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In the world of technology, change is the only constant. So, it’s no surprise that over time, different storage mediums have come and gone. Currently, solid-state drives (SSDs) are all the rage. They’re much faster than traditional hard drives (HDDs), and they don’t require a lot of power to run, making them a great choice for laptops and portable devices. With so many options on the market, it can be difficult to know which one is right for you.
Best SSDs to Buy in 2022 – Our Tier List Reveals All
Solid State Drives (SSDs) are a staple in any technology-driven household. They provide fast, reliable storage that outperforms traditional spinning hard drives (HDDs). In this article, we will be looking at the best SSDs for 2022 and SSD Tier Lists. We will be considering both budget SATA drives and blazing-fast NVMe drives.
This article will provide an overview of the different SSD tiers available on the market today.
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Tier S SSDs are the latest storage devices to hit the market, and they offer some of the best performance available. They leverage PCIe 4.0 to offer sequential read and write speeds up to 7400 MB/s and 5800 MB/s, respectively. This makes them ideal for use in high-performance systems that require fast access to data.
| Tier S (Ultra High-end) | |
| BRAND | MODEL |
| Acer | Predator GM7000 (InnoGrit IG5236) |
| ADATA | S70 / S70 Blade (InnoGrit IG5236), XPG Sage (InnoGrit IG5236) |
| Addlink | S95 (Phison E18) |
| Asgard | AN4 (InnoGrit IG5236) |
| Corsair | MP600 Pro (Phison E18), MP600 Pro Hydro X (Phison E18), MP600 Pro XT (Phison E18), MP600 Pro XT Hydro X (Phison E18) |
| Galax | HOF 4.0 Extreme (Phison E18) |
| Gigabyte | Gen4 AORUS v2 / Premium (Phison E18) |
| Inland | Performance Plus (Phison E18) |
| Kingston | KC3000 (Phison E18) |
| KLEVV | CRAS C920 (Phison E18) |
| Lexar | NM800 (InnoGrit IG5236) |
| Patriot | Viper VP4300 (InnoGrit IG5236) |
| Plextor | M10P (InnoGrit IG5236) |
| MSI | M480 (Phison E18) |
| Mushkin | GAMMA (Phison E18) |
| PNY | CS3140 (Phison E18) |
| Sabrent | Rocket 4.0 Plus (Phison E18) |
| Samsung | 980 Pro (Samsung Elpis) |
| Seagate | FireCuda 530 (Phison E18) |
| Team Group | Cardea A440 Pro (Phison E18), Cardea A440 (Phison E18) |
| Western Digital | Black SN850 (WD Proprietary) |
Tier B SSDs are a great alternative to HDDs for those who don’t need the high-end performance of Tier A SSDs. They offer sequential read and write speeds of up to 3,500 MB/s and 1,200 MB/s, respectively. This makes them a good choice for gamers, power users, and professionals who need fast storage performance.
| Tier B (Lower High-end) | |
| BRAND | MODEL |
| ADATA | SX8200 Pro v1 (SMI SM2262EN), Gammix S11 Pro (SMI SM2262EN), SX8800 Pro (Realtek RTS5762), Spectrix S40G / RGB (Realtek RTS5762), SX8100 (Realtek RTS5762), Gammix S7 (Realtek RTS5762), S50 Lite (SMI SM2267), XPG Pearl (SMI SM2267), Legend 840* (InnoGrit IG5220) |
| Addlink | S70 (Phison E12), X70 (Phison E12) |
| Apacer | AS2280P4U (Phison E12), AS2280P4U Pro (Phison E12) |
| Asgard | AN3 (SMI SM2262EN), AN3+ (Starblaze STAR1000P) |
| Asura | Genesis Xtreme (Phison E12) |
| Corsair | MP510 (Phison E12) |
| Crucial | P5 (Micron DMO1B2) |
| Digifast | Ace (Phison E12) |
| Galax | HOF (Phison E12) |
| Gigabyte | AUROS RGB AIC (Phison E12) |
| Hikvision | C2000 (Phison E12) |
| HP | EX950 (SMI SM2262EN) |
| Inland | Premium (Phison E12), Prime (Phison E15T) |
| KingMax | PX3480 (Phison E12) |
| Kingston | KC2000 (SMI SM2262EN), KC2500 (SMI SM2262EN) |
| LiteOn | MU X1 (Phison E12) |
| Mushkin | PilotE (SMI SM2262EN), EON (SMI SM2267), Tempest* (InnoGrit IG5216) |
| MyDigitalSSD | BPX Pro (Phison E12) |
| Patriot | Viper VPN100 (Phison E12), Viper VPR100 (Phison E12) |
| Pioneer | APS SE20G (Phison E12) |
| Plextor | M10e* (SMI SM2267XT) |
| PNY | CS3030 (Phison E12) |
| Sabrent | Rocket (Phison E12) |
| Samsung | 970 EVO Plus (Samsung Phoenix), 970 EVO (Samsung Phoenix), 960 EVO (Samsung Polaris), 960 Pro (Samsung Polaris) |
| SanDisk | Extreme Pro NVMe (WD Proprietary) |
| Seagate | BarraCuda 510 (Phison E12), FireCuda 510 (Phison E12) |
| Silicon Power | P34A80 (Phison E12) |
| SK Hynix | Gold P31 (SK Hynix Cepheus), Platinum P31 (SK Hynix Cepheus) |
| Team Group | Cardea II (Phison E12), Cardea Liquid (Phison E12), MP34 (Phison E12), Z340 (SMI SM2262EN), T-Create Expert (SMI SM2262EN), Z44L* (Phison E19T) |
| Toshiba / Kioxia | RD500 (Phison E12S), Excercia Plus (Phison E12S) |
| Transcend | SSD 220S (SMI SM2262EN), SSD 240S (SMI SM2267) |
| Western Digital | Black / SN750 (WD Proprietary), SN750 SE* (Phison E19T) |
| Zadak | Spark (Phison E12) |
| Tier C (Mid-end) | |
| BRAND | MODEL |
| ADATA | SX8200 Pro v2 (SMI SM2262G), SX8200 (SMI SM2262), Gammix S11 (SMI SM2262), Falcon* (Realtek RTS5762DL), S50 Lite (SMI SM2267) |
| Corsair | MP400 (Phison E12S) |
| Drevo | D1 Xtreme (SMI SM2262) |
| Foresee | P800 (Marvell 88SS1092) |
| HP | EX920 (SMI SM2262) |
| Inland | Platinum (Phison E12S) |
| Intel | 760p (SMI SM2262), 670p (SMI SM2265) |
| KLEVV | KRAS C720 (Phison E12S) |
| Lexar | NM700 (Marvell 88SS1092) |
| MSI | M390* (Phison E15T) |
| Mushkin | Pilot (SMI SM2262), Alpha (Phison E12S) |
| Pioneer | APS SE20Q (Phison E12) |
| Plextor | M9PeY/G/GN (Marvell 88SS1093), M9P+ (Marvell 88SS1092) |
| PNY | CS2130 (Phison E12S) |
| Sabrent | Rocket Q (Phison E12S) |
| Samsung | 950 Pro (Samsung UBX), 980* (Samsung Pablo), 960 EVO (Samsung Polaris) |
| Silicon Power | UD70 (Phison E12S), XD70 (Phison E12S) |
| Team Group | MP34Q (Phison E12S) |
| Western Digital | SN570* (WD Proprietary), SN750 SE* (WD Proprietary) |
| Tier D (Budget) | |
| BRAND | MODEL |
| ADATA | SX6000 Pro* (Realtek RTS5763DL), Gammix S5* (Realtek RTS5763DL), SX6000 Lite* (Realtek RTS5763DL), S20G* (Realtek RTS5763DL) |
| Addlink | S68* (Phison E13T) |
| Asgard | AN1/AN2* (SMI SM2263XT) |
| Biostar | M700* (SMI SM2263XT) |
| Colorful | CN600* (SMI SM2263XT) |
| Corsair | MP500 (Phison E7) |
| Crucial | P1 (SMI SM2263), P2* (Phison E13T) |
| Gigabyte | NVMe v2* (Phison E13T) |
| Greenliant | ArmourDrive* (Phison E13T) |
| Goodram | PX500* (SMI SM2263XT) |
| HP | EX900* (SMI SM2263XT), EX900 Pro (SMI SM2263) |
| Inland | Pro QLC* (Phison E13T) |
| Intel | 660p (SMI SM2263), 665p (SMI SM2263) |
| Kingston | A2000 (SMI SM2263), NV1* (SMI SM2263XT) |
| KLEVV | KRAS C700 / RGB (SMI SM2263), KRAS C710* (SMI SM2263XT) |
| Lexar | NM600* (SMI SM2263XT), NM610* (SMI SM2263XT), NM620* (InnoGrit IG5216) |
| MSI | M370* (Phison E13T) |
| Mushkin | Enhanced Helix L* (SMI 2263XT) |
| MyDigitalSSD | BPX (Phison E7), SBXe 2nd Gen* (Phison E13T) |
| Orico | V500* (SMI SM2263XT) |
| Patriot | P300* (SMI SM2263XT or Phison E13T) |
| SanDisk | Ultra* (WD Proprietary), Extreme Pro NVMe (WD Proprietary) |
| Seagate | BarraCuda Q5* (Phison E13T) |
| Silicon Power | P34A60* (SMI SM2263XT) |
| TC SUNBOW | NVMe* (SMI SM2263XT) |
| Team Group | MP33* (SMI SM2263XT or Phison E13T), Z330* (Phison E13T), T-Create Classic* (Phison E13T) |
| Toshiba / Kioxia | RC500 (Phison E12S), Excercia (Phison E12C) |
| Transcend | SSD 110S* (SMI SM2263XT) |
| Verbatim | Vi3000* (Phison E13T) |
| Western Digital | SN500* (WD Proprietary), SN550* (WD Proprietary)[1], SN350* (WD Proprietary) |
| Tier E (OKAYish) | |
| BRAND | MODEL |
| ADATA | SX6000 (Realtek RTS5760), Gammix S10* (SMI SM2260) |
| Apacer | AS2290P2 Pro* (Phison E8T) |
| Corsair | MP300 (Phison E8) |
| Gigabyte | NVMe* (Phison E8T) |
| Inland | Basic* (Phison 8T), Professional (Phison E8) |
| Kingston | A1000 (Phison E8) |
| Lexar | NM500* (Marvell 88NV1160), Lexar NM520 (Phison E8) |
| Mushkin | Enhanced Helix-LT* (SMI 2263XT) |
| MyDigitalSSD | SBX (Phison E8), SBXe* (Phison 8T) |
| Patriot | Scorch (Phison E8) |
| Silicon Power | P32A80* (Phison 8T) |
| Team Group | MP32 (Phison E8) |
SATA SSD TIER LIST
Some SSDs are much faster than others. In general, the higher the price tag, the faster the drive. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. The SATA SSDs contain drives that have average speeds of 560MB/s for reads and 520MB/s for writes. While these speeds are not as fast as those offered by some of the more expensive models, they are still significantly faster than traditional hard drives.
| Tier A (High-end) | |
| BRAND | NAME |
| Samsung | 850 PRO (Samsung MEX), 860 PRO (Samsung MJX) |
| Seagate | Ironwolf 110 (Seagate 500021768) |
| Tier B (Mid-end) | |
| BRAND | NAME |
| ADATA | SX950U (SMI SM2258), SU800 (SMI SM2258), SX850 (SMI SM2258), SU750* (Realtek RTS5733DMQ), SU760* (Realtek RTS5733DMQ) |
| Addlink | S20 (Phison S10) |
| Corsair | Neutron XTi (Phison S10) |
| Crucial | MX500 (SMI SM2258), BX300 (SMI SM2258), MX300 (Marvell 88SS1074), MX200 (Marvell 88SS9189) |
| Gigabyte | UD Pro (Phison S10) |
| HP | S700 Pro (SMI SM2258) |
| Intel | 545s (SMI SM2259), 540s (SMI SM2258) |
| Kingdian | S280 (SMI SM2258) |
| Kingston | KC600 (SMI SM2259), UV500 (Marvell 88SS1074) |
| KLEVV | NX500 (SMI SM2258), NEO N610 (SMI SM2258) |
| Lexar | NS200 (SMI SM2258), NM210 (SMI SM2258) |
| Micron | 1100 (Marvell 88SS1074), 1300 (Marvell 88SS1074) |
| Mushkin | Triactor 3DX (SMI SM2258) |
| MyDigitalSSD | BP5e Slim 7 (Phison S10) |
| Neo Forza | NFS06 (SMI SM2258) |
| Patriot | P220 (Phison S12) |
| Plextor | M8V / M8VG (SMI SM2258), M8V Plus (SMI SM2258) |
| PNY | CS1311 (Phison S10) |
| Samsung | 850 EVO (Samsung MGX), 860 EVO (Samsung MJX), 870 EVO (Samsung MKX), 860 QVO (Samsung MJX), 870 QVO (Samsung MKX) |
| Sandisk | Extreme Pro (Marvell 88SS9187), Ultra 3D (Marvell 88SS1074) |
| Seagate | Barracuda (Phison S10), Barracuda 120 (Phison S12) |
| SK Hynix | Gold S31 (Quartz SH87830CC), SL308 (SK hynix SH87820BB) |
| Team Group | L5 Lite 3D (SMI SM2258), Delta RGB (SMI SM2258), Vulcan (SMI SM2258) |
| Toshiba | Vector 180 (OCZ Barefoot 3 M00) |
| Transcend | SSD430S ( SMI SM2258), SSD830S (SMI SM2258), SSD230S (SMI SM2258) |
| Western Digital | Blue 3D (Marvell 88SS1074), Blue (Marvell 88SS1074), SA500 / Red (Marvell 88SS1074) |
| Tier C (Budget) | |
| BRAND | NAME |
| Acer | SA100* (Maxio MAS0902A) |
| ADATA | SU650* (SMI SM2258XT), SU655* (SMI SM2258XT), SP900 (SandForce SF-2281) |
| Addlink | S20M* (Maxio MAS080X), S22* (Phison S11T) |
| Colorful | SL500* (SMI SM2258XT) |
| Crucial | BX500* (SMI SM2258XT / SMI SM229XT), MX100 (Marvell 88SS9189) |
| Drevo | X1 Pro* (SMI SM2258XT) |
| Gigabyte | SSD* (Phison S11) |
| HP | S700* (SMI SM2258XT), M700* (SMI SM2258XT), P600* (SMI SM2258XT), S750* (SMI SM2259XT) |
| KingDian | S280 (SMI SM2258) |
| KingSpec | P4* (Maxio MAS0902A) |
| Kingston | UV400 (Marvell 88SS1074), KC300 (SandForce SF2281), Q500* (Phison S11T) |
| Lexar | NS100* (Marvell 88NV1120), NQ100* (Marvell 88NV1120) |
| Maxtor | Z1* (Phison S11) |
| Mushkin | Source* (SMI SM2258XT), Reactor (SMI SM2258EN), Reactor LT (SMI SM2258EN), Triactor 3DL* (SMI SM2258XT), Raw* (SMI SM2259XT), Source II* (SMI SM2258XT) |
| Neo Forza | NFS01* (SMI SM2258XT) |
| Patriot | Burst* (Phison S11), P200* (SMI SM2258XT), P210* (SMI SM2259XT) |
| Pioneer | APS-SL3* (Phison S11) |
| Plextor | S3C/G (SMI SM2254) |
| PNY | CS900* (Phison S11), CS2311* (Phison S11), CS2040* (Phison S11) |
| Sandisk | Ultra II (Marvell 88SS9190), Ultra Plus (Marvell SS889175) |
| Silicon Power | S55* (SMI SM2258XT), A55* (SMI SM2258XT), A58* (Phison S11) |
| TC SUNBOW | X3 (SMI SM2258) [Although some units in USA and Canada ship with a DRAM-less SMI SM2258XT] |
| Team Group | Elite GX1* (Phison S11), Elite GX2* (SMI SM2258XT), MS30* (SMI SM2258XT), EX2* (SMI SM2258XT), L3 EVO* (Phison S11) |
| Toshiba | TR200* (Phison S11), Exercia* (Phison S11T) |
| Transcend | SSD420S* (SMI SM2258XT), SSD820S* (SMI SM2258XT), SSD370* (Transcend TS6500), SSD370S* (Transcend TS6500), |
| Tier D (OKAYish) | |
| BRAND | NAME |
| ADATA | SU630* (Maxio MAS0902A), SU635* (Maxio MAS0902A) |
| Addlink | S22* (Phison S11T) |
| HP | S600* (Marvell 88NV1120) |
| Hyundai | Sapphire* (Marvell 88NV1120) |
| Inland | Professional* (Phison S11) |
| KingDian | S400* (SMI SM2258XT) |
| Kingston | A400* (Phison S11), SSDNow V300* (Sandisk SF-2281), HyperX RGB (Marvell 88SS1074), Q500* (Phison S11T/S13T) |
| Sandisk | SSD Plus* (SMI SM2256S) |
| Team Group | L5 Lite* (SMI SM2256S), Dark L3 (Phison S8), L3 EVO* (Phison S11) |
| Western Digital | Green* (SMI SM2258XT) |
| Tier A (Ultra High | |
| BRAND | NAME |
| LaCie | Rugged SSD (Phison E12) |
| Patriot | EVLVR 2 (Phison E12) |
| Tier B (Highend) | |
| BRAND | NAME |
| HP | P800* (SMI SM2263) [1] |
| LaCie | Rugged SSD (Phison E12) |
| Sabrent | Rocket Pro (Phison E12) |
| Western Digital | P50 (WD Proprietary) |
| Tier C (Mid | |
| BRAND | NAME |
| ADATA | SE760* (Realtek RTS5763DL), SE800* (Innogrit IG5208) |
| HP | P700* (SMI SM2263) |
| Lexar | SL100 Pro* (Marvell 88NV1160) |
| Mushkin | CarbonX* (SMI SM2263XT) |
| Orico | GV100* (SMI SM2263XT) |
| Patriot | PXD* (Phison E13T) |
| PNY | Pro Elite (Phison E8) |
| Sabrent | Rocket Nano* (Phison E13T) |
| Samsung | T5 (Samsung MGX), T7* (Samsung Pablo) |
| Sandisk | Extreme Portable (Marvell 88SS1074) |
| Seagate | Fast SSD (Phison S10) |
| Team Group | PD1000* (SMI SM2263XT) |
| Transcend | ESD350C* (SMI SM2263XT) |
| Western Digital | My Passport SSD (New) (Marvell 88SS1074) |
| Tier D (Budget / Storage) | |
| BRAND | NAME |
| ADATA | SC680* (SMI SM2259XT), SD600Q* (Maxio MAS0902A), SD700 (SMI SM2258) |
| Buffalo | SSD-PSMU3 (Phison S10) |
| HP | P600* (SMI SM2258XT) |
| LaCie | Portable SSD (Phison S10) |
| Lexar | SL200* (Marvell 88NV1120) |
| Mushkin | Source Q* (SMI SM2259XT) |
| PNY | Elite* (Phison S11) |
| Seagate | One Touch SSD (Phison S10) |
| Silicon Power | Bolt B75 Pro* (Phison S11), PC60* (SM2259XT) |
| Team Group | PD400 (SMI SM2258) |
It’s that time of year again when everyone is wondering what the best SSDs are to buy in the coming year. We have compiled a list of the top Tier List SSDs that you should consider buying in 2022. This list is based on factors such as price, performance, and reliability.
Keep in mind that this list will be updated as new SSDs are released.
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