the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which is a popular choice for PC gamers (and is up 22%).

These price rises extend to older AMD processors as well, with some Ryzen 7000 models going up in a major way, led by the 7800X3D — the predecessor of the 9800X3D — being subject to a 41% hike.

Analysis: a broader sign of things to come

Those are really nasty CPU price increases, make no mistake, but it's not surprising that processors are getting more expensive. This has been happening for a little while now, although the increases have been relatively timid compared to RAM and storage.

However, this is the first time truly worrying rises have been seen with CPUs, and although it's limited to the Japanese market, there's a chance we'll see a similar trajectory with pricing elsewhere. Put it this way: I wouldn't bet against this being a broader sign of bad things to come, although it could still prove to be a more localized problem for Japanese retailers.

As for SSDs, assuming the source from the supply chain is correct — and we should appropriately season all these reports, of course — it's likely that SSDs will continue to get more expensive across the globe, not just in Asia. This is backed up by a recent forecast from analyst firm TrendForce, which believes that NAND flash storage could see a price surge of around 75% quarter-on-quarter.

The outlook for SSD pricing is suitably bleak, there's no getting around that, and the same goes for RAM, with TrendForce predicting around 60% rises there.

Amazon continues its spring deals, and I've just spotted an absolute corker on one of the most highly rated microSD cards on the market. It's this SanDisk Ultra 512GB microSD Card at Amazon for £49.99 (was £85.99).

I own one of these cards and have found it to be an invaluable part of my camera setup. It's fast, reliable, and versatile. I use it for my creative endeavours, but it's equally at home in a phone, tablet, Steam Deck, or Nintendo Switch.

The generous price drop means you're getting 512GB for the price of 256GB. I consider that a bit of a steal given all the price hikes in storage costs lately. Just be aware that the deal ends on April 28, so you haven't got long.

Today's best microSD Card deal

The SanDisk 512GB Ultra microSD card is the best of the best. With speeds up to 150 MB/s, this is a perfect solution for standard photography, 4K video recording, and general device use, such as the Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck.

Classified as UHS-I (U1) and Class 10, it is optimised for Full HD (1080p) video recording and playback. It also carries an A1 rating, which means it is specifically designed for mobile apps, providing faster app launches and smoother performance when running software directly from the card.

The card impresses in durability, with the ability to withstand harsh environments. More specifically, it is waterproof, temperature-proof, X-ray-proof, and shockproof. To help with compatibility, it ships with a full-size SD adapter so it can be used across a wide range of devices, including laptops and digital cameras.

If it's storage you're looking for, then we have a tonne of guides to get you the best deals. These include the best SD cards, the best microSD cards, and the best external hard drive.

• More fake Samsung SSDs have been uncovered, and the drive maker has said it's 'taking consistent action against such counterfeits'
• At the same time, CPU sales are seemingly in a major slump, the worst seen in a decade, we're told
• With the PC component crisis just getting more intense, there is hope for some relief later this year – but the way it'll be realized isn't very comforting

As the PC component crisis intensifies, with CPU sales now apparently in a serious slump, we've had another warning about fake Samsung SSDs as scammers try to capitalize on expensive higher-end drives.

First off, let's look at the SSD nastiness, with German tech site ComputerBase reporting (via VideoCardz) that an Austrian buyer had the misfortune to receive two Samsung 990 Pro SSDs from a retailer that have both been confirmed to be fakes.

While the packaging of the 1TB drives looked authentic enough, and didn't ring any alarm bells, inspection of the SSDs did, as they had a blue circuit board (rather than the black color Samsung uses). They also used the wrong SSD controller (a Realtek model rather than a Pascal controller).

The real sign that something was very wrong, though, was the fact that these solid-state drives didn't work at all. (Unlike better fakes, which work, and can even appear to be the correct model when installed in a PC if you don't engage in anything other than a cursory inspection).

When Samsung was told about this incident by ComputerBase, the company provided a statement that read: "Samsung takes such reports about counterfeit memory products very seriously. We are taking consistent action against the distribution of such counterfeits.

"We recommend purchasing Samsung storage media exclusively through the Samsung Online Shop or authorized retailers. Consumers can also use the Samsung Magician software to verify that their product is genuine."

With the price of CPUs creeping up, maybe we'll also need to be wary of an uptick in processor fakes (such as the counterfeit Ryzen 9800X3D chips we've seen palmed off on unsuspecting consumers in the past).

More broadly, is it the case that pricier processors, and the squeeze from the memory crisis in general, are killing sales of desktop silicon? Apparently, this is indeed happening, as mentioned at the outset.

PC Gamer reports that TechEpiphany, who regularly posts figures from major German retailer Mindfactory, shared some recent data on X showing that processor sales have fallen sharply in the last three weeks (after being in something of a slump across the whole of March). It's mainly AMD Ryzen sales that have dropped actually – though that's partly a function of Intel sales numbers already being a great deal less at the start of 2026 – and it's an eye-opening slump.

Based on that data, and other sales figures drawn from the likes of Amazon, TechEpiphany posted on X that: "In 10 years of tracking retail CPU (and related) sales, I have never seen such a steep decline."

Analysis: an 11.5-level crisis

Saying that this is the single biggest slump which TechEpiphany has witnessed in the last decade is quite a statement regarding CPU sales. When asked 'on a scale of 1-10, how done are we?' in a follow-up post on X, TechEpiphany replied that we're at '11.5' currently.

Are processor prices really rising that steeply? Well, following rumors of major price increases late last year, they are going up, certainly, as there's a CPU shortage which is getting more serious.

However, this isn't just about processors in a bubble, but the entire custom PC market. With the prices of all components going up, and particularly RAM along with storage, building a computer from scratch – or looking at a substantial upgrade to a new motherboard platform for an existing system – has become a ridiculously pricey affair.

So, people just aren't doing that, and this is going to depress CPU sales, and indeed all components – not just the memory side of the equation, where the price hikes have been truly astronomical.

Counterfeit products being increasingly wheeled out as scammers try to profiteer from these high prices isn't going to help the situation, either. It's not great news that fake Samsung SSDs have now reached Europe, after an increase in Japan was already observed – though at least this latest bout of fakery wasn't as sophisticated as previously seen.

There's one hope here, namely that these stupidly high prices – and the PC market in general getting out of hand – is indeed resulting in a refusal to buy from consumers (as apparently seen with CPUs, but also RAM recently, too). That in itself could rebalance the supply and demand seesaw to some extent, and lead to prices falling. And as PC Gamer also spotted, MediaTek is tentatively predicting a more optimistic pricing trajectory for RAM in the second half of 2026 based on this kind of theorizing.

MediaTek's SVP and head of global sales, Eric Fischer, recently told analyst firm Counterpoint: "We're super cautious, maybe cautiously optimistic about the second half [of 2026], about where it goes because, at some point the prices are going to have an impact on the consumer's ability to spend – whether it's notebooks or [other] consumer products."

This is a sentiment we've heard elsewhere, but it isn't really all that comforting that the best hope for the RAM crisis to slacken its grip on our wallets is that pricing simply gets so high that people point-blank refuse to spend. But, here we are, and this is seemingly what it's come to...

• Sony has announced it has suspended production of CFexpress and SD memory cards
• This is a temporary measure, but it'll be the case for the 'foreseeable future' we're told
• There will still be stock of these memory cards in circulation for some time yet, as existing inventory is run down

The latest blow dealt by the memory crisis is that Sony is no longer shipping out SD and CFexpress memory cards to its partners, or supplying cards direct to consumers.

PetaPixel spotted the official announcement (via The Verge) in which Sony Japan said: "Due to the global shortage of semiconductors (memory) and other factors, it is anticipated that supply will not be able to meet demand for CFexpress memory cards and SD memory cards for the foreseeable future.

"Therefore, we have decided to temporarily suspend the acceptance of orders from our authorized dealers and from customers at the Sony Store from March 27, 2026, onwards."

We don't know how long this will go on for, with Sony stating that it intends to monitor supply levels and when things improve, it'll announce the resumption of production.

As PetaPixel makes clear, this affects all but a few models of these memory cards. Sony's CFexpress Type B 960GB card remains in production (it'll set you back a grand, in case you weren't aware, as these are pro-targeted), and also the lowest-end SF-UZ series SD cards (which are largely discontinued in the US anyway, it should be noted).

Analysis: time to panic?

Does this mean that photographers won't be able to buy a Sony memory card now? No, this represents the shutting down of production (for now). There's still stock which is being shipped out from Sony and in the supply chain, in transit or warehouses, as well as the products that are currently on shelves.

As ever, when this kind of move happens, it'll take some time before all this inventory runs out. But when it does run dry, then you won't be able to purchase these SD or CFexpress cards.

And with that knowledge now public, there may be more urgency for some folks to purchase (especially with more popular products) — even though prices have spiked considerably already. We've witnessed high-end SD cards shooting up massively in price, or going out of stock, and sadly, it looks like the road will only become rockier from here.

• A fake Samsung 990 Pro SSD was found to be very convincing
• It looked authentic, reported the correct capacity, and even worked like a real 990 Pro in some benchmarks
• However, a full suite of testing revealed the weakness in the drive — and there are steps you can take to protect yourself

Fake SSDs and RAM scams are becoming more commonplace now that these products have gotten so expensive, but often such knock-offs are easy to spot — although that's not the case with the latest imitation Samsung drive.

There are no clearly inauthentic packaging or product labels, or other obvious giveaways here, and as Japanese tech site Akiba PC Hotline discovered (via Tom's Hardware), you might not even realize this Samsung 990 Pro SSD was a fake clone at all. As Akiba puts it: "More sophisticated counterfeit SSDs have appeared," while warning that these fakes, which are "harder to distinguish from genuine ones, are now flooding the market" (bear in mind this is a translation).

Granted, there are clues for the tech-savvy Sherlocks out there to pick up, such as the wrong model of SSD controller on the drive (a Maxio MAP1602, rather than the Pascal controller it should be).

There are plenty of folks who wouldn't think to check that kind of detail, though, and overall, this forgery of a drive fully looked the part, plus it reported the correct capacity when installed.

It could even keep up the act through some benchmarks, and as Akiba found, some basic tests showed performance very close to what you'd expect to see with the Samsung 990 Pro. It was close enough that you wouldn't question the drive on that basis, whereas many fake SSDs would be completely off the pace with any such testing (and may not even report the correct capacity).

However, with sustained testing, Akiba found that large file writing operations (copying a big video onto the drive) saw the fake SSD fall way behind its expected performance (once it had run out of cache). In these scenarios, it was running at about a fifteenth of the speed it should have been, and given that, it's clear that something is very wrong.

Analysis: be careful where you buy – and call in the 'Magician' (or similar)

While some folks might feel that this drive isn't that difficult to spot as a fake, everything is relative here. And because it appears to be a genuine Samsung 990 Pro in terms of the packaging and drive labelling, and reports the correct size in Windows — and even passes muster in quick tests with, say, CrystalDiskMark — the reality is that this is going to fool many people. Maybe not really techie folks, as noted, but it's a convincing enough scam that it's far more dangerous than the typical efforts we've seen in the past.

The likely scenario with this drive is that the scammers have used cheap QLC instead of Samsung's TLC flash memory that should be in the 990 Pro, and this is how they're carving out a profit (and where the performance falls down in sustained workloads). Given that the Samsung 990 Pro now costs around $250 in the US even in its smallest capacity of 1TB, there's clearly money to be made — and large drives are now ridiculously expensive (for the 4TB model, you're looking at a grand, no less, these days).

So, how can you be more vigilant and avoid a scam like this? For starters, don't buy from third-party marketplace sellers, because if something is suspicious about the SSD you've purchased, you'll want to be dealing with a reputable retailer (and not, potentially, the architect of the scam itself).

Aside from that, if you buy a new SSD, make sure that you benchmark it thoroughly to put the drive through its paces and spot any potential weak points, such as the QLC switch-out seen here. Alternatively, with a Samsung drive, you can use the Samsung Magician software to check if the SSD is an authentic product — there's no pulling the wool over the eyes of this app, as you might imagine.

Other drive makers offer similar tools — or verification methods on their websites — that you can use to ensure the authenticity of a purchased product. Contact the drive maker's customer support if you're unsure about how to check up on what you've bought, and you'll doubtless be pointed in the right direction.

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Why pick Carbonite

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Welcome to our MWC 2026 'Best in Show' awards, where we've chosen our top products being shown off at the big trade event.

MWC used to be all about phones — and there are plenty of those in this list — but now it covers everything from wearables to connected smart devices to home networks. Our awards picks cover this breadth of technology.

Honor Magic V6

Some thing in life are inevitable. Night follows day, the tides rise and fall, Honor reveals the thinnest-ever foldable phone at a big tech show. One of the many impressive things about the Honor Magic V6, though, is that it hasn't skimped on durability in favor of being so slim and stylish — it's IP69 rated against water and dust, which is actually better than almost any other phone, despite being foldable.

It's powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon Elite 8 Gen 5 powerful processor, backing that generous 7.95 internal screen with a 2352x2172 resolution, while the 6.5-inch cover display has a 2420x1080 resolution. There's a 6,600mAh battery squeezed into the small frame too. It's an incredibly impressive piece of engineering, and absolutely worthy of our award.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

The best way to get the full low-down on why this phone has won an award is to read our full Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review, but one quote from it will tell you most of what you need to know: "Of course it's the best Android phone ever."

You've got Samsung's special Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chip at the heart, and a beautiful 3120x1440 6.9-inch display – including Samsung's genius and innovative 'Privacy Display', which can hide individual sections of the screen, such as notifications, from snoopers around you. There are wider apertures on the camera to let in more light, lots of advanced AI skills, S Pen support... It's just a powerhouse of a phone for people who want the most capable device on the planet.

Nothing Phone (4a)

If you want super-slick features in an affordable package, we're expecting this to be one of the hottest phones of the year. The Nothing Phone 4(a) keeps the fun techy design that Nothing is known for, including a version of the Glyph Bar on the back.

The 6.8-inch OLED screen has a high 2800x1260 resolution and 120Hz support, with a fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chip inside, and 12GB of RAM even though it's a cheaper phone and memory is pricey now. There's even a triple camera system on the back — it makes the new iPhone 17e look miserly in comparison. And on top of all this, coming in four nice colors doesn't hurt its desirability either.

TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro

TCL's NXTPAPER screens have been turning our heads for a while now. They're basically ereader-like screens with a matte and paper-y finish that's great for avoiding eyestrain, but with full color performance and advanced screen tech such as 120Hz support. The NXTPAPER 70 Pro phone uses the latest version of this tech, and actually has three adjustable paper-like modes: Color Paper Mode, Ink Paper Mode, and Max Ink Mode. You can hit a button to cycle through them.

There's even an included pen for drawing and making notes on the screen, so this works as a hybrid of phone, ereader and digital note-taker — plus all the other things you expect a phone to do, including taking photos. We've seen NXTPAPER phones from TCL before, but this is the first time we're starting to consider ditching a regular smartphone for one.

MemoMind One

These smart glasses stand out due to the smart flexibility that's built into their core concept. The key idea is that they have a display for each eye built-in, and Harman Kardon personal speakers you can hear, so you can get subtle information from AI assistants easily.

What's really interesting is the modular approach, which applies to both the hardware and software. The glasses offer eight frame styles and five temple designs, so you can find a specific style that suits you — along with prescription lenses. And the LLM support isn't one-size-fits-all; instead it analyzes the task you need it to perform and uses OpenAI, Azure or Qwen, depending on what's the best fit. It's a really clever approach to smart glasses, and we're looking forward to seeing more of (and through) them.

Honor Magic Pad4

The stunning tablet almost seems impossible. At just 4.8mm thick, it feels like there's just not enough space for it to contain a load of great tech — but you've got a beautifully bright 12-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 3000x1920, backed by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor, and up to 1TB of storage.

Being so thin and weighing just 450g (slightly less than the 11-inch iPad Air, despite having a larger screen), it feels like the ultimate portable slate. But the finishing touch is that Honor has made it an interesting work companion too, with a desktop windowed mode that seems very slick, plus stylus support. This might be the most impressive-looking tablet in the world.

Soundcore Space 2

Anker's audio brand Soundcore makes a lot of great-value headphones, and its Space One and Space One Pro models went a little more little more premium — with very strong results. The Space 2 look like they'll take that idea into the stratosphere, though.

Soundcore says the headphones will have the brand's most advanced active noise cancellation yet, and reengineered 30mm silk and ceramic drivers to produce "full, rich bass, clear vocals and crystal-clear highs". LDAC higher-res support will help with that, as will the personalized sound feature, which tests your hearing and adjusts the audio frequencies to boost in areas where your hearing struggles. It sounds like an excellent package, especially with 70 hours of battery life, and a launch price of $130 / £130.

Lenovo ThinkBook Modular PC Concept

This might be the "future of laptops", as we said when Lenovo showed it to us along with some other interesting concepts. It's modular in the sense of having an easily changed configuration on the outside. It looks like a normal laptop, though it has a screen on the back of the lid as well as in the normal place you'd expect to find a screen.

This screen can be popped off, and used as a separate external display. Or you can remove the keyboard, and replace it with this second screen, for a dual-display laptop/tablet hybrid. Finally, the range of ports under the keyboard can be swapped out, so you can customize them for what you need most. We love this idea, and while it might remain largely niche even if it comes to a real product, we're thrilled with the possibilities.

Biwin Mini SSD CL100

For creative pros or anyone with a need to carry a huge amount of data around, Biwin's latest Mini SSD looks like a revelation. The small cards (around the size of a coin) contain up to 2TB of flash storage, but these aren't like SD cards — their data transfer speed is at PCIe 4 pro SSD levels.

Using the Biwin Mini SSD Reader RD510, you can transfer data from the CL100 drives at up to 3.7GB/s read speeds, and up to 3.4GB/s write speeds. They're a mind-blowing bit of design, taking elite storage performance and putting it in a package that would enable you to take hundreds of terabytes with you in the same size and weight as a single regular external SSD.

TP-Link Aginet HB810

This is designed to be the ultimate ultra-fast home mesh Wi-Fi system, and it's on this list because it really seems to achieve that goal. Offering tri-band Wi-Fi 7 across its mesh devices, TP-Link says you'll get 19–22Gbps of wireless speed, and if you want to wire in there's a 10 GbE/SFP+ combo WAN/LAN port, plus 10GbE and 2.5GbE ports.

Part of the key promise here is to be able to maintain the fast speeds even when things get busy or complicated. There's support for 12 spatial streams at once, 320MHz channels, and tech such as Multi-Link Operation to ensure the network is rock steady when loads of people are using it across multiple nodes. Throw in the security and parental control options that you'd expect from an elite Wi-Fi system, and you've got a great-looking home network upgrade.

uCloudlink OmniFlex Pro

This is a pro-level Wi-Fi router that's designed for when you need to set up a network in a new place quickly, and it can pull its internet connection over broadband or over a mobile connection. Nothing new there, but what made this stand out is its commitment to fast performance, combined with the fact that you don't need to have a SIM card for the mobile internet.

It's eSIM only, which means that's one less thing you need to worry about before deploying — whether you're using the mobile connection as a backup only (it will auto-switch to cellular internet if the main connection fails), or using it in a new country, either way you don't need to have planned your SIM use in advance.

Just take out a new digital connection when you need it, or manage your provider so much more easily. And with a 5G connection and Wi-Fi 7 for connection to devices, it'll work as quickly as anything in the category can, plus it has mesh options for expanding the network. Comprehensive!

TP-Link Tapo C665G KIT

This comprehensive outdoor security camera is designed to be something you just never have to worry about — unless it sees something you need to worry about. It's built to be super-tough, standing up to any weather conditions, dust blasts or temperature changes. It's battery powered for total flexibility on placement, and uses its own solar panels to charge the battery during the day, so it can run at night.

Crucially, a very sharp 4K sensor with enhanced night vision combines with AI-based recognition of events, so that it not only can see everything it needs to, but it can also differentiate between movement that's just things blowing in the wind, and disruptions that are really worth warning you about. TP-Link emphasizes that the goal is to make sure it can cover a really broad area efficiently and smartly, making it a great investment — especially since it even has 4G support so it doesn't need to be near your router.

TechRadar is on the show floor for this year’s MWC (Mobile World Congress) in Barcelona, Spain, and we’ll be covering the latest news from some of the biggest names in mobile, computing, fitness and more.

• John Carmack has shared an idea for using fiber rather than RAM
• This is a vision of the future for replacing RAM modules in AI workloads
• While it's highly theoretical and a long way off, there are other possible nearer-term solutions to reduce AI's all-consuming appetite for RAM

John Carmack has aired an idea to effectively use fiber cables as 'storage' rather than conventional RAM modules, which is a particularly intriguing vision of the future given the current memory crisis and all the havoc it's wreaking.

Tom's Hardware noticed the cofounder of id Software's post on X where Carmack proposes that a very long fiber optic cable – and we're talking 200km long – could effectively fill in for system RAM, at least when working with AI models.

Carmack observes: "256Tb/s data rates over 200km distance have been demonstrated on single-mode fiber optic, which works out to 32GB of data in flight, 'stored' in the fiber, with 32TB/s bandwidth. Neural network inference and training [AI] can have deterministic weight reference patterns, so it is amusing to consider a system with no DRAM, and weights continuously streamed into an L2 cache by a recycling fiber loop."

What this means is that said length of fiber is a loop where the needed data (normally stored in RAM) is being "continuously streamed" and keeping the AI processor always fed (as the AI model weights can be accessed sequentially – this wouldn't work otherwise). This would be a very eco-friendly, power-saving way of completing these tasks, too, compared to traditional RAM.

As Carmack points out, this is the "modern equivalent of the ancient mercury echo tube memories", or delay-line memory, where data is stored in waves going through a coil of wire.

It's not an idea that's feasible now, but a concept for the future, as mentioned – and what Carmack is arguing is that it's a conceivable path forward which possibly has a "better growth trajectory" than we're currently looking at with traditional DRAM.

Analysis: flash forward

There are very obvious problems with RAM right now in terms of supply and demand, with the latter far outstripping the former thanks to the rise of AI and the huge memory requirements therein. (Not just for servers in data centers that field the queries to popular AI models, but video RAM in AI accelerator boards, too.)

So what Carmack is envisioning is a different way to operate with AI models that uses fiber lines instead. This could, in theory, leave the rest of us free to stop worrying about RAM costing a ridiculous amount of cash (or indeed a PC, or a graphics card, and the list goes on with the knock-on pricing effects of the memory crisis).

The problem is that there are a lot of issues with such a fiber proposition, as Carmack acknowledges. That includes the sheer quantity of fiber needed and difficulties around maintaining the signal strength through the loop.

However, there are other possibilities along these lines, and other people have been talking about similar concepts over the past few years. Carmack mentions: "Much more practically, you should be able to gang cheap flash memory together to provide almost any read bandwidth you require, as long as it is done a page at a time and pipelined well ahead. That should be viable for inference serving today if flash and accelerator vendors could agree on a high-speed interface."

In other words, this is an army of cheap flash memory modules slapped together, working massively in parallel, but as Carmack notes, the key would be agreeing on an interface where these chips could work directly with the AI accelerator.

This is an interesting nearer-term proposition, but one that relies on the relevant manufacturers (of AI GPUs and storage) getting their act together and hammering out a new system in this vein.

The RAM crisis is forecast to last this year, and likely next year too, potentially dragging on for even longer than that with all sorts of pain involved for consumers. So, looking to alternative solutions for memory in terms of AI models could be a valuable pursuit towards ensuring this RAM crisis is the last such episode we have to suffer through.

While we've witnessed some nasty price hikes with higher-end SSDs, budget drives are being affected too – and the situation is set to get worse, according to one executive at a big storage firm.

This is Shunsuke Nakato of Kioxia – a major SSD and NAND flash storage manufacturer – who is managing director of the firm's Memory Business Unit. As Tom's Hardware noticed, he spoke to Digital Daily, a South Korean tech news outlet.

Nakato observed that we're at the end of the era of affordable 1TB SSDs, and that: "To be honest, this year's production volume is already sold out. The days of cheap 1TB SSDs for around 7,000 yen (about $45) are over."

As Tom's Hardware points out, not so long ago, it was possible to pick up a 1TB solid-state drive for as little as $35 in the US. Right now, I'm not seeing anything less than $100 for a 1TB SSD at major US retailers – and many 1TB NVMe drives are at least $130.

The worry is that, given the chatter about spiking storage prices – which are following after RAM's lead – these SSDs will get a lot pricier soon. Nakato isn't the only person with industry knowledge sounding warning bells, and it's possible that while SSD prices haven't witnessed nearly as steep a climb as RAM, this could change as 2026 rolls on. Indeed, pricing pressure may well be felt throughout 2027, too.

So, the safest bet is likely to buy a wallet-friendly drive now, before all SSDs become distinctly more wallet-hostile, and not just high-end models (some of which have already doubled in price).

I'd be inclined to take this route, and to that end, if you're looking for a 1TB drive, here are my recommendations for what to grab right now.

Top 3 SSDs to consider now

These are my top three choices for the 1TB SSDs that you'll want to consider – though you may have to move very fast to snag some of them (one in particular). I've linked to US retailers for the deals you can get there, but you'll also find links to buy these SSDs in your region below, too, if you aren't in the US.

While these prices are already hiked to a degree, which may be off-putting, just bear in mind that the likelihood is they could seem cheap compared to the inflation the SSD market may incur over the next, say, six months.

WD Black SN850X 1TB: the drive to buy before it goes out of stock

This WD drive is a highly-rated NVMe SSD – we loved the base SN850 model, and there have been other versions since, like the SN850P and this SN850X, which is a slightly peppier, faster variant.

Priced at $109 at Walmart in the US as I type this, I don't think this SN850X will hang around long, given the value proposition it represents in a market where prices are rapidly inflating.

Crucial P310 1TB SSD: the cheapest you can get

If you want to buy as cheap as possible right now, the best deal I'm seeing – at the time of writing – is the Crucial P310. This is a nippy, power-efficient NVMe SSD that is priced at $106 at Amazon in the US currently.

Again, I'm not sure it'll be in stock for long at this price, mind. Technically, it's hardly cheaper than the WD drive above – and I'd definitely recommend that product over this SSD – but if the SN850X has sold out, this is still a great drive for gamers and everyday computing.

Samsung 990 Evo Plus SSD 1TB: a powerhouse drive with endurance aplenty

If you want to go a bit pricier, check out Samsung's 990 Evo Plus in its 1TB flavor, which is a relatively palatable $155 at Newegg. It doesn't make any sense compared to the WD Black SN850X in all honesty, but if that has vanished from Walmart's shelves (or the price has changed), this is a good alternative to the Crucial SSD.

Compared to the Crucial P310, the Samsung 990 Evo has a few advantages, including slightly faster performance, PCIe 5.0 support, and much better endurance (so the drive will last longer – it uses TLC rather than QLC NAND). The latter is crucial (ahem) if you'll be performing many write operations on the drive, and this Samsung model is the better bet for longevity.

However, from a pure value perspective for the everyday user, I'd still plump for the Crucial SSD at the current pricing (although as mentioned, the WD drive is still the top choice, assuming it stays in stock for any length of time).

• SSDs have shot up in price over the past month and a half
• Tom's Hardware compared the cost of some top-end SSDs against gold in terms of their relative weight
• It turns out that high-end 8TB SSDs are, on average, worth more than gold now by weight – and a few 4TB models are, too

If you've ever wondered whether SSDs are more valuable than gold, gram-for-gram, in weight terms – and some folks have, following price inflation driven by the memory crisis – the answer is, rather incredibly, yes, for capacious high-end drives, anyway.

Tom's Hardware reports that a Reddit discussion sprang up around this topic, and our sister site ran some comparisons of the relative cost-to-weight ratios of 24k gold versus certain NVMe SSD models.

Those are the compact stick-style SSDs, of course, that plug into your motherboard via an M.2 slot. (It's worth noting that SATA SSDs, which are much slower than NVMe drives, are in danger of having the plug pulled by a major manufacturer, Samsung, as you may have seen recently.)

To work this out, Tom's collated a list of SSDs (over 100) from major US retailers (Newegg, Microcenter, Best Buy, and Walmart), which were all PCIe 4 or 5 models with at least 4TB capacity (and currently in stock). These were all consumer models, with pricey enterprise drives (laden with a bunch of extra bells and whistles), not considered as they'd throw out the overall value equation.

And obviously, no SSD with a heatsink was included as that ramps up the weight a lot (which averaged around 8 grams for 4TB models, and only slightly more at 8.2 grams for 8TB drives).

With the 8TB models, Tom's worked out that the average price is now $1,476 with their sample. And the price of 8.2 grams of gold? That's about $1,200, based on a price of $148 per gram at the time of compiling the comparison.

So, these top-end SSDs are more than worth their weight in gold, quite literally.

As for the 4TB SSDs, they aren't there yet with their average price, but a few of the very top models edge past the price of the equivalent weight in gold.

Analysis: storage pain

Storage is unfortunately following in the footsteps of RAM. While the price of SSDs hasn't shot up as much as system memory has, matters have already gotten pretty bad.

Tom's shows us a graph of 4TB NVMe drive pricing from PC PartPicker, and you can clearly see that prices rose considerably in December, and there's been an even sharper uptick in the first half of January. Hence, this eyebrow-raising comparison to the price of gold, and it's even worse with faster 8TB models.

Where are we headed from here? I don't think it's too controversial a suggestion that the only way is up. It's just a question of what the flight path might be from here and how steep a climb.

So, if you're needing an SSD for an upgrade or a new PC build, you may want to pull the trigger on a purchase sooner rather than later (no matter what the size, but certainly with top-end models). For example, you can still get a Samsung 9100 Pro for $600 at Newegg in the US, and while the same drive was $400 on sale for Black Friday just a couple of months ago, odds are it could increase in price at a rate of knots from here on out.

Looking at our favorite SSD, the WD Black SN8100, the 2TB model was $220 during Black Friday, but is now – wait for it – $499 on Newegg. Ouch. Western Digital models seem to be riding the crest of the price hikes, Tom's observes, though that could partly relate to the popularity of the drives and how fast stock is selling through as a result.

It's nasty out there in storage land right now, but it could well get worse – and it very probably will. Meanwhile, we might see some creative solutions floating around, and as we made clear earlier this week, those who are on the hunt for an SSD for their PS5 could look at an alternative way to fix their storage predicament.

For all the hype around cloud storage, there are some significant benefits to storing and backing up your files locally. If that sounds good to you, I have a deal that makes it all affordable. Right now, you can get the Crucial X9 2TB Portable SSD at Amazon for £99.99 (was £124.99).

This is a fantastic price for a reasonably sized and fast portable SSD that is more secure, provides fast access, and has no recurring subscription fees compared to cloud storage.

If 2TB of storage isn't the right fit for you, then other sizes are available and also discounted. 1TB can be snapped up for just £68.99 (was £81.99), while the larger 4TB now costs £199.99 (was £239.99).

Today's best portable SSD deal

If you've never heard of Crucial, don't worry; the company is backed by Micron, one of the world’s largest NAND manufacturers. The parent company has been operating since 1978, which not only provides a lot of expertise but also that precious peace of mind to you, the customer.

This particular SSD from Crucial is fast, topping 1.05GB/s in read/write benchmarks. If you need superfast, then you'll need to go for an SSD that supports USB 4 or USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 SSDs, but the X9 should be more than capable for most tasks.

If you'd like to see what else is out there, then our guide to the best SSDs should be your first port of call. While you're at it, you might want to explore our guide to the best laptops if your machine needs an upgrade.

• Samsung is rumored to be ditching SATA SSDs
• The firm will supposedly announce this in January 2026
• This means fewer models at the cheapest end of the SSD spectrum, which is likely to impact pricing considerably

There's some more bad news on the SSD front to join yet another worrying development in the RAM world, both of which relate to supply difficulties and increased prices for these PC components.

First off, the main event here, which is the SSD gloom. It comes via a new video courtesy of Moore's Law is Dead (MLID) in which the YouTuber provides a rumor about budget Samsung SSDs (as TweakTown highlighted).

We're told that one of MLID's trusted sources in distribution claims that Samsung is about to cut off SATA SSD production, and an announcement to this effect will be coming in January.

These SSDs are cheaper models that use the slower SATA interface, as opposed to NVMe SSDs which are the more modern, much faster storage medium, using PCIe lanes (and usually plugging directly into the motherboard in an M.2 slot).

Another of MLID's sources, this time in retail, backs up this idea, telling the leaker that SATA SSDs will be harder to get by the middle of 2026.

On top of that, VideoCardz reports that SK Hynix, a big memory maker, is expecting supply of consumer RAM to remain tight through until 2028 – which isn't the first time we've heard that prediction. This is based on a leaked slide purportedly from SK Hynix aired on X by BullsLab Jay.

Analysis: SSD – scarce supply drives?

Of course, take this with some seasoning, and just because Samsung might be pulling the plug on SSD production soon – in theory, and that may not happen straight away – there will still be existing contracts to fulfil, and stock to sell through.

Still, the message is clear enough: SSDs of the SATA variety are on borrowed time. And even though some of you might be thinking "good riddance, who uses these slow old drives now, anyway?" – well, yes, they are outdated, but there are still buyers looking for budget-friendly SSDs who go this route.

That could be especially true if people building a PC are forking out a fortune for RAM, as the price of that potentially shoots up further next year, and folks look to make savings elsewhere.

As to the reality of how many buyers of SATA SSDs there are, MLID theorizes that it's something in the order of 20% of the solid-state drive market, pointing out that some of the top sellers on Amazon are SATA drives. Samsung likely represents something like half of those sales, so these drives disappearing from shelves could account for the supply of budget SSDs drying up as 2026 rolls onwards. Fewer cheap SSDs could also put pricing pressure on more affordable NVMe models, too.

Why is Samsung making this move? That would be because NVMe drives are simply more profitable, with higher premiums to be charged – as they are a lot faster than SATA products – and they're easier to manufacture, too (as a bare board that plugs into the motherboard, as opposed to a full drive with a case).

Samsung is going to be focusing on making HBM4 memory and GDDR7 video RAM, as well as NVMe SSDs, all of which are more profitable enterprises, particularly given the current AI boom.

Needless to say, if you're looking at buying an SSD, now is likely the best time to act, especially if you can find anything in the way of a holiday deal on a drive – because as of Q1 2026, prices could head upwards quite quickly, particularly for budget SSDs.

Most predictions have memory supply levels being tight until 2027, if not longer – and MLID reckons we're looking at maybe late in 2026, possibly through to mid-2027, before pricing woes settle down somewhat.

Don't forget that storage and RAM price hikes don't just impact those individual components and prebuilt PCs, but also laptops.

Constantly running out of storage space on your laptop? Best Buy has a solution for you today, with a number of excellent Cyber Week discounts on a range of Samsung storage devices.

While several models are on sale, I highly recommend checking out the 4TB Samsung S9 Portable SSD on sale for $299 (was $439). While it's a little pricey, this particular model is the current top pick on our best portable SSD buyers' guide, so it comes with a high recommendation from us.

With 4TB of space, you'll be set for years with the Samsung S9 – although that's not the main selling point. The S9 features a highly resilient exterior that can withstand some serious punishment, as well as support for USB Gen 2x2. In layman's terms, that means extremely quick read and write speeds, although your computer or other device will also need to support that to achieve the best performance.

Either way, the S9 is a great device that should last more than a few good years down the line.

Samsung T9 SSD deal at Best Buy

• See more: check out all of today's storage deals at Best Buy

More storage deals at Best Buy today

It's been a whirlwind this Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with surprising and generous deals for all to enjoy, and as the latter's sales come to a close, it's worth highlighting that the KingSpec XG 7000 4TB SSD on Newegg is now $229.99 (was $299.99), with a $70 price drop that places this within the same price region as a 2TB SSD.

Shop Newegg's full Cyber Monday sale

With the benefits of read and write speeds up to 7,400MB/s and 6,600MB/s, respectively, and a whopping 4TB of storage space, you'll never have to worry about slow file transfer speeds or insufficient storage space. This is an ideal option for console or PC gamers, thanks to the 2280 form factor.

(Not in the US? See today's best deals in your region below!)

Today's best KingSpec XG 7000 SSD Cyber Monday deal

Ever since buying my own 4TB SSD for my gaming PC, I've no reason to look back or look to upgrade, and that's because 4TB of storage space is almost perfect for storing a plethora of large games.

Of course, you won't be able to store your entire Steam library onto this drive (you'd probably need an 8TB drive to do that), but this is more than enough space for most users, whether you're gaming or using it for work.

Whether you're on a desktop PC, laptop, or gaming console, or even a handheld gaming PC, this is a drive that can easily cater to your needs of storing large files, especially if you're editing 4K videos. Don't miss it!

More Cyber Monday deals in the US

• Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $119
• Best Buy: $1,000 off TVs, laptops & headphones
• Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
• Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools
• Lenovo: 45% off laptops & tablets
• Lowe's: up to 30% off appliances, holiday decor & tools
• Samsung: up to $2,000 off appliances, TVs & phones
• Target: 40% off Christmas decor, clothing & furniture
• T-Mobile: up to $1,100 off latest iPhone 17
• Walmart: furniture, cheap TVs & vacs from $69
• Wayfair: 54% off Christmas, furniture & decor

So you might have heard that memory prices are through the roof right now, and it's absolutely true, and unfortunately that also applies to many of the best SSDs on the market. But for Cyber Monday at least, you can get the incredible Samsung 9100 Pro 2TB with heatsink for just $209.99 at Best Buy, an impressive $110 discount while prices for NAND-based components are all heading in the other direction.

• Shop Best Buy's full Cyber Monday sale

The Samsung 9100 Pro is an amazing SSD for high-performance builds that want fast read and write speeds without compromise.

With sequential read speeds up to 14,700MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 13,400MB/s, this drive can handily just about any professional or resource-intensive workload you can throw at it, including PC gaming, with ease.

(Not in the US? See today's best deals in your region below)

Today's best Samsung 9100 Pro Cyber Monday deal

In my most recent testing, the Samsung 9100 Pro delivered blistering fast read and write speeds, perfect for professional users and enthusiasts alike.

While other drives, like the Crucial T705 and Lexar NM1090 Pro beat the 9100 Pro on some tests, only the 9100 Pro delivered consistently high results across workloads, making it my pick as the best SSD for professionals this year.

Shop more Cyber Monday deals

• Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $119
• Best Buy: $1,000 off TVs, laptops & headphones
• Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
• Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools
• Lenovo: 45% off laptops & tablets
• Lowe's: up to 30% off appliances, holiday decor & tools
• Samsung: up to $2,000 off appliances, TVs & phones
• Target: 40% off Christmas decor, clothing & furniture
• T-Mobile: up to $1,100 off latest iPhone 17
• Walmart: furniture, cheap TVs & vacs from $69
• Wayfair: 54% off Christmas, furniture & decor

How often have you found yourself running out of space for a new game or for that video editing project you’ve been working on? If you’re like me, it happens annoyingly often, which means I’m frequently scouring SSD deals to find a cheap way to add more storage. Right now, you can buy the Crucial T710 2TB NVMe SSD at Amazon for £189.99 (was £249.99) this Black Friday, which is the lowest price it’s ever been.

The standard Crucial T710 2TB NVMe SSD is best for PC upgrades. If you want to upgrade your PS5’s storage, check out the Crucial T710 2TB NVMe SSD Heatsink for £186.99 (was £219.99). In either case, you get fast read/write speeds up to 14,500/13,800 MB/s, so this is a reliable upgrade, whatever your plans.

Today’s best NVMe SSD deal

Crucial has been making SSDs and other hardware like RAM for many years. It may not be a brand currently among the best SSDs but it’s still a reliable option.

With speedy sequential reads/writes of 14,900MB/s and 13,800MB/s, and random reads/writes of 2.2M/2.3M, it’ll cut down on loading times nicely. If you’re considering buying the heatsink model to add to your PS5, it’ll be similarly convenient when loading new games.

If such an upgrade sounds intimidating, don’t worry. It’s very simple to learn how to install a PS5 SSD - and I’ve done it myself. When I did it, it only took me around 10 minutes, and I was impressed at how easy it was to do. Storage is something we all end up needing more of over time and the Crucial T710 is a great solution to that problem.

If you’d prefer the simplicity and portability of an external solution, take a look at the best external hard drives around at the moment. If you need an even bigger upgrade, it might be time to eye up the gaming PC deals going on right now. There are some great discounts around.

Shop more of today's best Black Friday sales

• Amazon: up to 66% off tech & essentials
• AO: up to £500 off Dyson, Bosch & Hisense
• Argos: up to 50% off appliances, tech & toys
• Currys: deals on Ninja, Shark & Lenovo
• Dell: laptops from £279
• Dyson: up to £550 off vacuums
• EE: Switch & PS5 bundles from £20/month
• John Lewis: up to 50% off tech & fashion
• Samsung: deals on appliances & phones
• Very: up to 40% off tech, toys & fashion

It is not a Black Friday deal per se but this obscure SSD from Onn, Walmart's own brand, is the cheapest ultra fast portable SSD available in the market at just $59 for 500GB. An equivalent product from Sandisk, the Extreme Portable, costs $95.99 while a similar from Samsung, the T7, retails for even higher at $104.99. It is just a real shame that higher capacities (1TB, 2TB, 4GB) aren't available.

Today's best portable SSD deal

What makes the Onn so special is its performance. 2GBps on read and 1.9GBps on write, thanks to the USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 connection that it provides. I applaud Onn's decision to include a useful case and a pair of relatively long (400mm) USB cables.

Its design reminds me a lot of the Sandisk Extreme portable SSD especially as it also features a bright orange carabiner hole and a textured chassis surface. Unfortunately, it has a 1-year warranty (its rivals have up to 5-year as standard) and doesn't come with any software or data recovery services.

Also consider these portable SSD

Black Friday is already well underway and big savings on hard drives aren't stopping, especially with Newegg.

Right now, you can get this cavernous Seagate Expansion Desktop 26TB Hard Drive for just $250 at Newegg. Amazon is offering a 11% saving (that's $30 savings on the usual price of $280), bringing its SRP down to well under $10 per terabyte ($9.62 to be more precise).

Don't worry if it runs out of stock - as other vendors stock this particular model (STKP26000400 ) for the same price:

• Walmart
• Bestbuy
• Seagate
• Microcenter
• B&H Photo

Seagate's huge 26TB capacity means you'll have enough space for thousands of videos, images, documents and anything else you might need to store, while the USB 3.0 connection will do a speedy job of moving them from your PC or laptop.

Today's best Seagate 26TB Expansion Hard Drive deal

If you're looking to boost your computer storage for any reason and don't want to shell out for the best cloud storage, this might just be the best deal you can find.

We see loads of Black Friday portable hard drive deals but nothing offered quite as much space for so little a price.

Plus, it sports a USB 3.0 connection that allows you to instantly plug-in and backup your files, photos, videos, creative endeavors, and sensitive data at up to 5 GBps, all without any setup.

In a form factor of just 7" x 1.65" x 5" and weighing just under 2.6 lbs, this external hard drive is a smart choice for all those looking to keep their desk clutter free and their treasured files stored securely.

As an additional bonus, this deal includes Seagate's Rescue Data Recovery services, so you can rest assured knowing that the experts are on hand for all your data recovery needs.

Also consider

Newegg is taking preorders for a $50 WD 5TB My Passport for Mac (in blue) portable external hard disk drive, a whopping 68% off its $160 sticker price.

This fantastic Black Friday deal will only be available later today from 9am PT and will last as long as stock is available. You can only buy two, and hundreds of people have already loaded their baskets with this superb offer.

(I have also reached out to Newegg to find out how many they have).

I’ve never seen any hard drive selling for less than $10/TB and this is the first one to achieve this, albeit in very limited numbers. The fact that it is both portable and a 2.5-inch model only enhances its value as an exceptional deal.

The My Passport for Mac is designed for Mac and its Time Machine system. It integrates 256-bit hardware encryption password protection solution and features a 3-year warranty.

WD has included a suite of applications called WD Discovery which enables the end user to import social media cloud storage data as well as improving the performance and security of this portable HDD.

Today's best Western Digital 5TB portable HDD

Despite being designed for Mac, you should be able to use it across Windows, Mac, and Chromebook devices. The 5TB capacity is large enough for backing up large photo and video collections, work archives, and even game libraries.

We reviewed the 6TB version of the drive a while back and said it performed well. We had a slight issue with the robustness of the USB 3.2 microB connector but I think it is a minor point. Overall we gave it a highly recommended award.

While you're here, check out our roundup of the best external hard drives, and also the fastest hard drives.

Also consider these 5TB portable drives

USB flash drives (also known as pen drives, memory sticks or thumb drives) are, like MicroSD cards, cherished companions in our digital lives. They store pictures, documents, videos, music and have evolved from slow storage devices with small capacities to multi-terabyte powerhouses capable of transferring Gigabytes of data per second.

I have researched the best value-for-money flash drives and have arranged them in descending order of price. My top pick is the Buffalo External SSD. Yes, it is an SSD but so small that it fits in the body of a pen drive. It is extremely fast as well (quicker than any hard drive), surprisingly affordable with a whopping 2TB capacity.

As for microSD cards, I don't recommend buying flash drives with a capacity below 128GB, as the price difference with smaller capacities (32GB, 64GB) is insignificant. The only exception being for niche products like secure drives, rugged memory sticks or small models.

I've added the cheapest models for 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB and 4TB and have only considered trusted brands such as Teamgroup, Sabrent, Move Speed, Kingston, Buffalo, Sandisk and a few others.

I have picked the best USB flash drives (when it comes to sheer value for money) for this Black Friday. I've also selected the largest (in capacity), fastest and smallest memory sticks to cover all bases.

I've added the Sabrent Rocket Nano as it is barely bigger than your average USB flash drive but doesn't have a built-in connector. I also threw in the Picolabs Picodrive, a minuscule USB 4.0 drive that's ridiculously small and absurdly fast.

Remember to back up your precious pen drives to avoid any headache if they are damaged, stolen or lost (or chewed by your dog). I strongly recommend getting a cloud backup or cloud storage solution. Data recovery plans from Amazon (via a third party like After Solutions) can be purchased for as little as $2 per year, providing you with extra peace of mind.

Cheapest USB drives you can buy per capacity

Largest flash drives in capacity

Fastest USB flash drives

Smallest thumb drives in size

• Shop all Black Friday USB drive deals at Amazon.com
• Check out all Black Friday USB drive deals at Amazon.co.uk
• See all USB drives at Newegg

MicroSD cards are an essential part of our digital life, allowing us to store absolutely incredible amounts of data cheaply, on something barely bigger than your pinkie fingernail.

I have been following the meteoric rise of memory cards for almost a quarter of a century and have owned (and tested) dozens of them.

Anything below 128GB is not worth purchasing in my view, as the price difference with smaller capacities (32GB, 64GB). I've added the cheapest models for 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB and have only considered trusted brands such as Silicon Power, Teamgroup, Lexar, Sandisk, Amazon, PNY and Samsung.

I have also added three other products to cover specific use cases. Delkin microSD cards for their overall performance (300MB/s - albeit with a 1000% premium), Sandisk Max Endurance for continuous recording, and PNY 5-pack for affordable storage.

Remember to back up your memory cards to avoid any disappointment should they be damaged, stolen or lost. I strongly recommend getting a cloud backup or cloud storage solution. Data recovery plans from Amazon (via a third party like After Solutions) can be purchased for as little as $2 per year, providing you with peace of mind.

I have picked the best microSD cards (as far as value for money is concerned) for this Black Friday across several use cases and storage capacities and arranged them, below in order of preference.

The best value microSD cards you can buy right now

• SSD prices could be on the verge of skyrocketing due to increased NAND flash memory demand
• Pricing for NAND flash has doubled over the last six months
• This is due to the AI boom, with more data centers shifting from hard drives to SSDs

We're fast approaching Black Friday and the holiday season sales in the latter stages of 2025, and for consumers attempting to get their hands on one of the best SSDs, it may be the most important window of opportunity to grab a good price on PC storage that we've witnessed in some time.

As reported by DigiTimes, prices of NAND flash memory (used in SSDs) have doubled over the last six months due to the 'AI boom' according to Phison's CEO Khein-Seng Pua. The growing demand from data centers (shifting away from hard drives to SSDs) means we're looking at potential supply shortages in 2026 and beyond, possibly for several years, the chief executive believes.

It's also worth noting that the prices for TLC 1-terabit NAND (a popular flash memory chip) have increased to $10.70 from $4.80, with similar price hikes across other modules as well, illustrating a significant shift in demand for these storage components.

Phison, which is a major player in providing components for SSDs (controllers, mind you, rather than memory chips), had a 30% year-on-year increase in revenue in the third quarter of 2025, which has been attributed to the increased demand and price of said SSD controllers.

DigiTimes also reported that SanDisk has already increased NAND flash prices by 50% this November, again as a result of increased AI usage and data storage needs, a trend that's been ongoing for months (with the likes of Western Digital).

This all adds up to plenty of evidence to suggest that consumers may feel the impact of price hikes when looking to purchase a new SSD.

Analysis: Black Friday is your best friend, SSD hunters

It therefore looks like there's no better time than now to buy a new SSD, because Black Friday is fortunately upon us this November. And since I've not yet noticed any significant price changes at the consumer level just yet, it's likely better to take advantage of current pricing while you still can, particularly with a Black Friday discount thrown in.

Securing a 4TB SSD has worked wonders for my gaming PC for years now, and while that might seem like overkill for some (especially because they don't come cheap), it's definitely worthwhile. You'll rarely be left worrying about insufficient drive space, and perhaps most importantly, you'll be set for your storage needs for some time, whatever happens with SSD pricing in the future - which looks pretty bleak.

Whether it's an M.2 SSD to slot into your PC's motherboard, or a portable external SSD, there's bound to be plenty of bargains to find leading up to Black Friday and the special day itself, and we'll be here to cover it once the big sale kicks off.

The storage of important documents, precious photos, sensitive work data, and the like is becoming increasingly important. We want our files to be both secure and instantly accessible, which is why everyone should consider one of the best cloud-based backup solutions.

One of our favorites is Carbonite who offer unlimited, automatic cloud backup that protects your files, photos, and videos from accidental deletion, device failure, theft, and more. Better still, Carbonite cloud backup plans are currently discounted by up to 40%.

There are a number of benefits to going with Carbonite, but at the top of my list is that it's truly unlimited. That means you can back up as many items as you want, with no limit whatsoever. Say goodbye to being charged for extra storage.

Save up to 40% on Carbonite cloud backup

Why we love Carbonite cloud backup

With Carbonite, your data is not only backed up but also easily accessible from anywhere. You can access them from any device, including your phone, so your important documents are always with you—whether you're at the office, at home, or on the road for a business trip.

If antivirus protection is important to you, Carbonite's Plus and Prime plans come with complimentary Webroot Antivirus. This powerful service helps safeguard your computer against a wide range of threats, including viruses, ransomware, and phishing attempts. In a world where data breaches are on the rise, Webroot provides a crucial layer of defense.

Should you ever need help, Carbonite offers 24/7 customer support. And if you accidentally delete a file, their seamless recovery options make it easy to restore your data.

If you missed out on this current deal, check out our Carbonite promo codes for more ways to save on data storage and cloud backup.

If you're looking to purchase some of the best antivirus software, then Webroot Essentials should definitely be up there at the top of your list. Your confidence should be strengthened by the fact that Webroot was ranked number one in the recently released July 2025 PassMark study.

If that sounds good, you'll be glad to hear that Webroot Essentials is currently 50% off. That means you can get one-device protection for as little as $25/year or if you'd like cover for five devices, it'll cost you $45/year.

Webroot Essentials is a powerful, cloud-based antivirus that protects customers across PCs, Macs, tablets, Chromebooks, and smartphones. With Password Manager and Web Threat Shield baked in, Webroot Essentials empowers people to live their best digital life online without the fear of falling victim to viruses, ransomware, phishing, and more.

Get 50% off Webroot Essentials

Three reasons we love Webroot

1. Powerful malware and ransomware protection

With online threats on the rise, you'll be glad to be the beneficiary of real-time defense against ransomware, phishing, and other online threats. This is made possible through cloud-based intelligence which detects and stops new attacks instantly, keeping your personal data and passwords safe.

2. Fast, lightweight, and reliable virus scans

Say goodbye to antivirus software that causes your computer to grind to a halt. With Webroot Essentials you'll enjoy fast and efficient virus scans that avoid hogging memory or storage space. According to the July 2025 PassMark study, Webroot Essentials was six times faster in performing scans compared to Norton, McAfee, and Bitdefender.

3. Complete Internet Security for All Devices

Get comprehensive protection for all your devices, including PC, smartphone, Mac, and more. With coverage for up to 5 devices and the best internet security tools built in, like Web Threat Shield and Password Manager, you’ll get comprehensive virus protection for your entire digital life.

If you missed out on this deal, head over to our Webroot Coupon Codes page for other ways to save on antivirus software.

• SSD and HDD prices are going up again, due to increased AI demand for NAND products
• Western Digital has already implemented a price surge on HDDs, effective immediately
• Other manufacturers are expected to follow suit

For both gamers and creative professionals, storage space and transfer speeds are crucial to achieving the best experiences with the best SSDs. Their importance can't be overstated. So for those seeking storage upgrades: spoiler alert, you may want to act quickly.

SSD (Solid State Drive) and HDD (Hard Disk Drive) prices are expected to increase up to 30%, due to increased NAND demand from AI data centers, as reported by Wccftech. Manufacturers such as Western Digital have already announced HDD price surges, effective immediately, as highlighted in a customer notice letter by QQ_Timmy on X.

The same applies to Micron and SanDisk. SanDisk recently announced a 10% NAND price hike, and Micron is anticipated to introduce a price surge as significant as 30%, as per a report by DigiTimes.

It's not the first time this has happened. Last year saw a major price surge for SSDs, but that was caused by a short supply of NAND packages. Now, it's a matter of increased demand from AI data centers, with HDDs and SSDs being used for datasets to train AI models and algorithms.

Ultimately, this could lead to an increased demand across the board, and the longer it goes on, the higher the chances of a lack of supply and no stock. Fortunately, I've hardly seen any SSDs go out of stock completely, even during last year's NAND shortage, but don't underestimate the climate of the market and how quickly things can shift.

Analysis: I couldn't be happier that I bought a 4TB SSD when I did

Besides upgrading your GPU or CPU, upgrading your SSD is severely underrated – especially if you're someone who is still using an HDD for gaming (even if it's amongst the best HDDs available) which, honestly, you shouldn't be in 2025 since some games literally require SSDs to work.

SSDs can quite literally revitalize your gaming experiences, with much faster loading times and easier file transfers at much quicker speeds. However, chances are you already know that. So I'll also point out the benefits in terms of storage space. Constantly having to delete games due to insufficient space is what led me to buy a 4TB SSD, and it's served me well for years.

Whether it's a portable SSD you desire, a 2230 SSD for your handheld gaming PC, or even more affordable SATA SSDs, I'd advise you to make a move now before the price surge sets in for all SSDs.

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• Team Group has launched its T-Create Expert P34F portable SSD
• It features location tracking via Apple's Find My app, and an alarm
• The P34F should go on sale very soon

If you've ever lost an external SSD or USB stick – maybe containing vital, or even sensitive, data – you'll know it can be a traumatic experience, and a new portable drive could put an end to any such anguish around misplaced hardware.

TechPowerUp reports that Team Group has officially launched the T-Create Expert P34F, which is a world-first in terms of being a portable SSD that has built-in location tracking.

The feature works via Apple's Find My app, and the drive can be paired with supported Apple devices for the tracking functionality, meaning the best Macs, iPhones or iPads.

The P34F can be located using said Find My app, and the drive also boasts an internal speaker that allows it to sound an alarm that's audible within a 40m range.

The SSD comes in 512GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities and has a sleek design, weighing 70g with a size of 81 x 43mm and a thickness of 16.5mm. It has a metal finish and is made from a 73% zinc alloy, and offers transfer speeds of up to 1,000MB/s for reads and 900MB/s for writes.

While Team Group says the drive is out now, and the P34F is live on its website, it's still yet to appear at retailers – presumably that's about to happen. We don't have a confirmed price yet, either, but we do know that the SSD benefits from a three-year warranty.

Analysis: portability and security

Note that only the tracking capability is tied to the Apple ecosystem, and you can of course use this portable SSD with other devices including Windows PCs. It has a USB-C connector and supports USB 3.2 Gen 2 and Thunderbolt connectivity.

It's a clever idea to have this built-in tracking system, particularly on such a small drive. The P34F is smaller than a credit card, in fact, and with that kind of diminutive hardware it's not difficult to misplace or accidentally leave the device somewhere.

At least if that happens, you've got a fighting chance of getting this external SSD back, particularly as it has that audible alarm for locating the drive when you know it's nearby. And that could be an absolute lifesaver if you're storing sensitive data on the P34F – not that you should store such data on anything that's portable and potentially easily lost, of course, but people still do.

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MSI Datamag: 30-second review

The MSI Datamag is a rare portable SSD that combines real-world speed with a genuinely useful design twist. The 20Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 interface keeps transfers moving fast and in testing the drive very comfortably met and exceeded its rated read and write speeds.

It’s quick to launch projects, back up big shoots and handle transfer tasks without fuss and is a notable step above 10Gbps rivals that top out under 1,000MB/s.

The standout feature is the magnetic mount. Snap it to an iPhone or any MagSafe-compatible case or use the included stick-on rings to park it on laptops, rigs or consoles. Cable management is easy thanks to the included short and long USB-C leads plus a USB-C to USB-A adapter for older gear.

The compact square shell uses aluminum as a heat spreader and the finned edges help the drive stay cool in sustained work. In extended stress runs I saw consistent throughput and no throttling.

Two quick caveats: you need a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port for full speed and there’s no stated IP rating, so treat it as a tough metal portable drive rather than a truly ruggedized model.

Price and availability vary by region but it generally compares well for the performance on offer – especially considering the five-year warranty that adds some extra peace of mind.

If you want a compact fast drive that mounts neatly on a phone or workstation without extra fuss, the Datamag is an easy pick for everyday use. You can pay more for flagship USB4 drives that are a shade quicker or spend less on 10Gbps options but few match the overall blend of speed, thermals and magnetic attachment convenience.

MSI Datamag: Pricing and availability

• How much does it cost? 2TB: $160 / £160 / AU$269
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Available in most major markets including the US, UK and Australia

The MSI Datamag 20Gbps isn’t always stocked at all retailers, so start with your local MSI website and its Where to Buy page or check your country’s authorized retail partners for current options.

It’s generally easier to find in Australia and the UK while US availability varies by capacity and retailer.

In the MagSafe-friendly portable SSD niche there are only a few direct rivals and among 20Gbps-class drives the Datamag is competitive, but some almost as fast models do undercut it on price.

• Value: 4 / 5

MSI Datamag: Specs

MSI Datamag: Design

• MagSafe compatible
• USB-C with USB-A adapter
• Aluminum heatsink

The Datamag looks and feels purpose-built rather than being just another generic plastic-wrapped portable SSD. MSI uses a compact square footprint with trimmed corners and a radial brushed top that keeps fingerprints in check and gives the logo a low-key finish.

The aluminum enclosure doubles as a heat spreader and the ribbed edge detailing is more than cosmetic, helping the drive shed heat during long writes. It’s a tidy pocketable shape that doesn’t snag cables in a bag and the single USB-C port sits flush so it’s easy to pack.

The headline design trick is the magnetic mounting system. On an iPhone or any MagSafe compatabile phone (and that now includes the Pixel 10 thanks to Pixelsnap) it snaps on securely and for non-magnetic surfaces MSI includes two stick-on metal rings in black and white. That makes the Datamag handy on varied rigs, claptops, consoles and other devices since you can park it exactly where you want it and keep the cable strain-free.

MSI also bundles both long and short USB-C cables plus a USB-C to USB-A adapter, so you can go access it on older devices, or just have a bit of versatility when you run out of ports. The lanyard loop in the corner is a small but smart touch for tethering for extra security.

At 66 x 66 x 13mm (2.60 x 2.60 x 0.51 inches) and 81g (0.179lb), the Datamag carries a reassuring heft without feeling bulky. The square puck format spreads weight across a phone well, so it stays put during handheld shooting and the rounded edges keep it comfortable against a palm.

There’s no stated IP rating, so treat it as a solid metal portable rather than a true rugged drive. Overall the design is simple, durable and very practical.

• Design: 4 / 5

MSI Datamag: Performance

• Great performance
• No throttling

Aside from magnetic wizardry, performance is the Datamag’s calling card and the 20Gbps USB interface and Phison PS2251-U18 controller deliver impressive throughput.

In the ATTO benchmark I saw peaks of 1,660MB/s reads and 1,860MB/s writes, while sustained transfers in Windows managed 1,642MB/s read and 1,514MB/s write. That’s comfortably above the rated 1,600 / 1,500MB/s and well ahead of 10Gbps rivals like the SanDisk Extreme and Samsung T7 that top out near 1,000MB/s. In comparison, higher-tier 20Gbps options such as the SanDisk Extreme Pro can read a touch faster at around 1,900MB/s and of course USB4 drives are even faster.

The aluminum body with finned edges helped keep temps in check and I saw no throttling in a 30-minute mixed read and write run. For large media copies, camera offloads and scratch disk use the Datamag feels snappy and dependable under load.

• Performance: 4.5 / 5

MSI Datamag: Final verdict

MSI’s Datamag is a portable SSD that feels ready for real-world workloads. It’s fast in everyday tasks, doesn’t slow down on long transfers and stays cool thanks to the metal shell.

The square pocketable design is easy to carry every day and the magnetic mount and included rings make it quick to attach to a phone or other equipment.

Pricing is decent for the class and the five-year warranty is a great bonus. If you want speed with a smart attachment system, the Datamag delivers dependable 20Gbps performance in a compact easy-to-mount package.

Should I buy the MSI Datamag?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

For more options, we've tested out the fastest external SSDs you can get right now.

The WD_Black SN8100 is widely recognized as the fastest SSD that you can buy right now and SanDisk is selling it direct for as low as $229.99, a price that includes delivery and a free 15W Ixpand wireless charger worth $13.99.

That’s an extra saving of $40 on top of the existing $21 price cut; note that this price will be reflected at check out once you add the item to your basket, not on the product page. The offer ends on July 7th.

Today's best WD_Black SN8100 2TB SSD deal

Amazon, Walmart, B&H Photo and Newegg all have it at $269.99 so SanDisk’s 15% discount is a small but significant one.

Tomshardware, our sister publication, says that it's "the pinnacle of SSD design, bringing fantastic performance and power efficiency in one nice package.” It gave it a 4.5/5 rating and an Editor’s choice badge, with the only con being its price ($279.99 at the time of review).

The SN8100 can reach speeds of up to 14,900 / 14,000 MB/s for sequential writes and up to 2,300K / 2,400K random read and write IOPS.

It’s a shame though that you cannot add an Ontrack data recovery plan from $9.99 for a 2-year subscription for this particular drive. Other SanDisk drives, like the WD_Black SN850X, offer this very useful option.

Looking for more savings? Right now, we're rounding up the best Prime Day SSD deals around, and check out our live hub for the most up to date Prime Day deals on all tech.

Here’s a list of other PCIe Gen5 SSDs

• Samsung 9100 Pro 2TB, 14.8GBps, $239.99 at Amazon
• Corsair MP700 Elite 2TB, 10GBps, $198.99 at Amazon
• PNY CS2150 2TB, 10.2GBps, $169.99 at Amazon
• Crucial T705, 2TB, 13.6GBps, $229.99 at Amazon
• Crucial T700, 2TB, 12.4GBps, $219.99 at Amazon
• Sabrent Rocket 5 2TB, 14GBps, $339.99 at Amazon
• TEAMGROUP T-Force GC PRO 2TB, 12.5GBps, $179.99
• TEAMGROUP T-Force Z540 2TB, 12.4GBps, $219.99
• TEAMGROUP T-Force GA PRO 2TB, 10GBps, $179.99
• GIGABYTE AORUS Gen5 14000, 2TB, 14.5GBps, $251.88

• Shop all PCIe Gen5 SSDs at Amazon

Are you always running out of storage space for gaming on your PS5 or PC, or maybe even for video editing? I know exactly what it's like. If you've been waiting for the Amazon Prime Day sales for a discounted SSD, the good news is, you don't have to wait around any longer .

The Samsung 990 Evo Plus 2TB is now available for $139.99 (was $176.99) on Amazon in the US, and is available at £113.95 (was £126.59) on Amazon in the UK.

Its counterpart, the Samsung 990 Evo Plus 4TB, is available for just $234.99 (previously $327.99) on Amazon in the US, in a limited-time deal that saves you $93. It's also available for £225.85 (previously £257.19) on Amazon in the UK.

• Browse all the early Prime Day deals

The Samsung 990 Evo Plus is a step up from the original Samsung 990 Evo, which ranked amongst our best SSDs in 2025 for PC, with an aim for greater power efficiency and a 4TB option. It's easily one of the best SSDs you can buy today, with more than enough storage space for large files, and high read and write speeds.

Not in the US or UK? Scroll down to see the best Samsung 990 Evo Plus deals in your region!

Today's best Samsung 990 Evo Plus deals in the US

Today's best Samsung 990 Evo Plus deals in the UK

After dealing with phases of running out of storage space for years, the move to a 4TB SSD is one that I absolutely don't regret. If you're lucky enough to already own a 2TB SSD, I'd still recommend opting for the Samsung 990 Evo Plus 4TB model.

It's been a while since I've had to look at my main drive's space left with concern, and I've got games like Baldur's Gate 3, GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Tekken 8, and Cyberpunk 2077 all installed. Most of those titles I've mentioned are over 100GB.

It's also worth mentioning that the $234.99 / £225.85 sale price for the 4TB SSD is very generous and is miles away from previous discounts on 4TB SSDs. Games are getting bigger and that, combined with other factors like large video files for editing, takes a huge toll on storage. If I hadn't already invested in a new SSD, I wouldn't hesitate on this one.

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Want to upgrade your gaming PC, rig or workstation on a budget? Then this AMD Ryzen 7 5700X CPU, from just $99.99 from Newegg (down from $129.99), should be at the heart of your system.

It is, in my opinion, the best CPU deal you can snatch right now and you don’t even need to wait for Amazon Prime Day (which starts next week).

Today's best AMD Ryzen 7 5700X CPU deal

To get this exceptionally low price, you will need to buy a $100 Newegg gift for $85, then use it to buy the CPU at $114.99, effectively bringing down the price to just a cent under $100.*

Hurry up though as the sales end in less than 24 hours. The item is sold by SenyTech but shipped, for free, by Newegg. Note this is an OEM CPU, which means that it comes in a tray rather than in a box and doesn’t have a stock HSF, perfect if you want to save money, minimize waste and keep your own heatsink fan.

You will need to get a compatible AM4 motherboard to run this processor. Newegg has a bunch of models based on the B550 chipset selling for as little as $79.99. Add a pair of 16GB DDR4 memory (as low as $51.98) and you bag yourself a perfectly capable nippy system for just over $230.

How good is the Ryzen 7 5700X? It scores 26,617 on the popular Passmark benchmark thanks to its eight cores and 36MB L2/L3 cache. That number puts it ahead of far more expensive rivals such as the Core i5-14400.

It has a high base clock speed of 3.4GHz and a TDP of 65W, making it a great choice for those looking for smaller systems.

* A spokesperson for Newegg told me that “Looks like we should have enough inventory to have it (the gift card) last through the end of the promo, which would be 7/6/25. There is a chance of it selling out before then, but it should be fine based on current sales trends”.

Other similar CPU deals from Newegg

• Intel Core i5-12700KF, 10 core, 3.7GHz, $113.99 with gift card
• Intel Core i5-12700K, 10 core, 3.7GHz, $134.99 with gift card
• Intel Core i5-14400F, 10 core, 3.7GHz, $114.99 with gift card
• AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, 6-core, 3.7GHz, $125.50 with gift card
• AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT, 6-core, 3.7GHz, $124.98 with gift card
• AMD Ryzen 5 5600, 6-core, 3.5GHz, $84.99 with gift card

Ed: The offer has now ended. Both the mini PC and the gift card are out of stock. The following Mini PCs are still available right now.

• Hasee N5095, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, $98
• VNOPN J4125, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, $100
• Beelink N5095, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, $112
• Peladn N5095, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, $112
• Niuzu Ryzen 3 3250U, 8GB, 256GB SSD, $119
• Brenuc N100, 8GB, 256GB SSD, $129
• Kamrui PS1 N100, 16GB, 1TB SSD, $129
• Peladn PS1 N150, 16GB, 1TB SSD, $129
• GenMachine Ryzen 3 2200U, 8GB, 256GB SSD, $129

If you are looking for an affordable Windows 11 PC on a tight budget, then you can get the Kamrui AK1 Plus mini PC from Newegg for $104 (was $199) by buying a $100 for $85 (use promocode FTTNEGC85), and then purchasing the mini PC for $119, saving you $15 in the process.

In comparison, a very similar deal at Amazon (Kamrui with almost identical CPU) cost $189 at the time of writing, almost twice the price - 82% to be more precise.

This is the cheapest mini PC with a 1TB SSD I’ve ever seen since starting writing about deals 20 years ago.

Newegg told us that “inventory (for the gift card) should last through” today. So don’t wait till the last moment to get one of them (you can buy two $100 cards and get $30 off in total).

Today's best Kamrui AK1 Plus mini PC deal

We have reviewed Kamrui PCs in the past, so it is a known brand. The AK1 Plus is barely bigger than the Apple Mac Mini M4 mini PC, runs on an Intel N100 CPU and has 16GB of RAM and a 1TB M.2 SSD (albeit SATA). You can add a second, removable, 2.5-inch SSD or hard disk drive.

Despite its size, it comes with four USB ports, two HDMI connectors, a Gigabit LAN port and a dedicated audio I/O. Corners have been cut here with no memory card reader, only two video outputs and no USB Type-C connector. The OS is Windows 11 Pro.

Ahead of the sales, we're rounding up the best Prime Day mini PC deals around with some of the best mini PCs we've tested on sale right now.

You can also check Amazon mini PC deals from $99.99.

Other mini PCs from Newegg to consider

Ed: The gift cards are now out of stock. The drive is still on sale for $149.99 at Newegg.

I have just checked on Newegg and can confirm that the gift card and the Samsung SSD promotions are still going on. I reached out to Newegg to find out when the gift card promotion is ending

If you are looking to add super-speedy SSD storage to your PC (or to use as an external storage device), then you can snatch the Samsung 990 Pro 2TB SSD from Newegg for $134.99 (was $169.99) by buying a $100 for $85 (use promocode FTTNEGC85) and then buying the SSD for $149.99, saving you $15 in the process.

That’s the cheapest ever price for this award winning SSD, easily beating its past Black Friday sticker price.

Newegg told us, “Inventory (for the gift card) should last through” today - so don’t wait till the last moment to get one of them (you can buy two $100 cards and get $30 off in total).

Today's best Samsung 990 Pro SSD deal

There’s also a heatsink version for this Gen4.0 SSD should you want to shove it into a gaming console like the PS5 or anywhere else.

Amazon sells the drive for $149.99 if you're going to get hold of it from there. It's a good idea as you can get a 3-year data recovery plan for $14.99 - better safe than sorry. Check out our review of the Samsung 990 Pro.

This really is one of the best SSDs around - you can check out our review of the Samsung 990 Pro.

That said, you can still browse the rest of our best SSDs for other options.

Other 2TB SSDs from Newegg to consider

• SKHynix Platinum P41, Gen4.0, was $156.99, now $104.99 using gift card and promocode JSET3Z276
• Samsung SSD 9100 Pro, Gen 5.0, was $269.99, now $224.99 using gift card
• MSI Spatium Series M482, Gen 4.0, was $149.99, now $84.99 using promocode SM482NJ
• WD_Black SN770, Gen 4.0, was $124.99, now $109.99 using gift card
• Crucial T700, Gen 5.0, was $219.99, now $204.99 using gift card
• Crucial T705, Gen 5.0, was $229.99, now $214.99 using gift card
• Samsung 990 EVO Plus SSD, Gen 4.0, wears $176.99, now $124.99 using gift card
• WD_Black SN850X, Gen 4.0, was $164.99, now $144.40 using gift card and promocode JSET3Z279

Looking for more storage for your PC? Right now, you can get the Samsung 990 Pro 2TB NVMe M.2 SSD at Amazon for $149.99 (was $169.99).

While it might seem like a modest price cut on paper, the retail price of this drive actually used to be much higher. Last Christmas, for example, the lowest price for this was $169.99, so it's another drop from that back to the previous record-low price.

There's also a heatsink option available, which you should take if you don't have other cooling systems already in place. Or, if you plan on using this SSD in your PS5, you should definitely pay extra for a heatsink to ensure safety and compatibility.

Today's best Samsung 990 Pro SSD deal

Not convinced? Well, hear this, we gave this SSD five out of five stars. In our Samsung 990 Pro SSD review. We highlight its lightning-fast speed, optional heatsink, PS5 compatibility, up to 4TB of storage, and overall reliability.

Samsung advertises speeds up to 7450/6900 MB/s, which we were able to confirm during testing. It may not be PCle 5.0, but it's still running at competitive speeds that are hard to beat for this price.

One of our writers also praised the Samsung 990 Pro's performance for PS5, so it's a great option to expand your storage in Sony's latest console. Just be sure to add the heatsink to ensure it remains cool and compatible.

The Samsung 990 Pro is our best of the best SSD. That said, you can still browse the rest of our best SSDs for other options.

Any regular PC user will be aware of how essential storage space can be for work and content creation - and as a gamer, even more so, considering the massive file sizes of triple-A games these days. I'm talking about titles that eat up more than 100GB of your precious storage space, and if you're stuck with a 512GB or 256GB built-in SSD, then that's a massive chunk gone. Today, thanks to Amazon's Spring Sale, that changes.

The SanDisk 4TB Extreme Pro SSD is now available on Amazon for just $288.99 (previously $399.99), the SanDisk 2TB Extreme SSD is $136.45 (previously $199.99), and the SanDisk 1TB Extreme SSD is even more affordable at $99.75 (previously $129.99).

These are all portable SSDs, catering to those looking to keep important content with them on the go. While the read and write speeds certainly won't match what can be provided by on-motherboard M.2 NVMe SSDs, what you're getting here (especially with the 4TB Extreme Pro model) are fantastic deals with enough storage space to use with a range of compatible devices.

Not in the US? Scroll down to see the best SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD deals in your region!

Today's best SanDisk 4TB Extreme Pro Portable SSD deal

Today's best SanDisk 2TB Extreme Portable SSD deal

Today's best SanDisk 1TB Extreme Portable SSD deal

As one who owns a 4TB M.2 NVMe SSD, I can tell you that even 4TB runs out fast if you're a hardcore gamer. Game install sizes are getting bigger with each PC port, and a prime example is the recent port of Rise of the Ronin, requiring at least 155GB of space, an absurd storage size.

Regardless, any of these SSDs will be enough to ensure that you don't run out of space instantly (unless you're like me with multiple games installed). For gaming, I would recommend the 4TB Extreme Pro, and while you can easily find a much faster M.2 NVMe around the same price, you lose the benefit of portability.

However, if you're not a gamer, I'd suggest the 1TB Extreme option, as this is the most affordable option here. It's enough for content creators who might edit large 4K video files, with read and write speeds fast enough for great work efficiency.

Amazon Big Spring Sale - quick links

• Amazon Devices: 54% off Kindle, Echo & TVs
• Apple: AirPods + iPads from $99
• Easter: toys, decor & clothing from $4.99
• Headphones: $120 off Beats, Apple & Sony
• Health: electric toothbrushes from $21.99
• Kitchen: 54% off Ninja, Nespresso & Keurig
• Laptops: record-low prices from $177
• Outdoors: patio furniture & accessories from $17.99
• Tablets: iPads and Samsung from $59.99
• Toys: 46% off Lego, scooters & Toniebox
• TVs: smart TVs from $89.99
• Vacuums: Shark, Bissell & Dyson from $49.99

So, PCIe 7.0 is almost here, with the Peripheral Component Interconnect Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG) stating that development on the new specification has reached version 0.9 and is now in the “final draft” stage. In other words, unless any members of the PCI-SIG submit amendments, it’s ready for launch.

A quick bit of history before we get into what this means for you: the PCI-SIG was founded in 1992 as a consortium of industry bodies collectively overseeing the development of the PCI connection specification. For the uninitiated, that’s an interface commonly used for the motherboard in your laptop or PC to communicate with other components, like your GPU or SSD. The PCI-SIG has more than 800 member companies, including industry giants like Intel, AMD, Nvidia, and Qualcomm.

If you own a modern computer, it’ll use PCIe in some capacity. Most new-for-2025 systems will feature PCIe 5.0, the fifth (shocking, I know) iteration of the PCI Express format. PCIe 4.0 is still commonplace, though - my laptop uses it. Each new version brings various improvements, but the primary advantage is that each generation delivers double the available bandwidth compared to the previous iteration, which translates to improved data transfer speeds; a vital benefit for the best SSDs.

In other words, new versions of PCIe allow drive manufacturers to produce significantly faster storage for your PC. For example, PCIe 4.0 SSDs typically max out at the 7,000MB/s mark, while PCIe 5.0 SSDs can achieve up to 14,000MB/s or even higher - take the Crucial T705 SSD my colleague John Loeffler reviewed last year, which delivered data read speeds as fast as 14,400MB/s.

So, where’s PCIe 6.0?

Now we come to the big question: why should we get excited about PCIe 7.0 nearing completion when the computer hardware industry has yet to adopt PCIe 6.0 in any meaningful way? Well, for starters, these specifications need to be out in the wild for a while before they can become the norm. I remember the first time I got my hands on a mainstream PCIe 3.0 SSD for my own custom build, and being blown away by the speeds it offered compared to my comparatively sluggish old SATA drive.

Secondly, PCIe 6.0 drives are on the way. The PC hardware company Micron demoed such an SSD earlier this month, and while the drive in question is still a prototype right now, it achieved a monstrous 27GB/s sequential read speed in testing. As file sizes get larger and larger, faster transfer speeds become a necessity; 27GB/s might seem excessive, but somebody needs that bandwidth. PCIe 7.0 promises to take things even further, with SSD speeds that could theoretically reach above 50GB/s.

Still, it does beg the question about whether PCIe 7.0 is something we should care about right now. I’ll answer that: it’s complicated. Okay, that’s not a very satisfying answer, I know. On the one hand, consumers won't see PCIe 7.0 hardware in their PCs for a long time, so it’s hard to get excited about it today.

On the other hand, specification advancement like this is vitally important: simply put, it keeps PCIe at the forefront of hardware interface development. As long as the PCI-SIG continues to improve the specification, companies don't need to invest in their own (faster) interfaces, and everyone stays in the same boat - and as we’ve seen with the rise of USB-C adoption, connection standardization is always a good thing. As a seasoned PC builder, I can’t imagine how much it would suck if some components simply weren’t compatible with my motherboard because it didn’t use PCIe.

And hey, maybe I do need a 100GB/s+ SSD. That’s what the PCI-SIG is promising for PCIe 8.0…

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Need a little more portable storage space in your life? I've spotted this great value offer that drops the Samsung 2TB T7 Portable SSD at Amazon for $129.99 (was $269.99). That's the lowest price I've seen in over a year and even cheaper than Black Friday.

This isn't the kind of SSD you use to build a PC. Portable SSDs work well for storing video files, high-res photographs, and other large files that easily clutter a computer. They also work well for specific scenarios like outdoor photography, where having backup storage for your camera is a must.

Today's best portable SSD deal

The Samsung T7 SSD is a cousin to our best portable SSD, the Samsung T7 Touch. The biggest difference between the two is the durability, but if you're going to be using the SSD inside an office, it should be relatively safe. If you want to take it on an adventure, just add a case to protect it.

The T7 supports PCIe NVMe technology capable of speeds up to 1,050/1,000 MB/s, enough for high-res video recording directly onto the SSD. Devices like the iPhone 15 Pro can record at 4K 60fs. Just make sure your device is compatible before buying, since the Samsung T7 uses USB 3.2.

If you were looking for an SSD to build your PC, I'd recommend checking out our top SSDs for your PC. We also have a list specifically for the best SSDs for PS5.

Not all SSDs fit inside your computer or console and some of them are meant for on-the-go or outdoor adventurers. If that sounds like something you need then right now you can get the SanDisk Extreme 2TB Portable SSD at Amazon for $137.55 (was $199.99).

This slightly peculiar price is just a few bucks more than the lowest it's been all year and you'd be hard-pressed to find a better deal on an external SSD this durable.

The SanDisk Extreme is an external drive for storing large files like high-resolution photos and videos. The 2TB size is ideal for general use as a casual camera fiend, but you can also choose between 1TB and 4TB at a discounted price if you'd prefer. However, this mid-range option is the best value for money right now.

Today's best portable SSD deal

The SanDisk Extreme is a rugged and well-built portable SSD with a heft 2TB of storage. It boasts three-meter drop protection and IP65 water and dust resistance, so you can also take it with you on outdoor expeditions like hikes and camping trips.

In other words, you don't need to worry about losing files if it accidentally falls into water. You can also clip it to your bag with the built-in carabiner loop for additional security.

TechRadar featured the SanDisk Extreme in our best SSDs for Black Friday and it's still a good buy today. If this drive seems a little too outdoorsy for your tastes, take a look at one of our best wireless drives instead.

Orico O7000: One-minute review

Although we’re technically in the PCIe 5.0 era of storage, it’s really been a golden age for PCIe 4.0 SSDs thanks to a plethora of choices, such as the Orico O7000, which is positioned as a drive with high-end performance for a midrange price.

This PCIe 4.0 SSD ranges from 512GB to 4TB, and for this review we’re taking the 1TB model for a spin. Rated for 7000MB/s in reads and 6500MB/s in writes, the O7000 isn’t quite at the top-end of PCIe 4.0 storage (which would be the Samsung 990 Pro), but it’s close.

What makes this drive particularly interesting is its current $69 price (about £55/AU$100), which is relatively low nowadays for a drive of this caliber.

Compared to top-end PCIe 4.0 SSDs like the FireCuda 530R from Seagate and the MP600 Pro NH from Corsair, the O7000 is just a shade slower for the most part, and often ties the two drives.

However, when writing lots of data to the O7000 (like if you’re moving all your game installations to it), its performance easily bogs down and becomes extremely slow.

The O7000 1TB also has a weakness in that other brands offer the same SSD hardware under different names, and these drives can sometimes be cheaper, but sales pricing is always a fickle thing.

For now, though, the O7000 is the cheapest option for this hardware, and its performance makes it one of the best values in PCIe 4.0 storage.

Orico O7000: Price & availability

• How much does it cost? From $69 (about £55/AU$100)
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Available in the US, with UK and Australia availability pending

The O7000 is currently available on Amazon and Newegg, though at the time of writing, Amazon only offers the 1TB model, while Newegg also has the 2TB and 4TB variants in stock. The 1TB model costs $59, the 2TB $93, and the 4TB $196. The 2TB is currently the best deal on a dollar per GB basis, but since SSD prices can easily go up or down, it’s unclear how long this will be true for.

At $59 for the 1TB model, it’s significantly cheaper than other flagship PCIe 4.0 drives like Seagate’s FireCuda 530R and Corsair’s MP600 Pro NH, which cost $94 and $84 respectively for the 1TB version. It’s also much cheaper than older PCIe 5.0 SSDs, such as the $169 FireCuda 540 1TB.

Orico O7000: Specs

Orico O7000: Performance

Overall, the O7000 shows good, but not perfect, performance. The 530R and MP600 Pro NH were faster for the most part, but in nearly every single test the O7000 nipped on their heels. There were even a few instances where the O7000 tied or beat the Seagate and Corsair drives.

A particularly bright spot for the O7000 is its thermal performance and efficiency. It only maxed out at 50 degrees Celsius, far lower than the three other SSDs we tested. That makes the O7000 a decent candidate for laptops and handheld PCs, which often lack good SSD cooling.

Of course, more heat occurs because of higher power consumption, so the O7000 is a low-power drive too, another reason to choose it for a battery-powered device.

The FireCuda 540 was of course in its own league, but it costs about twice as much and benefits from active cooling, something the O7000 definitely doesn’t need.

However, the O7000’s biggest weakness is in sustained writes. All SSDs suffer from lowered writing performance the less free space they have, but the O7000 can see its performance drop to as low as 150MB/s. However, it’s rare to come across this situation in the real world since it requires tens or hundreds of gigabytes of large files being moved to an SSD.

Orico O7000: Verdict

While the O7000 1TB isn’t perfect, its overall performance is very close to what you get with the FireCuda 530R 2TB and MP600 Pro NH 2TB. With a substantially lower price tag of $69, that makes the O7000 a better deal for the most part. If you’re looking for a new boot drive on a budget or if you just want some fast, secondary storage, the O7000 is a sensible choice.

However, the SSD that the O7000 1TB is based on is also made by other brands, including TeamGroup with its MP44. There’s really no reason to buy the more expensive drive since they’re essentially identical, but that works in Orico’s favor right now since the O7000 is cheaper.

The O7000 2TB is an especially good deal right now, going for just $93, which isn’t much more than lots of 1TB drives. Spending the extra $34 to get double the storage and the same performance makes the O7000 2TB especially appealing versus the 1TB model, though we don’t know how long this will hold since SSD prices can change quite frequently (and have done so as this review was in progress).

Should you buy the Orico O7000

Buy the Orico O7000 if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Orico O7000

Although Intel’s new Core Ultra 200 Series has technically replaced last-gen 14^th Gen CPUs, I’m using my LGA 1700 test bench for SSD testing, rather than an LGA 1851 test bench.

This is because SSDs run on Arrow Lake CPUs actually perform significantly worse than on 14^th Gen CPUs. We’re not entirely sure why this is the case, but in order to show our SSDs’ best possible performance, we have to use Intel’s last-gen CPUs.

The LGA 1700 test bench is equipped with the Core i9-14900K, ASRock’s Z790 Taichi Lite motherboard, 32GB of DDR5 clocked to 5600MHz, and Corsair’s H170i iCUE LINK liquid cooler with a 420mm radiator. We also tested the Firecuda 530R, Firecuda 540, and MP600 Pro NH for comparison.

SSD prices could drop by something like 10% in the near future, so you might want to hold fire on any potential drive purchase for now.

The fresh pricing prediction comes from analyst firm TrendForce which regularly produces reports on memory pricing, and the latest such forecast for the storage market is that NAND Flash contract prices (those charged by component suppliers to drive makers) will decline to the tune of 3% to 8% in this quarter (Q4).

That’s due to “weaker-than-expected sales of end products driving buyers [drive makers] to adopt a conservative approach.” We’re further told that the consumer market is ‘sluggish’ right now, and there’s a hint that Copilot+ PCs aren’t performing perhaps as well as they should (though elsewhere, huge sales for those AI laptops have been forecast, at least from 2025 onwards).

TrendForce observes: “From a demand perspective, inflation and limited practical use cases for AI have hindered any significant upgrade cycles despite manufacturers actively introducing AI-powered PCs.”

Furthermore, while demand is sluggish, inventory is increasing. TrendForce notes: “Meanwhile, on the supply side, several major manufacturers returned to full capacity utilization in Q3, while other suppliers increased production through process upgrades, resulting in a modest rise in overall capacity.”

Consumer SSD supply was constricted early this year (with prices rising), so this is a distinct turnaround with those supply level cranking up – but now they’re not being met by demand from buyers out there.

The upshot is that the price of consumer SSDs is predicted to drop by 5% to 10% during this quarter. (Enterprise drives, mind you, are a different story, and will likely see some ‘modest’ price growth, with sales being stable enough – and AI certainly helping in that respect).

Analysis: Playing a waiting game

We may well see the impact of price drops being realized in around a month or so, then – and what else happens in about a month or so? That would be Black Friday, and so that’s another good reason to bide your time if you’re currently mulling an SSD upgrade.

One way or another, as the end of November rolls around, SSD prices should have dropped anyway, and obviously we’ll have a whole pile of potential tempting storage deals in the Black Friday sales anyway. And while you wait it out, you could always plan what drive you might want to buy by checking out our list of the current best SSDs, whether you’re after a new drive for your PC or console.

Via TweakTown

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Issues with external storage can be frustrating, which is why it helps to know how to fix an external hard drive that's not showing up on your computer. 

External hard drives are handy for storage and backup, and often, when they don’t work, it could be due to improper connectivity, outdated drivers, or formatting errors. 

In this article, we'll guide you through the exact steps to troubleshoot this issue with external hard drives on Windows and Mac systems. And if your existing storage isn’t sufficient, we’ve rounded up the best external hard drives here.

Tools and requirements

• Windows computer

Steps for how to fix an external hard drive that's not showing up on Windows

• Reboot your computer. 
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• Update drivers: Device Manager > Disk Drives > Right-click your external hard drive > Update driver > Search automatically for drivers. 
• Reinstall drivers: Device Manager > Disk Drives > Right-click your external hard drive > Uninstall device > Uninstall. Then, reconnect your hard drive.
• Format the drive: Disk Management > Right-click your external hard drive > Format > OK. 
• Windows CheckDisk: Command Prompt (Run as administrator) > Type chkdsk /f X: (X is the letter of your hard drive) > Press Enter > Wait till the process completes. 
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• Unallocated drive: Disk Management > Right-click the gray box beside your hard drive > Select New Simple Volume. 
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Step by step guide to fix an external hard drive that's not showing up on Windows

Before troubleshooting using the steps below, try restarting your computer or external hard drive. Although it appears simple, rebooting devices often fixes lots of technical issues.  

Tools and requirements

• MacBook

Steps for how to fix an external hard drive that's not showing up on Mac

• Reboot your Mac. 
• Check the physical connection: reconnect the hard drive, reconnect to a different USB port, or reconnect using a different cable. 
• Update software: Launchpad > System Settings > General > Software Update > Restart Now. 
• Format the hard drive: Launchpad > Disk Utility > Select your hard drive > Click Erase > Click Format > Select a new format > Click Erase. 
• Use First Aid:  Launchpad > Disk Utility > Select your hard drive > Click First Aid > Click Run > Click Done. 

Step by step guide to fix an external hard drive that's not showing up on Mac

Before attempting the steps below, try restarting your Mac or external hard drive. 

Final thoughts

Hard drive issues can be concerning, but you can often resolve them with simple troubleshooting steps. Ensuring proper connection, updating drivers, and using built-in tools like Disk Management or Disk Utility can help fix access to your drive. 

But if you continue to experience issues with your hard drive, it may be time to upgrade to a new one. For more tips on storage, learn how to format an external hard drive for PS4, how to install an M.2 (NVMe/SATA) SSD on your PC, and how to install PS5 SSD.

It's always handy to have an external backup device to save your data onto, just in case anything goes wrong with online cloud storage. And while there are plenty of portable hard drives, solid-state storage (or SSDs) are more reliable. 

If you want the best, Samsung's portable SSDs are highly regarded – many of the company's models feature in our list of best portable SSDs for good reason. 

We had seen these powerful, portable external storage devices drop to low prices during Prime Day, starting from as little as AU$149 for the 1TB T7. But now, thanks to a deal from international Amazon stores, they can now be picked up for even less.

• Shop more Amazon deals with the latest Amazon coupon codes

Need a new office chair? The Staples Cartwright Ergonomic Swivel Task Chair is now under $50 - that's more than half-price off. 

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Staples Cartwright Ergonomic Fabric Swivel Task Chair deal at Staples

We've tested plenty of the best office chairs and, despite the understated appearance, this Staples desk seat comes with several notable features. It has fixed armrests, the ability to adjust the seat height, swivel wheels, a swivel base, and adjustable tension for leaning back, providing users with flexibility and comfort. The chair has a nicely padded seat with mesh backing and offers some level of lumbar support, which is impressive considering its low price point. Additionally, it includes a 7-year warranty and an optional 3-year protection plan, providing users with peace of mind and added value.

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