Update (06/29/2026, 4:20am EST): The WD_Black C50 1TB Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S is no longer in stock at Best Buy. ~ Alexander Cope, Staff Writer

Original article (06/29/2026):

Seagate's Storage Expansion Cards are one of the most popular plug-and-play SSDs for Xbox Series X|S for their increased install space and high read speeds. However, their high listing prices make them somewhat undesirable for the average player, especially during the ongoing memory crisis that has made tech so unaffordable.

Fortunately, Western Digital's WD_Black C50 Expansion Cards offer a cheaper means of adding storage while maintaining similar read speeds, and its 1TB model is now on sale with a 58% discount for $149.99 at Best Buy.

Why buy the WD_Black C50 Storage Expansion Card for Xbox?

The biggest draw for Western Digital's WD_Black C50 Storage Expansion Cards for Xbox, aside from having chunky install spaces (which include 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB models), is that they allow a player to play games directly installed on the card without having to move them into an Xbox's internal SSD, saving them from tedious game file shuffling and deletion.

Of course, being able to play games directly from the card won't mean much if they don't run well. However, with the power of Xbox Velocity Architecture, the WD_Black C50 Storage Expansion Cards can deliver fast and seamless performance rates for games installed inside them while improving load times and input detection speeds using a Superspeed NVMe Core.

Other notable features include Quick Resume Support so it can suspend a game and let you pick up exactly where you left off, and ease-of-use as you only need to plug the card into Xbox Series X|S's dedicated expansion card slot for it to work - no wires needed.

So, if you're hungry for more space for your Xbox, especially as newer games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 require over 161GB (and that's just for the base game alone without DLC add-ons), then the WD_Black C50 1TB Expansion Card will satiate it for a good while.

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If you have an Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S, you probably need more storage. Having to uninstall a game to install a new game or an update to one of your favorite titles is a hassle.

The Seagate Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S is a plug-and-play solution that lets you expand the storage of your console.

Right now, all sizes of the Seagate Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S are on sale. The 1TB model costs $189.99 Best Buy (was $249.99), the 2TB version costs $259.99 (was $349.99) at Amazon. Best Buy's deal on the 4TB card drops the price to $549.99 (was $649.99).

Why buy the Seagate Expansion Card?

The Seagate Expansion Card is the simplest way to expand the storage of your console. There's no setup or configuration required to use the card.

Xbox Series X|S games can be massive. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 alone is 161GB, and that's without DLC. The Seagate Expansion Card delivers similar speeds to the native storage of the Xbox Series X|S, so you can store games on the card and play them without having to transfer files around.

The Seagate Expansion Card also supports Quick Resume, which is a feature that lets you pause your game and power down your console and then pick up exactly where you left off when you load the game again.

Considering how big games are and how many great games are available on the Xbox Series X|S and on the way to the consoles, an expansion card of some kind is a must have. The Seagate Expansion Card is the easiest to use, quick enough to play games off, and is a great deal during Prime Day.

Alternative discounts

Prime Day discounts and a deal at Best Buy provide the best prices on the Seagate Expansion Card, but if those deals expire, you can check out these alternatives:

1TB

• $189.99 at Walmart
• $189.99 at Amazon (was $249.99) (appears to be out of stock)

2TB

• $259.99 at Walmart (was $299.99)
• $259.99 at Best Buy (was $349.99)
• $259.99 at Newegg (was $279.99)

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Anyone who's looked at storage prices recently knows that they're completely out of hand. I've been waiting to add some storage to my gaming PC for about six months now, and it's getting to the point where I'll have to bite at a deal like this one on the Samsung 9100 PRO.

This high-performance M.2 PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD comes in 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB configurations, with blazing fast transfer speeds and the regular durability you expect from Samsung.

"Regular" (inflated) prices have been cut by up to 49%, and you can now land a 1TB drive for as low as $206.99. Best part? You don't have to be a Prime subscriber to nab the deal.

• The best hand-picked Amazon Prime Day deals on Windows laptops, PC components, and Xbox gaming hardware chosen by our editors
• See all Prime Day deals at Amazon.com

What makes the Samsung 9100 PRO SSD so good?

The 9100 PRO was Samsung's first shot at a full-fledged PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD, and to say the company nailed the execution is an understatement.

It's theoretically capable of hitting unreal 14,800MB/s read speeds and 13,400MB/s write speeds, and although those numbers may drop a bit in real-world practice, it's still an incredibly fast drive.

Our friends at TechRadar reviewed the 9100 PRO when it launched last year, and it was awarded 4.5 stars and a Recommended Award.

The TL;DR? It's an exceptional drive for professionals who frequently deal with oversized files and who don't want any hiccups in their workflow.

You do, of course, want to pair this drive with a PC that's capable of running a PCIe 5.0 drive to get the most out of it, but it will function at lower speeds in a PCIe 4.0 system. That's not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you're putting together a new PC piece by piece as sales come and go.

If I do buy one of these drives, I'll most likely go with the 2TB version at $349.99. It's the best value at 49% off, costing less per GB than the 1TB and 4TB versions.

I should also mention that these drives come with a 5-year Samsung warranty to protect your purchase.

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We will need extra space to store our important files, digital art projects, and video games more than ever, as many PCs and gaming consoles' default SSDs can't keep up with their high demand for install space.

This would be easier said than done, as many storage expansion units have become so expensive these days, as many of them can cost hundreds of dollars.

Fortunately, one of the more affordable 1TB SSDs with commendable performance rates, the Samsung T7 Portable SSD, is now on sale for $189.98 at Amazon (was $274.99) as part of its early Amazon Prime Day sales.

Why buy the Samsung T7 Portable SSD?

The Samsung T7 Portable SSD comes in 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 2.1TB, and 4TB sizes. However, the one that's on sale right now for $189.98 at Amazon is the 1TB version, which is still a very good amount of install space for hundreds of productivity documents, personal files, photos, videos, and video games.

It also features 1,050MB/s transfer speeds, so you can move files between the SSD and whatever PC or console it's hooked up to quickly. Granted, it's not the best SSD in the world for running modern AAA games directly, but it's still plenty capable of running older games and light indie titles with little to no issue.

Other notable features of the Samsung T7 Portable SSD include a fingerprint scanner for extra security, an extremely lightweight design at 58g, with a thin, sleek chassis that is so portable-friendly, you could fit it into your coat or a bag pocket.

So, if you're looking for a convenient and affordable way to add space to your desktop/console or take your precious work documents/video games with you on trips, we highly recommend adding the Samsung T7 Portable SSD to your tech collection.

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My wired external SSDs are convenient for portable storage, but cable management can be a drag. Backing up my biggest files, videos, photos, and games is getting difficult due to the space they demand these days.

There is a better way to back up mountains of data. UGREEN's NASync DH2300 NAS enclosure is now on sale for $186.99 at Amazon. It can hold two 3.5-inch internal hard drives, like Seagate's $1199 BarraCuda 2TB examples, but, as we tested, also works with drives ripped from an old desktop.

Why buy the UGREEN NASync DH2300?

For those unaware, a NAS (Network Attached Storage) is a home server of sorts that connects to your network router. It allows authorized users to access, store, and share files across multiple compatible devices from a centralized hub, and vice versa.

Most NAS enclosures can be complicated to set up, but UGREEN's NASync DH2300 is designed to be beginner-friendly and intuitive for users who have never used one before.

It supports up to 64TB of storage via two 3.5-inch drives, 4GB of internal RAM, a 1GbE LAN port, and up to 125MB/s transfer speeds with compatible HDDs. With these specs, you will never run out of storage space for your precious files and can quickly offload large files whenever you need more space.

Otherwise, the DH2300 includes a built-in AI photo album that automatically organizes libraries based on faces, objects, and locales; alongside security measures to protect your data, like two-factor authentication and encrypted transfers. It can also stream backups of your DVD and Blu-Ray collection with a home media service like Plex or Jellyfin.

If you need more storage space for your work documents, videos, and other sensitive data than regular internal SSDs can provide, or you aren't willing to pay monthly fees for cloud storage, the UGREEN NASync DH2300 is your best bet.

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The RAM Crisis and videogames requiring more space to compensate for their increasingly advanced graphics and content have made SSDs needed to store them more valuable and expensive than ever.

Fortunately, some of the best SSDs still manage to get a discount now and then to avoid these price hikes for PC gamers to enjoy, like the Samsung 990 2TB SSD, which is currently on sale for $389.99 at Amazon.

FAQ

Why buy the Samsung 990 Pro?

We're not kidding when we say the Samsung Pro 990 is one of the best SSDs, as it's packed with tons of advanced tech that make it one of the best overall PC storage upgrades in the business.

This includes various size models to purchase (1TB, 2TB, and 4TB), optional heatsink versions that will improve its already outstanding thermal management system to negate thermal throttling, compatibility with the PlayStation 5, and a 5-year warranty.

The Samsung Pro 990's best feature is its impressive 7,450 MB/s Read Speeds and 6,900 MB/s Write Speeds. With these performance rates, your PC will be able to transfer files in a snap and cut down on video games' loading times exponentially with no lag or delay.

For example, when our former writer, Chuong Nguyen, reviewed the Samsung Pro 990, he tested it with No Man's Sky and God of War, and discovered he was able to shave off 7 seconds from their usual loading screen times of 15 seconds on his 12th Gen Intel Core i9 system equipped with an Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti GPU.

So, if you're on the hunt for more storage for your PC, the Samsung Pro 990, whose $639.99 listing price has been reduced by 39% to $389.99 at Amazon, is a solid option.

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Newegg's Memorial Day sale is underway, and it's offering major discounts on several valuable PC components that have been price-hiked thanks to the ongoing RAM Crisis.

One such lucky PC part in this sale is the popular WD_Black SN7100 M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, whose 2TB model is discounted to $299.99 at Newegg, down from its $499.99 list price.

Why buy the WD_Black SN7100 SSD?

The WD_Black SN7100 2TB SSD is a great upgrade for PC gaming. Not only will it improve your desktop's storage capacity to fit games that take up hundreds of gigabytes, but it will also upgrade its performance rates with up to 7,250MB/s read speeds and 6,900MB/s write speeds.

With these specs, your system of choice will be able to get past loading screens in a snap while reducing gameplay-intrusive texture 'pop-ins' and in-game stuttering. The 2TB model also features up to 1200TBW endurance, ensuring that this device will endure ten or even fifteen years of gaming, streaming, and other activities before degrading.

The WD_Black SN7100 SSDs also come with a five-year warranty to help you replace or fix them, should they get unexpectedly damaged when you first purchase them.

On top of that, these SSDs are also compatible with gaming handhelds like the Xbox Ally, Xbox Ally X, and ASUS ROG Ally X, to name a few. Although some gaming handhelds will require adaptors to take full advantage of the WD_Black SN7100 SSD's capabilities.

So, if your computer's begging for a reliable storage upgrade that's managed to escape AI-induced price hikes, Newegg's $299.99 discount deal for the WD_Black SN7100 2TB SSD will provide the fix it needs.

This 2TB SSD is also on sale for $299.99 at Amazon after being discounted from its $349.99 "listing price", although camelcamelcamel reveals that its actual highest recorded price was $419.99 on Amazon.

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SSDs can add extra storage space and also upgrade your PC or laptop's ability to load programs, save data, and boot up quickly. The Samsung 9100 Pro, for example, is a PCI Gen 5 SSD that can significantly boost your PC's performance when tackling heavy professional workloads.

If the promise of getting work done faster sounds enticing, Samsung's 9100 Pro 2TB model has settled to $444.99 at Amazon after months of gradual price increases, but stock is running out. It's a mild downward trend, and still higher than it used to be, but still a chance for PC builders trapped by the pricing crisis.

That "listing price" should be taken with a pinch of salt, but a sub-$450 tag is better than nothing in the problems triggered by the AI-led memory shortage.

Why buy the Samsung 9100 Pro?

What makes the Samsung 9100 Pro a powerful SSD for professional tasks is its insanely high 14,700MB/s Read Speeds and 13,400MB/s Write Speeds.

While these specs are considered overkill for general use and gaming, they are outstanding for heavy-duty projects like editing 4K videos, creating 3D art, and saving media projects that are worth hundreds of Gigabytes.

This is especially useful for massive media projects that like to autosave because, as Tech Radar put it in their 4.5/5 star review for the Samsung 9100 Pro, "Nothing disrupts a workflow more than a project autosaving for up to half a minute or more, and this is where the 9100 Pro shines."

Other notable features of the Samsung 9100 Pro SSD include multiple size models (which include 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB), optional heat-sink variants, random read/write speeds up to 2,200K/2,600K IOPS to boost performance rates when running AI-empowered apps and moving game files, and cutting-edge thermal controls to keep it from overheating.

So, if you're a professional working in graphic design, photography, and similar other fields, the Samsung 9100 Pro SSD could be the secret weapon you need to hit your deadlines with time to spare, especially now that its implied "list price" of $679.99 has settled to $444.99 at Amazon — though camelcamelcamel exposes its actual highest recorded price at $505.46.

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Over the past few months, I've been slowly getting into handheld gaming, so I can play games while using my exercise bike to lose weight at the same time. But my goodness, its default 512GB internal SSD isn't good enough to contain many AAA games these days.

Thankfully, the WD_Black SN770M 2TB SSD is now on sale for $349.99 at Best Buy. With this SSD giving my Steam Deck more install space, I'll avoid the tedious task of deleting and reinstalling games for many months to come.

Why buy the WD_Black SN770M SSD?

Having 2TB's worth of install space isn't the only thing that makes the WD_Black SN770M SSD one of the best SSDs for gaming handhelds.

It also features massive read speeds of 5150 MB/s and write speeds of 4850 MB/s, which will significantly speed up your gaming handheld's boot times, game load times, file transfers, update installs, and more, with little to no lag.

Additionally, the WD_Black SN770M SSD is easy to install onto a gaming handheld, and it's less prone to overheating when inserted into an ASUS ROG Ally like microSD cards are.

If you've never tinkered with a gaming handheld before and you're scared of breaking it, don't worry, we have guides on upgrading SSDs on the Steam Deck and upgrading SSDs on the ASUS ROG Ally to help you out.

The only thing holding this SSD back from being perfect (aside from not having 4TB and 8TB models) is its steep MSRP, which can range from $429.99 to $700.99 depending on the retailer.

However, with this $349.99 at Best Buy for the WD_Black SN770M SSD's 2TB model, you will avoid having to pay these ludicrous prices and enjoy installing dozens of AAA games onto your Steam Deck or ASUS ROG Ally without micromanaging storage space.

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Original Article (05/12/2026)

PC gaming is becoming increasingly troublesome for those on a tight budget these days. Even without mentioning the ongoing, exhausting RAM crisis, AAA games are sometimes getting too big for a PC's default storage drive to handle, as they can take up hundreds of gigabytes and barely leave any space for essential programs.

One of the best ways to solve this conundrum is by upgrading your PC with SanDisk's WD_Black 4TB SN850X SSD, which is currently having its frankly absurd listing price of $1,701.99, reduced to a more reasonable price of $653 at Amazon.

Why buy the WD_Black SN850X 4TB SSD?

This model of the WD_Black SN850X SSD is equipped with 4TB of storage space, with lofty 7,300 MB/s read and 6,600 MB/s write speeds.

With these specs, you will be able to install a mountain's worth of AAA video games while having plenty of leftover space for other large-scale files like 4K videos, photos, Word documents, and more.

Plus, with these monsterously high read and write Speeds, transferring files into and from the SSD will be done in a snap, and loading times for video games or booting up programs will be significantly shorter.

On top of that, there are alternative heatsinks for each model. While the WD_Black SN850X SSD can operate just fine without one, it can still be recommended to acquire a model with a heatsink to improve its sustained performance rates and prevent thermal throttling in higher-end rigs.

The WD_Black SN850X SSD's major downside is its asking price, which grew worse in 2026 thanks to rising tech prices caused by the RAM crisis. Right now, SanDisk's listing price for this SSD is $1,701.99, but Amazon is currently selling it at 62% off for $653.

Now, while this is still pricey compared to the good old days, it's certainly a better offer than $1,701.99, and well worth the money if you never want to have to deal with constantly deleting your games off Steam to make room for essential Windows OS updates and other games ever again for years.

Alternative discounted models

1TB

• $258.95 at Amazon (was $425.99)
• $204.82 at Newegg (was $232.97)
• $269.99 at Best Buy (was $319.99)

1TB with heatsink

• $298.95 at Amazon (was $448.99)

2TB

• $325.99 at Newegg (was $374.30)
• $389.99 at Best Buy (was $593.90)

2TB with heatsink

• $419.69 at Amazon (was $885.99)

4TB

• $669.99 at Best Buy (was $799.99)

8TB

• $1,762.37 at Newegg (was $1,899.99)
• $1,762.37 at Best Buy (was $1,899.95)

8TB with heatsink

• $1,349.99 at Amazon (was $3,449.99)
• $1,549.02 at Walmart (was $1,632.74)

FAQ

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SSDs are absolutely vital for PCs because without them, where we would be able to install and play our PC games or store our vital documents away from thieving eyes, especially for those who don't have Cloud access?

Unfortunately, this dastardly RAM Crisis has made SSDs extremely more difficult to purchase with rising prices and stock shortages. However, one of our favorite SSDs has slipped through the RAM Crisis to obtain a 33% discount for $429.99 at Amazon.

Why buy the Samsung 990 Pro?

The Samsung Pro 990 SSD has plenty of enticing selling points for gamers, content creators, and professionals alike.

It has a wide variety of size models available (1TB, 2TB, and 4TB) with alternative heatsink versions to prevent thermal throttling. It has fantastic performance ratings with 7,450 MB/s Read Speeds and 6,900 MB/s Write Speed, which immensely reduces loading times for games without lag or delay and boosts file transfer speeds when porting or extracting files to the Samsung Pro 990 SSD.

Other noteworthy features include solid thermal management (even with the non-heatsink versions), compatibility with PlayStation 5 consoles, a 5-year limited warranty, and RGB lighting for its Heatsink variants.

The only drawbacks of this SSD are that's not compatible with 5.0 PCIe slots and it's pricey $639.99 MSRP. However, with this $429.99 discounted price at Amazon, you will be able to dodge the latter issue and enjoying reaping the benefits of one of the best SSDs around while saving $210 in the process.

Alternative discounted models

• 1TB – $249.99 at Amazon (was $319.99)
• 4TB – $926.99 at Amazon (was $1,099.99)

Discounted models with heatsink

• 1TB – $309.33 at Amazon (was $339.99)
• 2TB – $499.99 at Amazon (was $669.99)
• 4TB – $852.99 at Amazon (was $1,139.99)

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Original article's last update (16/5/2026):

I know we're all sick of hearing this, but it bears repeating – that RAM crisis sucks. Not only has AI gorged on our precious memory, but it's also caused prices on all our beloved gadgets and PCs to skyrocket, including SSDs that are vital for storing our precious documents, videos, and video games.

Fortunately, one of WB_Black's powerful PCIe 5.0 SSDs is currently circumventing these price hikes with a special bargain sale at Best Buy, the most lucrative being this $459.99 discount for the 2TB model.

Why buy the WN_Black SN8100 SSD?

SanDisk produces some of the best SSDs on the market for gaming, and the WD_Black SN8100 is one of its finest, premium-grade offerings yet.

On top of multiple storage sizes available (1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB), the WD_Black SN8100 SSD features astronomical Read Speeds up to 14,900MB/s and Write Speeds up to 11,000MB/s (both of which are double the speeds of PCle 4 SSDs like the Samsung 990 Pro).

With these specs, loading times for rendering assets in games and transferring large files will go by in the blink of an eye, while reducing lag while playing games or editing videos.

However, as a result of these mighty specs, the WD_Black SN8100 can run really hot when put under heavy workloads, so make sure your computer's motherboard has a heatsink to keep the SSD from overheating.

If you can get past that hurdle, the WD_Black SN8100 is a phenomenal SSD for gamers, content creators, and office workers looking to future-proof their PCle 5.0 desktops for years to come.

And with this 54% discount, that's reduced the 2TB model's absurd $1000.99 MSRP down to $459.99 at Best Buy, it's practically a steal as far as long-term storage investment for your PC goes.

Alternative discounted storage sizes

• 1TB - $249.99 at Amazon (was $279.99)
• 8TB - $1999.99 at Amazon (was $2,599.99)

Alternative discounts

• $459.99 at Newegg (Free NordVPN Basic Product Key with purchase at Newegg for a limited time).

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SSD storage has recently been hit with price hikes caused by global supply chain issues and shortages, and just like RAM, an SSD has become one of the most expensive components in a PC.

One of the most popular and well-rated M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe drives, straight from the WD_Black factory, is enjoying a massive discount right now.

Can I use the WD_Black SN7100 for PC gaming?

Sandisk's WD_Black lineup of SSDs is indeed built for PC gaming, whether you're rocking a laptop or a desktop rig.

A combination of PCIe 4.0 and Sandisk's 3D TLC NAND provides superb performance, with the 4TB model reaching 7,000MB/s read and 6,700 MB/s write speeds. Performance only improves on the 1TB and 2TB models, hitting 7,250MB/s read and 6,900MB/s write speeds.

Endurance is also in line with top storage options, delivering a 600TBW rating for each terabyte of storage. For the 4TB model, that means you should realistically be able to write 2,400TB to the drive before a risk of failure. Not bad at all. The drives also come with a five-year warranty, should anything go wrong unexpectedly.

Our friends at PC Gamer reviewed the SN7100 1TB model, remarking:

"Despite product stack confusion, WD's latest Black SN7100 delivers some seriously impressive performance, particularly on the read front. It's cool, delivers where it needs to and is aggressively priced. Perfect for any gaming PC or console."

I haven't found a better price on these SN7100 SSDs anywhere else than Amazon, but do note that the sales are expected to end this weekend. That could change, but if you're interested, I recommend not waiting too long.

Having enough storage in a gaming PC is a struggle with which I can relate, and with prices normally so high these days, I'm seriously considering picking up one of these drives for myself while they're on sale at such a steep discount.

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We can always use more install space for our Xbox Series X|S, but using external SSDs is a pain because you can't play games directly from them, so you have to constantly transfer them back and forth between the Xbox's internal SSD if you want to play something.

Seagate's Storage Expansion Cards, however, bypass that limitation by allowing games to be played directly inside them while offering large quantities of install space for pricy MSRPs.

Fortunately, Amazon's Gaming Week sale has reduced this card's prices to more affordable levels for a short time. Meaning that the 1TB model is now $185.99 at Amazon (was $230.57), the 2TB model is now $274.99 at Amazon (was $349.99), and the 4TB model is now $549.99 at Amazon (was $659.99).

Why buy the Seagate Expansion Card for Xbox (and now PC)?

The Seagate Storage Expansion cards for Xbox come in 1TB, 2TB, and even 4TB sizes. This is a major boon in addressing the Xbox Series X|S's limited storage issues when installing newer AAA games that take up hundreds of gigabytes, like the 161GB-sized Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (and that's just the base game without DLC).

But that's not all this SSD card has going for it. It has a compact design that seamlessly integrates with the Xbox console without standing out, to prevent it from accidentally being knocked off.

Its Plug & Play design makes it easy to install without any wires, and it can allow games installed within the card to be played directly instead of needing to install them onto the Xbox's internal SSD.

What's more is that the Seagate Storage Expansion Card's performance speeds match that of the Xbox's systems, as it uses the Xbox Velocity Architecture. This means that playing games directly from the card won't negatively affect their performance, so you don't have to worry about issues like input delay or longer load times.

On top of that, it's compatible with the Xbox's Quick Resume feature. This allows players to pause their game when they power down the console and return to the dashboard, and continue from the exact place they left off once they return to the game.

So, if you don't want to deal with cable and file management while adding more space to your Xbox, you can't go wrong with the Seagate Storage Expansion cards. They're one of the most reliable Xbox SSDs on the market, and they're now affordable thanks to Amazon's discount for $185.99 at Amazon (1TB Model), $274.99 at Amazon (2TB Model), and $549.99 at Amazon (4TB Model).

Alternative discounts

When Amazon's discounts on these cards expire or they run out of stock, here are some alternative back-up bargains you can use:

1TB

• $199.99 at Best Buy (was $249.99)

2TB

• $275.88 at Walmart (was $299.99)
• $279.99 at Best Buy (was $349.99)
• $274.99 at Newegg (was $279.99)

FAQ

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Amazon is looking to close April with a bang for gamers as it's holding a special Amazon Gaming Week sale for various video games and accessories dedicated to them.

Xbox fans, especially, are in for a treat this week as all variants of the WD_Black C50 Storage Expansion Cards are some of the lucky accessories going on sale this week. These include its 2TB variant for $213.99 at Amazon (was $624.00), 1TB variant for $149.99 at Amazon (was $374.99), and 512GB variant for $99.99 at Amazon (was $199.99).

Why buy the WD_Black C50 Storage Expansion Cards for Xbox?

Aside from having plentiful install space, Western Digital's WD_Black C50 Storage Expansion Cards for Xbox's major selling points include an eye-pleasing, compact design that makes it easy to store while traveling, a nice and simple installation method, and a durable build.

Performance-wise, these SSD cards can match the Xbox Series X|S's internal SSD Read Speeds of 2.4GHz and Write Speeds of 4.8GHz by using Xbox Velocity Architecture. This means that when you're playing games directly from the cards, their performance will not suffer for it and run as well as if they were installed in the internal SSD.

That's another cool thing about the WD_Black C50 Storage Expansion Cards: you can directly launch and play games installed in them, instead of having to constantly be shuffled to fit into the console's internal SSD like you would external SSD drives.

Combine this with Quick Resume compatibility to prevent you from losing progress while you turn the console off, and more affordable price tags compared to Seagate's Xbox Storage Expansion Cards (e.g., $212.49 for WD_Black's 2TB expansion card vs $274.99 for Seagate's 2TB expansion card), and you've got one of the best, bang-for-your-buck SSDs you can buy for your Xbox's storage unit.

Alternative discounts

When Amazon's discounts expire, or WD_Black Storage Expansion cards run out of stock there, here are some alternative discounts sold elsewhere you can use as backup options:

• 1TB Card — $149.99 at Best Buy (was $359.99)
• 2TB Card — $301.17 at Best Buy (was $559.99)

FAQ

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The Xbox Ally is a great gaming handheld for enjoying Xbox Cloud gaming and Xbox titles in general on the go. Although one thing we can all agree on is that it's pretty bad at storing AAA games and tons of smaller games at once due to having a limited storage size of 512GB.

Thankfully, Sandisk's 512GB Extreme microSD USH-A Card is a great way to solve this because it can double the Xbox Ally's storage capacity while protecting your budget as it's currently on sale for $109.99 at Amazon.

Why buy the Sandisk Extreme microSD card for gaming handhelds?

Aside from having a sizable storage capacity of 512GB, the Sandisk 512GB Extreme UHS-I microSD features 245MB/s Read Speeds and 170MB/s Write Speeds.

With these speeds, your Xbox Ally will be able to download games/updates much faster, and you will cut loading times by a huge margin, so you won't waste time staring at loading screens.

This microSD is also capable of storing photos or video footage in gorgeously detailed 5K[3] or 4K UHD resolutions with video speed class ratings of U3 and V30[4].

On top of that, it's waterproof, shockproof, temperatureproof, humidityproof, dropproof, magnetproof, X-rayproof, and wear-outproof.

For these reasons, the Sandisk 512GB Extreme microSD takes the cake for being the "Best budget UHS-I for doubling storage size" among our favorite microSD cards for Xbox Ally, and one we highly recommend now that its pricey $184.99 MSRP has been reduced to a more reasonable price of $109.99 at Amazon.

Alternative discounts

Amazon is also selling various sizes of the Sandisk Extreme microSD with the following discounted prices:

• 1TB microSD — $221.94 at Amazon (was $369.99)
• 256GB microSD — $64.90 at Amazon (was $99.99)
• 128GB microSD — $39.99 at Amazon (was $65.99)
• 64GB microSD — $27.99 at Amazon (was $36.99)

FAQ

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Storing stockpiles of games on Xbox can be a drag these days, what with AAA titles costing hundreds of gigabytes worth of space and constantly moving them from external SSDs and consoles, as you can't play games directly from them.

Seagate's Storage Expansion Cards for Xbox Series X|S, however, skip all the tedious file management while packing tons of space for your games, depending on what card you choose. These include 1TB cards (now 17% off for $190.50 at Amazon), 2TB cards (now 15% for $275.88 at Newegg), and 4TB cards (now 17% off for $549.99 at Amazon).

Why buy the Seagate Expansion Card for Xbox (and now PC)?

In addition to large storage spaces for games, Seagate's Xbox Storage Expansion Cards seamlessly integrate into an Xbox Series X|S and feature the ability to play games directly installed on them, unlike external hard drives.

They also include fast transfer speeds so you won't feel any input lag while playing games on them, and they're compatible with Xbox's Quick Resume feature, so you can continue playing where you left off after turning the console off.

What's more, they can double as storage units for PCs once you're done using them for Xbox consoles. That's right, it was believed that Seagate's Storage Expansion Cards were capable of only being used on Xbox Series X|S.

However, a Reddit user called u/Dramatic-Shape5574 discovered that a somewhat inexpensive PCIe adapter can combine with Seagate's Xbox Expansion Cards and use them on a PC to grant them extra storage while offering twice the speed of a normal SATA SSD.

With this finding, these expansion cards are now not just one of the best SSDs for Xbox, but for PC too. They may be pricey, but as someone who owns one of these cards, they're 100% worth the long-term investment.

Alternative discounts

If the above main discounts expire or run out of stock, here are some alternative back-up bargains you can use:

1TB

• $190.28 at Amazon (was $230.57)
• $199.99 at Best Buy (was $249.99)

2TB

• $275.88 at Amazon (was $349.99)
• $275.88 at Walmart (was $299.99)
• $279.99 at Best Buy (was $349.99)
• $275.88 at Newegg (was $349.99)

FAQ

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Storage prices are out of control right now, and it's hard to recommend any new SSDs unless they're on sale. That's leaving a lot of PC builders and upgraders without enough storage space to hold all their data.

Luckily, B&H is currently taking advantage of World Backup Day to drop the price on a 1TB Kingston M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. This isn't just a wimpy $10 or $20 off, either. This is a full $106 discount that lowers the price to just $109.99. The deal is only live until midnight Eastern time tonight, so don't wait too long!

Is Kingston's NV3 a good M.2 SSD despite its budget pricing?

Although we haven't tested Kingston's NV3 here at Windows Central, our colleagues at Tom's Hardware reviewed it in 2024. They noted the SSD's respectable power efficiency, cool operation, and decent performance expected from the budget storage market.

Sure, you could spend hundreds on an M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD with faster read and write speeds for enthusiast PC gaming or creative tasks, but not everyone has the budget or the need.

With read speeds up to 6,000MB/s and write speeds up to 4,000MB/s, the Kingston NV3 is going to beat any other drive available at the same price with ease. I haven't found any other SSD on sale for a similar price in recent months, and indeed, this one is only going to be discounted for today only.

The Kingston NV3 comes with a Terabytes Written (TBW) endurance rating of 320TB, plus it has an MTBF rating of two million hours. That's some respectable durability for a drive that's so affordable.

If you're making the switch from an older drive rather than just adding the NV3 to your system, the SSD comes with a copy of Acronis True Image software that can be used for easy drive cloning.

This massive $106 discount at B&H that drops the Kingston NV3's price down to $109.99 expires at midnight tonight.

FAQ

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The AI-induced RAM Crisis has helped drive the price of electronic devices exponentially high across the board. One of the hardest hit pieces of tech hit by this crisis is storage units, as prices for them have skyrocket by hundreds of dollars.

Fortunately for you lovers of portable gaming handhelds, we managed to discover a charitable 25% discount for the WD_Black SN770M 1TB SSD, giving you the chance to install more games on your Steam Deck/ROG Ally for $249.99 at Amazon.

Why buy the WD_Black SN770M SSD?

The WD_Black SN770M is our top pick for the "best for handles" SSD among the best SSDs we've ever tested on Windows Central.

This model on offer features a sizeable 1TB's worth of install space, an insanely high sequential read speeds of 5150MB/s and write speeds of 4850MB/s, and it's incredibly easy to install onto your preferred gaming handheld of choice.

With these specs, you will be able to add tons more space to gaming handhelds with low storage sizes like Xbox Ally and boost their performance rates to the point where loading screens pass by within seconds.

On a side note, we have guides for upgrading SSDs on Steam Deck and upgrading SSDs on ASUS ROG Ally if you're not experienced with tinkering with portable handhelds.

Plus, this microSD is a sure-fire safe way to upgrade older ASUS ROG Ally models without resorting to microSD cards, as some units can overheat and damage microSDs.

The only major drawback of the WD_Black SN770M is its $334.99 MSRP, which is too rich for most people's blood to handle. However, you won't have to worry about that for today, as World Backup Day has given Amazon the green light to price cut by 25% to a more affordable price of $249.99, saving you $80 in the process.

FAQ

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It's March 31, which means it's World Backup Day, and I'm double-checking that all of my PC's most important files are safe, and encouraging you to do the same. There's no strict method for doing it in Windows 11; you could still burn a 700 MB CD or copy your smallest files to a 1.44 MB floppy disk if you really wanted to. Whatever works for you!

Of course, Microsoft offers its cloud-based OneDrive storage service, and I already pay for a Microsoft 365 Basic plan with 100GB of space. Google Drive also gives away 15GB for free, so I divide my files up by platform, depending on their type. For the most part, I prefer the OneDrive app on Android phones because it automatically backs up my photo gallery.

However, local storage will always be one step ahead of cloud services because you shouldn't lose access during any internet outage (at least in theory). For that reason, I was always tempted to try a NAS (Network Attached Storage) solution that stays within my home network, loaded with always-on hard drives as a sort of personal server.

Sure enough, UGREEN was willing to send me its affordable and capable NASync DH2300 system 3 months ago, and it didn't take me long to understand how people go down a slippery slope into full-blown homelabs, self-hosting everything. It's not like I wanted to save the entire Internet to an SSD, so would I even benefit from gigantic NAS-centric mechanical hard drives?

Well, it turns out that NAS enclosures don't really care what kind of drive you plug into them. As long as it's physically compatible, it seemed to work just fine with an everyday SATA drive that had been gathering dust in one of my storage drawers. Your mileage might vary, but I certainly didn't have any issues putting an ancient drive back into use. Still going strong.

So, wait, what on Earth does a "NAS" actually do? To many casual PC users, it's just another weird-looking gadget with another acronym for a name. Well, it's quite similar to an external hard drive, except it can connect to multiple (if not all) devices on your home network simultaneously, whether on Wi-Fi or cable-connected LAN, depending on each model.

For example, the $180 UGREEN NASync DH2300 that I tested isn't wireless, but I prefer a hard-wired Ethernet connection to my router anyway. After that, any devices connected to my Wi-Fi can access folders and files on the NAS if I grant them the proper permissions. It sounds mildly complicated, but it really isn't. Everything can be controlled in an extremely simple dashboard.

Being so straightforward, I can quickly open a browser tab in Microsoft Edge every few days, navigate to the NAS dashboard, and drag important files into the shared folders to back them up. It didn't take me long this morning to identify a few critical files and back them up over my network, so any potential (and hopefully unlikely) system failure wouldn't be so disastrous.

Still, you don't need a NAS to have physical backups. Anything works, whether it's a standard USB thumb drive or a dedicated external drive; it's a gesture you might thank yourself for later. So, please, back up your Windows 11 PC either in part or completely. Take a moment to safeguard your most important files and preserve those memories. Many won't have to spend a penny to do it!

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The Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X are amazing handheld consoles for Xbox players, but trying to install games on them can be a pain due to their limited internal SSD sizes (512GB for Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X) and modern AAA titles costing hundreds of gigabytes of space.

One of the best ways to solve this issue is by upgrading their storage space by adding the SanDisk 1TB Extreme microSD UHS-I Card (SDSQXH9-1T00-GZ6MA), which is now on sale for $219.99 at Amazon.

Why buy the Sandisk 1TB Extreme microSD UHS-I Card?

The SanDisk 1TB Extreme microSD (SDSQXH9-1T00-GZ6MA) card is a pricier version of the previous SDSQXAV-1T00-GN6MN model, which we consider to be one of the best overall microSDs for Xbox Ally/Xbox Ally X.

In exchange for a steeper MSRP ($369.99 vs $299.99), the SDSQXH9-1T00-GZ6MA gains more advanced specs to complement its 1TB install size compared to its predecessor.

These improvements include faster 245MB/s Read Speeds and 170MB/s Write Speeds vs the 190MB/s Read Speed and 130MB/s Write Speed of the SDSQXAV-1T00-GN6MN model, and the ability to capture video footage in 5.3K resolution, not just 4K UHD.

The SanDisk 1TB Extreme microSD is also waterproof, shockproof, temperatureproof, humidityproof, dropproof, magnetproof, X-rayproof, and wear-outproof to keep your precious Xbox games and other data files safe from being damaged.

With these specs in mind, they make this $219.99 discount at Amazon is all the sweeter. Not only will you be getting 1TB's worth of extra space for your Xbox Ally/Xbox Ally X for 41% off, but you will be boosting their performance rates so you don't have to wait forever for loading screens to pass before jumping back into gameplay.

Alternative discounts

If this new version of the SanDisk 1TB Extreme microSD UHS-I Card expires/runs out of stock, or if you desire smaller or bigger versions of it for other purposes, here are some alternative backup discounts to consider:

• 64GB version (was $36.99, now $27.99 at Amazon)
• 128GB version (was $65.99, now $39.99 at Amazon)
• 256GB version (was $99.99, now $64.99 at Amazon)
• 516GB version (was $184.99, now $109.99 at Amazon)

FAQ

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It's no secret that newer Xbox games are getting bigger in terms of file size thanks to rapid advances in technology, content, and graphics.

As a result, it's getting increasingly difficult to fit even just a few AAA titles onto an Xbox Series X's internal 1TB SSD and an Xbox Series S' internal 512GB SSD without forcing you to delete several smaller games to make room.

So, in honor of World Backup Day, we have scoured the internet for the best discount deals for storage expansion cards, like this 60% discount for the 2TB WD_Black storage expansion card for $249.99 at Amazon. With these, you will be able to install Xbox games on your consoles and no longer have to worry about constant game file management again.

Alternative discounts

If the above main discounts expire or run out of stock, here are some alternative back-up bargains you can use:

1TB Storage Expansion Cards

• WD_Black 1TB C50 Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S — was $359.99, now $149.99 at Best Buy.
• Seagate 1TB NVMe Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S — was $199.99, now $161.30 at Walmart.
• Seagate 1TB NVMe Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S — was $249.99, now $199.99 at Best Buy.

2TB Storage Expansion Cards

• Seagate 2TB NVMe Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S — was $349.99, now $277.70 at Amazon.
• Seagate 2TB NVMe Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S — was $349.99, now $277.70 at Best Buy.
• Seagate 2TB NVMe Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S — was $349.99, now $277.70 at Newegg.

FAQ

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Today is World Backup Day, and it's everyone's reminder that data isn't as safe as you think it is. Unfortunately, this year's event arrives as storage prices are hitting historic highs, caused by the ongoing RAMpocalypse.

The antidote? A quality NAS that's easy to use even for complete beginners. UGREEN's NASync DH2300, which we handed an Editor's Choice Award, has dropped to the lowest price of the year at 175.99 at Amazon, but only for a limited time.

• Shop all Amazon Big Spring Sale deals

Is UGREEN's NASync DH2300 a good option for NAS novices?

Windows Central Senior Editor Ben Wilson got his hands on the UGREEN NASync DH2300 late last year, and it was in fact his first foray into the world of bulk storage capable of safeguarding your data and streaming to your other devices around the home.

What he found should be comforting to those who are perhaps a tad overwhelmed with the world of network-attached storage. Not only is the DH2300 an affordable, entry-level option (made better with this Amazon deal), but it's also super easy to set up and manage.

Wilson remarked in his NASync DH2300 review:

"I wanted to know if the simplest, entry-level NAS options could run a home media server without struggling with basic transcoding, and I'm satisfied that the DH2300 fits the bill. UGREEN doesn't expect you to have encyclopedic knowledge of networking or storage formats, and it even works with years-old mechanical drives if you don't want to commit to multi-terabyte server equivalents."

You can store all of your music, movies, and photos on it and access them from your other devices, and you can use the two-drive bay to set up a RAID system for better data protection.

The introductory cost might seem a tad high, but you have to consider how much you'll save by ditching costly cloud storage services. And with this limited-time 20% discount at Amazon, you're getting the lowest price of the year so far.

FAQ

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Solid State Drives (SSDs) are an extremely desirable commodity right now, as newer games and programs require more storage space on computers and fast read/write speeds to help boost a computer's performance when running games (especially for getting out of loading screens as soon as possible).

One of the most popular SSDs that is fit to meet these growing demands is the WD_Black 4TB SSD (SN850) with a heatsink, which is selling like hot cakes now as its steep $1249.99 MSRP has been chopped down to a more reasonable price tag of $699.99 at Newegg.

Why buy the WD_Black SN850X 4TB SSD?

WD_Black is a leading provider of the best SSDs on the market that provide a vast wealth of install space for games, personal photos and videos, or sensitive work documents.

The WD_Black 4TB (SN850X) SSD with a heatsink is no exception. This powerful component can store up to 4TB of data and process it with insanely high read speeds up to 7,300 MB/s and write speeds up to 6,600 MB/s.

It is also compatible with gaming PCs and PlayStation 5s, and has an attached heatsink.

With all these specs combined, the WD_Black 4TB (SN850X) SSD is more than capable of storing dozens of data-craving AAA titles like Monster Hunter Wilds and reducing their load times to mere seconds so you don't have to wait forever to get back into the action.

What's more is that the attached heatsink can keep the WD_Black 4TB (SN850X) SSD cool under extreme workloads and temperatures, so its performance doesn't suffer from thermal throttling.

The only negative drawbacks of the WD_Black 4TB (SN850X) SSD are its steep $1249.99 MSRP, which is too rich for most gamers' blood, and that its Game Mode 2.0 can feel a bit gimmicky depending on your perspective.

Fortunately, its biggest issue (the price) has been chopped down by a massive 44% discount for $699.99 at Newegg, making this the perfect time to grab more install space for your PC rig (I know mine certainly needs it).

Alternative discounts

If Newegg's stock or discount for the 4TB edition of the WD_Black (SN850X) SSD with a heatsink runs out, here are some alternative discounts for smaller or larger-sized versions you can use as backup options.

1TB

• $234.90 at Amazon (was $425.99)
• $244.15 at Newegg (was $266.00)
• $249.99 at Best Buy (was $286.99)

1TB with heatsink

• $331.00 at Amazon (was $448.99)

2TB

• $346.99 at Newegg (was $629.99)
• $399.00 at Walmart (was $466.09)
• $440.98 at Best Buy (was $593.90)

2TB with heatsink

• $449.99 at Amazon (was $885.99)

4TB

• $669.99 at Amazon (was $1,701.99)
• $664.99 at Best Buy (was $849.99)

8TB

• $1,299.99 at Newegg (was $1,749.99)
• $1,299.99 at Best Buy (was $2,098.99)

8TB with heatsink

• $1,293.48 at Amazon (was $3,449.99)
• $1,339.99 at Newegg (was $1,632.74)
• $1,339.99 at Walmart (was $1,632.74)

FAQ

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In March last year, flash storage manufacturer Exascend revealed its PE4 16TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD, the world's first solid-state drive to house 16TB of storage space.

It's a godlike SSD designed to empower data centers, high-end NAS systems, cutting-edge computers, and AI setups with a lifetime's supply of storage space and insanely high read speeds of up to 3270 MB/s.

Now, over a year later, the Exascend PE14 16TB SSD is available to purchase on Amazon for a shockingly steep MRSP of $15,935. If you want it for just shy of $16k (and I'm sure you do), you'll have to be fast, as there are only 9 remaining at the time of writing.

$16,000 for the Exascend PE14 16TB SSD does look like complete overkill, but that's only if you're looking to use it for personal use like casual browsing or PC gaming; that's what its lower-sized variants are for.

The Exascend PE4 16TB SSD is purely for larger, industrial-scale purposes like providing the servers of corporations with high-density storage space, running AI and Machine Learning systems with high I/O operations per second and low latency, and helping the latest, advanced computing process high-volume data effeciently.

So, if you're looking to keep all of your company's sensitive data secure or improve the work speed of AI programs, the Exascend PE14 16TB SSD could be for you.

The key selling points of the PE4 16TB SSD are:

• In addition to being the world's first 16TB SSD, the Exascend PE4 is available in 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB capacities.
• It features monsterously quick sequential read speeds up to 3,270 MB/s and write speeds up to 2980 MB/s, so it can handle intense multitasking, 4K workflows, and 24/7 server environments.
• It is built with a 176-layer TLC 3D NAND and optimized for high performance per watt, with active power consumption below 7.2W, so it can operate at full capacity while keeping itself cool to prevent bottlenecks.
• The Exascend PE4 16TB SSD is extremely durable as it can reliably operate between 0°C and 70°C with a 2,000,000-hour Mean Time Between Failures, allowing it to work for days at a time without rest.
• Temperature-Proof & Long-Life Design – Built to operate reliably from 0°C to 70°C with an impressive 2,000,000-hour MTBF, ideal for 24/7 operation in workstations, servers, and NAS systems.

🗨️ How many are you buying?

What do you think of the Exascend PE4 16TB SSD? Would you ever seriously consider purchasing one, or are you waiting for a substantial price drop before committing?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll below, the comments section, or via our Reddit community.

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The storage market is taking a beating lately, and with prices on the rise, plenty of people are looking for alternative solutions to help repurpose older hardware.

External SSD enclosures that fit an M.2 drive are not a new idea, but they've recently begun to sport Thunderbolt 5 compatibility for greatly improved performance. Without as much of a speed penalty when connecting a drive to a port on your laptop, enclosures are more useful than ever.

I got my hand on Orico's X50 Thunderbolt 5 SSD enclosure a week ago, and I immediately added an M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD that holds the majority of my work-related images and documents. Here's what I found out.

This review was made possible with a review sample from Orico. It had no input nor saw the contents of this review prior to publication.

Where can I buy the Orico X50?

Orico's X50 is available to buy without an internal SSD included for $189.99. It has also handed us a limited discount code — ORICOUSX50 — to use at Amazon, which knocks an additional 10% off the sale price. The code lasts until February 15.

That might seem a bit steep, but it's in line with the competition. UGREEN's option with active cooling costs about the same when it's on sale, while WAVLINK's version with a cooling fan costs about $205.

Orico also sells its X50 with an M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD already installed. Technically available in 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB flavors, I could only see 1TB ($259.99) and 2TB ($499.99) options available at Amazon.

Is the Orico X50 a good external SSD?

What stands out to me immediately is the Orico X50's build quality. Its aluminum chassis wraps around the outside edges with smooth, rounded corners, extending to a removable bottom plate. This plate is ribbed — the grooves are quite deep — and is held up off a surface with four rubber feet. It's heavy enough that it doesn't feel cheap, but light enough to slip into your pocket.

This design, along with a full plastic mesh top panel, allows the SSD inside to keep its cool without an active solution. That means there's no fan noise when the drive is in use. I ran a 65-minute sustained write stress test on the drive, and it remained stable and below any dangerous temperatures. The case got hot, but certainly not too hot to handle.

The only I/O on the X50 is USB-C with Thunderbolt 5; that's really all you need for this type of accessory. Thunderbolt 5's abilities top out at about the PCIe 4.0 level, and Orico says you can expect up to 6,000MB/s read and 5,800MB/s write performance from its enclosure. Sure, you can pop a PCIe 5.0 drive in there, but its boosted speeds will mostly go to waste.

Plugged into a laptop via its Thunderbolt 5 port, I tested the Orico X50 with an SK hynix Platinum P41 M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD for a 6,191.67 MB/s sequential read speed and 5,546.99 MB/s write speed. The write result is a bit below Orico's advertising, but read performance is better than claimed.

Compare that with prior testing I performed on the drive connected to an Intel B560 motherboard, and there's a difference of less than 1,000MB/s on the read side and just more than 1,000MB/s on the write side. Not bad at all, and I'm always impressed at what Thunderbolt 5 can do. I left the drive plugged in for days at a time and never had any unexpected disconnects.

I was also curious to check out how the Orico X50 performs with a Thunderbolt 4 laptop. I pulled all my results into one table below.

Does the Orico X50 external SSD have any issues?

Considering the Orico X50 worked flawlessly in real-world use, I don't have much to say here. Heavier use than I put it through might cause some unforeseen thermal issues. If you're particularly hard on your storage, something with a built-in fan might make more sense.

The screw holding the bottom panel in place is a nice addition — no risk of the enclosure popping open should you drop it — but getting the bottom panel off once you've installed an SSD and a thermal pad is a pain. The panel sticks to the thermal pad, and there's really nothing to get ahold of to pry it free. I scratched up the aluminum on my unit for my efforts.

Although the enclosure does work when connected directly to a Thunderbolt 4 port on a laptop, it won't work if you're connecting it through a docking station attached to a Thunderbolt 4 port. It doesn't matter if the dock supports Thunderbolt 5.

And finally, the X50 only supports M.2 2280 drives. Anything smaller simply won't work.

Should you buy the Orico X50?

✅ You should buy it if ...

• You want to make use of an extra M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD.
• You want a compact SSD enclosure that feels like it can take a beating.
• You have a laptop with Thunderbolt 5 connectivity.

❌ You should not buy it if ...

• You have anything other than an M.2 2280 drive lying around.
• You don't have a Thunderbolt 5 laptop and don't plan to upgrade any time soon.

Orico's X50 Thunderbolt 5 SSD enclosure worked as expected during the testing period. Connection remained stable, performance was as advertised, and it's built well.

The bottom panel is a pain to remove once you have an SSD installed, and it only supports M.2 drives of the 2280 size, but those issues are not dealbreakers. If you're hoping to repurpose an old drive for use with a Thunderbolt 5 laptop, this is a good way to go.

It's the week of CES 2026, where tech companies from all over the world are showcasing their latest products and devices in Las Vegas, Nevada.

As part of these announcements, SanDisk revealed that it is rebranding its WD_BLACK and WD Blue NVMe SSDs — they are now under the name Optimus. To the many gamers, designers, and content creators already familiar with the popular WD_BLACK line, this name change might be a big surprise.

In addition to the rebrand, SanDisk has revealed the brand-new Optimus GX 7100M NVMe SSD for handheld gaming PCs, which is faster than the previous WD_BLACK SN700M.

Let's dive in and discuss the rebrand and the specs of this new handheld SSD.

You might be asking yourself, "Why would SanDisk rebrand such an identifiable name like WD_BLACK to Optimus?"

Before I answer that, there are a couple of things you should know. First off, Western Digital and SanDisk are now separate companies as of 2025, so it makes sense that a WD_BACK rebrand was needed (thanks, Tom's Hardware). The second thing you should know is that Optimus is actually a name SanDisk used for some of its SSDs in the mid-2010s, so it didn't just come out of nowhere. As far as I can tell, the SanDisk Optimus name hasn't been used for over a decade, though. As such, this rebrand serves as the resurrection or revival of the Optimus name.

According to SanDisk, the rebranding of its SSDs was done to help consumers better identify the best SSD that will fit their use cases.

"The SANDISK Optimus brand redefines what performance means for consumer needs,” said Heidi Arkinstall, VP Global Consumer Brand and Digital Marketing at Sandisk. “Our products span multiple segments, and with this change, we are making it easier for consumers to find the right solution for their needs.”

When I asked a SanDisk PR representative if the WD_BLACK name was getting completely retired going forward, I was told, "SANDISK  Optimus is the new name for Sandisk's internal SSD lineup for gamers, creators, and professionals, marking the rebrand of its WD_BLACK and WD Blue NVMe SSDs... Sandisk is not making any other brand announcements at this time."

While that wasn't a direct answer, it's very likely SanDisk won't use the WD_BLACK name going forward, given that Western Digital and SanDisk have split.

One definite thing is that the SanDisk Optimus brand now has three tiers of SSDs, designed for affordability, balance, and performance:

• SanDisk Optimus: The entry-level line that balances pricing and performance. Designed for content creators.
• SanDisk Optimus GX: The mid-tier line, designed for gamers looking for faster loading times.
• SanDisk Optimus GX PRO: The highest, flagship line designed for "developers, professionals, and gamers building AI PCs, workstations, or high-end systems."

Legacy WD_BLACK SSDs get new names

As you'd expect, the formerly named WD_BLACK SSDs aren't going away; they're just getting new names. Here's what the legacy WD_BLACK and WD Blue SSDs are called going forward.

New Optimus M.2 2230 SSD for handheld gaming PCs

I own several handheld gaming PCs and have upgraded many of their SSDs with the WD_BLACK SN770M, which is the smaller M.2 2230 PCIe NVMe SSD.

I've never regretted upgrading to this storage option since it perfectly fits my handhelds while offering faster speeds than the SSDs that came in my Steam Deck and ROG Ally. Specifically, it can reach up to a 5,150MB/s read speed and up to a 4,850MB/s write speed, which is great for handheld gaming.

However, according to SanDisk's press release, the new Optimus GX 7100M is even faster and comes in either a 1TB or 2TB capacity. Here are the known specs for these two options:

A great rebrand or an underwhelming name change?

When I first heard the rebrand news, the first thing to pop into my head was why Optimus? The name WD_BLACK might put people in mind of the 90s internet with its awkward underscore, but it had a unique name, recognizable to many PC users and upgrade enthusiasts.

So, when I realized that Optimus was actually a name SanDisk had previously used for its SSDs, it made the name change a little more understandable.

Still, I don't really love the name "Optimus." Sure, it makes me think of optimized or optimal, but it also sounds somewhat generic. Not to mention, it definitely makes me think of Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots in Transformers, and that's just kind of distracting.

How do you feel about the WD_BLACK and WD Blue rebranding? Do you like the name Optimus? Tell us about it in the comments.

FAQ

I'm not a NAS guy, well, I certainly wouldn't have ever considered myself one until today. I'd think, "Home servers with hundreds of terabytes of storage? What on earth could people possibly be storing?", but now I'm starting to understand after testing this entry-level UGREEN option — turns out you don't need to go all-out in some effort to rival enterprise-grade server farms.

The crux of my quaint little NAS adventure wasn't even unique, by any means. In fact, if you're even remotely interested in the category, you've probably seen the question asked a million times: Can I ditch streaming services and just digitize all of my media without burning even more money away? Yes, you can, and I did it as a novice with no notions of how you're "supposed" to use a NAS.

Yes, you are encouraged to use RAID-optimized storage drives that are explicitly designed for this situation, but I decided to dive into this hobby about a week before Christmas — no chance of ordering multi-terabyte mechanical drives in this festive chaos. So, why not throw in any old drive I have lying around and see if it works for this UGREEN NASync DH2300 review? Worth a shot.

Where can you buy the NASync DH2300?

UGREEN's broad range of cables, chargers, and other tech accessories is often available from local US retailers, but its NAS options are slightly more limited.

Easiest of all, you can pick up the NASync DH2300 from Amazon.com for $209.99 at its MSRP, though it has recently dropped as low as $167.99 in sales.

Alternatively, you can grab the DH2300 from Newegg below MSRP on occasion, and even Walmart lists this UGREEN NAS with first-party shipping.

You get a DC 12V/6A power adapter and a Cat7 Ethernet cable in the box, along with screws and a screwdriver to fit 3.5" or 2.5" SATA drives into its drive bays. It's a diskless system, so you'll need to provide your own storage, using UGREEN's compatibility list for official (but optional) guidance.

Is the NASync DH2300 a good NAS?

To say my NAS opinions are limited would be like saying your local beach is the shallow end of the ocean: I've never needed to compare individual enclosures like this. There's a proverbial iceberg of considerations that experienced enthusiasts would explain to me if I asked, but I wanted to approach this from a beginner's perspective. In that scope, the NASync DH2300 has been great.

Now, I know UGREEN recommends drives designed for home servers, like WD Red Plus, Seagate IronWolf, and Toshiba N300, but they can be an expensive commitment if you're on the fence about a NAS. I've built more custom desktop PCs than I can count, and moving exclusively to M.2 NVMe SSDs has left me with a pile of discarded but functional 2.5 and 3.5-inch drives.

Sure enough, proper NAS drives will almost certainly offer better dollar-per-terabyte value at the extreme high end, but I threw in an old WD Blue 3.5-inch mechanical drive, and it worked just fine despite never being designed for a NAS. It's not that I'm encouraging this practice, but it does work with regular drives. That might be obvious to some, but it was enlightening to me.

You can set up the DH2300 in a variety of ways, including with NFC-compatible smartphones with UGREEN's mobile app. Personally, I usually stick with browser-based dashboards for anything on my network, and that's the avenue I took by navigating to find.ugnas.com, which was laughably easy. After that, I could create folders on the NAS and drag any files I wanted directly into the browser tab.

Does the NASync DH2300 have any issues?

The NASync DH2300 only has one glaring software issue and one hardware gripe. First up, my driving goal behind this NAS experiment was to see if one of the cheapest examples could run a Jellyfin (an alternative to Plex) home media server and stream DVD, Blu-ray, and UHD backups to each device in my house. To do that, I first needed an app called Docker, which was curiously absent from the "App Center."

Now, I know that Docker was available for the DH2300 after seeing recommendations from NAS enthusiasts. UGREEN had apparently delisted it from its App Center because the 4GB of RAM in this unit isn't technically enough for its minimum requirements. Despite its removal, I can still install a Docker .upk package intended for the DH4300 Plus, and that works on the DH2300.

Otherwise, the plastic drive-bay caddies are relatively basic. They aren't toolless, so you'll need to use the screws included in the box to secure your drives. This isn't a problem; more of a reflection on its price range and the omission of luxuries, since I know that UGREEN's more expensive DXP2800 keeps it toolless. Removing Docker, however, gives it less of that "idiot proof" edge.

Should you buy the UGREEN NASync DH2300?

✅ You should buy it if..

• You want to run a basic home media server
• You're overpaying for cloud backup services
• You're interested in NAS but don't want to overspend

❌ You should not buy it if..

• You need high-end hardware transcoding
• You want to transcode media to multiple devices
• You can't run an Ethernet cable to your network

The NASync DH2300 can stream backups of my Blu-rays, stored as .mp4 files with H.264 (AVC) video and Dolby Digital (AC3) audio, without transcoding via Jellyfin to nearly every device in my house — and for that, it's perfect. Once I enable more intense streaming, CPU usage spikes, and brief hardware encoding experiments with RKMPP and VA-API both failed, so I stick with direct streams.

Again, this is a whole new world to me, and I'm perfectly happy with streaming one file at a time, finally able to watch the movies and TV shows in our physical library that have always been missing from streaming services. It's disappointing that UGREEN removed Docker from its App Center, leaving users to figure out the DH4300 Plus workaround, but it hasn't soured my opinion on the DH2300.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 might have won Game of the Year during The Game Awards 2025, but the year before that — to many people's surprise — the single-player action-adventure and platformer game Astro Bot won Game of the Year.

This handed developer Team Asobi and publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment a major win within the gaming world.

Several months later, Seagate, the popular data storage company perhaps best known to you for its Xbox game drives, released a limited edition Astro Bot HDD (hard disk drive). It's designed specifically for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, unsurprisingly, but also supports PC gaming.

I spent the last few days testing this HDD to see how well it performs with my PC desktop. Here's why it's a great collector's item, but might not be the best game drive for your PC gaming needs.

This review was made possible thanks to a review sample provided by Seagate. The company had no input nor saw the contents of this review prior to publication.

Astro Bot Limited Edition Game Drive review

As far as game drives go, this Astro Bot-themed HDD offers a very appealing design, especially for fans of the little robot.

The front, back, and sides of the device showcase a theme that's very reminiscent of the game itself, complete with the titular Astro Bot standing with its hands on its hips in front of a planet. It all gives off a semi-Space Odyssey vibe, but with a cuter focus.

I particularly love the bottom of the device, where it's designed to look like Astro Bot's blue eyes are peeking out from inside the game drive.

But in addition to looking good, this small game drive offers 5TB — a large amount of storage space that can hold as many as 60 game files or more, depending on how large they are.

A small form factor that fits easily in an adult's hand makes this game drive extremely portable. Best of all, I didn't have to clear any space for it on my gaming desk thanks to its small size.

It has an MSRP of $159.99 and can be purchased at Seagate, Best Buy, and other tech retailers. Part of that price is certainly going toward the Astro Bot design, since you can get other non-themed Seagate 5TB HDDs for around $20-$30 less.

Seagate Astro Bot Limited Edition Game Drive review — WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

When I opened the box, I found the Astro Bot-themed HDD itself, a USB-A 3.0 to micro-B male cable, two manuals, a QR code for registering the device, a code for a 14-Day PlayStation Plus trial, and five adorable Astro Bot stickers.

Not stellar performance, but not a black hole either

As is typical with Seagate's external game drives, this one has a small light bar that glows when it's plugged in and being used.

Unlike the iconic green light from Seagate's Xbox HDDs (like the 2TB Xbox HDD Game Drive), this one glows blue to match Astro Bots overall white and blue theme.

I plugged this cute HDD into my gaming desktop and ran a few read and write speed tests on it.

On its first sequential run, it usually produced around a 148MB/s read speed and a 145MB/s write speed.

I never saw it dip lower than 140MB/s in terms of read or write, on the first test, but then it tended to trail off and go far slower by the third and fourth runs, which is typical of HDDs.

These aren't the very best results for gaming, but they also aren't horrible either. All in all, this device offers respectable transfer speeds that can certainly keep up with classic PC gaming or less graphically demanding titles.

Typically, you want to have at least a reliable 120MB/s read speed with a PC game drive. That said, some of the very best HDDs can hit a 200MB/s read speed or higher.

In case you don't know, the best HDDs are far less expensive than the best SSDs (solid-state drives), but they aren't nearly as fast. Additionally, HDDs need to be handled more carefully since they are relatively fragile compared to SSDs. That's because HDDs use mechanical spinning platters that can be broken if there's a hard enough bump or impact.

Where a good gaming HDD can hit around 200MB/s, gaming SSDs can offer much higher speeds between 2,000MB/s and 7,000MB/s, and are the better option for modern AAA games. But if you simply intend to use the drive to play classic games or purely for storage, then an HDD is a great way to go.

That said, if you're willing to pay more, you might want to consider getting either an internal or external SSD for your gaming needs. But if you're on a budget, an HDD can get you far more storage space for a whole lot less.

Seagate Astro Bot Limited Edition Game Drive review: My final thoughts

✅You should buy this if ...

• You want a large amount of storage space but don't want to spend the high amount for an SSD
• You love Astro Bot and want an external hard drive for your game files
• You're looking for a compact hard drive that doesn't take up a lot of room but offers plenty of storage space

❌You should not buy this if ...

• You'd prefer faster storage solutions like an external or internal SSD
• You don't particularly care about Astro Bot or this design

Finding good storage solutions for your gaming setup can be tricky and costly. Thankfully, HDDs don't cost nearly as much as SSDs, and they are a great option for storing games and other files that you don't need fast or active access to, such as classic games or less-intensive modern games.

All in all, this limited-edition Astro Bot HDD offers an exceptionally fun design that's perfect for gamers or anyone who likes its chibi space aesthetic. Its compact shape means it doesn't require much room on your desk and is easy to travel with. If you're looking for PC game storage, it's definitely a product to consider, unless an SSD better suits your needs.

Game Drive FAQ

You can never have too much storage in your PC, but SSD costs — especially high-performance drives — can quickly add up. Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025 proved to be a great time to load up on storage on the cheap, but fret not if you missed shopping during the official events.

Cyber Monday deals have continued at some major retailers, giving you one last chance to pick up a new SSD without overspending. I found the 8 top SSD deals still live after Cyber Monday, with a couple of bonus options for bulk storage and Xbox Series X|S consoles.

Best SSD deals still live after Cyber Monday

Bonus storage deals still live after Cyber Monday

FAQ

More post-Cyber Monday 2025 - quick links

• Mini PC deals: up to 47% off tiny PCs
• GPU deals: early price drops on NVIDIA RTX before they go up
• Microsoft Surface deals: save up to $500 on premium PCs
• Xbox accessories: best deals on gadgets for your Xbox Series X|S and PC
• Gaming laptop deals: the best laptops for the best price
• Xbox controllers: our top picks for best controller deals
• ANC headphones: great Cyber Monday deals on the best ANC headphones
  
  Even more Cyber Monday deals:
• Dell deals: 13 deals from Dell.com that you shouldn't miss
• Best Buy: 34 hottest discounts on laptops, monitors, gaming, and more
• Walmart: 7 top laptop deals you shouldn't miss
• Samsung monitors: the best Samsung display deals we've found
• Retro gaming: handhelds, arcade machines, old school consoles, and more
• Gamer merch: Blizzard’s Warcraft, Overwatch, and Diablo IV collectibles
• Game keys: 10 PC game codes are even cheaper at Loaded (formerly CDKeys)
• Accessories: Even more PC accessories starting at $17

As adults working in the digital field or spending free time playing video games, we'll need large external solid-state drives (SSDs) to contain our vast backlog of work documents and games.

Fortunately, Best Buy has managed to procure exclusive Black Friday discounts for various SSDs made by Samsung, one of the world's leading manufacturers of portable hard drives and other PC-related components.

Here are some of the best deals Best Buy has on offer, like a $259.99 4TB Samsung T7 Portable.

FAQ

More Black Friday 2025 - Quick links

• All our TOP recommended Black Friday deals: Just the best
• Mini PC deals: up to 47% off tiny PCs
• GPU deals: early price drops on NVIDIA RTX before they go up
• Microsoft Surface deals: save up to $500 on premium PCs
• Xbox accessories: best deals on gadgets for your Xbox Series X|S and PC
• Gaming laptop deals: the best laptops for the best price
• Xbox controllers: our top picks for best controller deals
• ANC headphones: great Black Friday deals on the best ANC headphones
  
  Even more Black Friday deals:
• Dell deals: 13 deals from Dell.com that you shouldn't miss
• Best Buy: 34 hottest discounts on laptops, monitors, gaming, and more
• Walmart: 7 top laptop deals you shouldn't miss
• Samsung monitors: the best Samsung display deals we've found
• Retro gaming: handhelds, arcade machines, old school consoles, and more
• Gamer merch: Blizzard’s Warcraft, Overwatch, and Diablo IV collectibles
• Game keys: 10 PC game codes are even cheaper at Loaded (formerly CDKeys)
• Accessories: Even more PC accessories starting at $17

It's 2025, and your data still isn't safe in the hands of corporations that should know a lot better than to store it in an unencrypted database. And yet, stories like these continue to send shivers down the spines of cybersecurity experts everywhere.

This time, the leak involves a company called Netcore Cloud Pvt. Ltd, based in Mumbai, India. Netcore's website states that its AI-powered "comprehensive customer experience platform" is trusted by more than 6,500 brands around the world, so it's not like it's a small company.

An unencrypted database with roughly 40 billion records — coming out to about 13TB of data — was discovered by cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler, who tipped off Website Planet with his findings.

The 40 billion records contained "copious amounts of email addresses, message subjects, and more," as well as banking and healthcare notices, including "partial account numbers and specific information" deemed as too sensitive to be exposed publicly. Fowler says he "saw numerous records marked as confidential" while scouring the database.

Fowler says the database lacked password protection and encryption of any sort, meaning anyone who stumbled on (or was tipped off to) the database could freely browse its contents.

Upon discovering the security faux pas, Fowler contacted Netcore, as much of the information he found was connected to the company. Fowler says that access to the open database was restricted on the same day he sent the notice.

It's important to point out that it remains unclear if Netcore itself was managing the database or if the task was farmed out to a third party. Fowler also has no idea how long the unencrypted information was on the web, or if anyone else had accessed it before he tipped off Netcore.

Bad actors can do a lot of damage with only a few emails

You might be surprised at the ingenuity working behind the scenes of hacking and phishing schemes. Unfortunately, it doesn't take a lot of information for bad actors to get started on their next scam.

As Fowler points out in his report, email addresses and records can be enough for bad actors to create a profile of a victim, which can ultimately lead to a higher chance of being successful with phishing attempts.

Say a bad actor knows that a specific email address — which often contains a full name — receives messages from a specific company, like a telecom. The scammer could create an email that looks official, asking for sensitive details within the scope of your working relationship with the telecom.

These details, which are readily handed over to an entity you believe is legitimate, can then be added to the profile that's already underway. With enough work, risks of "social-engineering, account or password recovery, or even account takeover attempts" are possible.

Fowler makes it clear that he's not implying that this data breach related to Netcore has resulted in this sort of criminal activity, but that he's only giving hypothetical situations for "educational purposes."

Add it to the pile of major data breaches in 2025

The 13TB trove of potentially sensitive data uncovered by Fowler is, unfortunately, just another unnerving cyber situation in 2025.

Working back in time from the present, there was the notable Discord data breach from earlier this month that saw the ID photos and personal data of 70,000 users leak out. The hackers demanded a $5 million ransom before dropping it to $3.5 million; Discord refused to pay.

Then there was the September Plex leak involving emails and hashed passwords, which resulted in a strong suggestion from Plex for users to change their credentials.

In June, it was reported that 16 billion accounts and their credentials — aka "the largest data breach" — had been exposed, including passwords for Facebook, Google, and Apple.

And in April, Elon Musk's X — formerly known as Twitter — was hit by a data leak containing 2.8 billion user IDs. The hackers claimed that they attempted to contact X with the information; following repeated rebukes, the hackers released the information publicly.

So, what can you do to mitigate the chances of your data leaking out to the public? Unfortunately, once it's in the hands of a corporation, there's not much that you can do other than hope security measures are up to snuff.

All I can say is, remain vigilant about email phishing attempts. Don't click links you don't recognize, and always check a sender's email address for irregularities. Stay away from unsecured websites, and keep your PC up to date.

As always, use strong passwords (ideally randomly generated using a password manager), update them frequently, and use multi-factor authentication in case anyone does get a hold of your credentials.

Cloud storage is a convenient and quick way to store your data. It allows you to access your files from any device with an internet connection, it doesn't take up space in your PC or office, and there's a certain level of security to keep your data (mostly) safe.

However, the cloud — whether it be in the form of Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud, Google Drive, AWS, or any other popular service — should never be your only form of data storage.

Proper data storage is a topic I've been covering since at least 2017, and the perils have not changed in the past eight years. That's despite cloud storage becoming more popular than ever.

According to Threadgold Consulting, personal cloud storage hit an estimated 2.3 billion users in 2025, up from approximately 1.1 billion users in 2014.

That's a big jump, and I'm sure that some of those 1.2 billion new users don't have a secondary backup in place. Relying solely on the cloud for your important data is a bad practice. Here's why, and what you can do to change it.

The risks of cloud storage — Lessons from recent data deletion stories

There have been several high-profile stories in recent weeks regarding data loss resulting from cloud storage providers, serving as a sober reminder to not rely solely on the cloud for your important data.

In June, a OneDrive user was locked out of a trove of photos and work built up over 30 years. They received no help from Microsoft support. According to the user:

"Microsoft suspended my account without warning, reason, or any legitimate recourse. I've submitted the compliance form 18 times—eighteen—and each time I get an automated response that leads nowhere. No human contact. No actual help. Just canned emails and radio silence."

Then came the story that a member of the LibreOffice — a free alternative to Microsoft Office — development team received a similar OneDrive ban that locked data. Microsoft's support was woeful, according to Kaganski, but the data was eventually restored.

OneDrive isn't the only cloud service that's received negative attention lately. On August 2, software engineer Abdelkader Boudih (aka Seuros) published a lengthy blog post detailing "a catastrophic internal mistake at AWS MENA" that locked up years of important data.

In an update, Boudih was finally able to retrieve their data "because one human being inside AWS decided to give a damn." Nevertheless, the community outpouring Boudih received — with countless AWS community members claiming they'd received similar treatment — didn't go unheard.

As Boudih states, "I'm continuing with my gem releases and projects. The difference? Double and triple backups." Although you might not be dealing with developer tools and complex projects, the risk of data loss when you rely solely on the cloud doesn't change.

While these stories have mainly touched on faulty suspensions and miserable customer support, your data could disappear for any number of reasons, including technical failures, breaches or other security failures, and accidental deletions.

How to safeguard your data — Best practices for cloud storage users

You wouldn't want an unknown entity controlling your PC's hard drive, so why do the same with the cloud? Yes, cloud storage is super convenient; I'm not saying it shouldn't be used. However, it shouldn't be treated as the end-all solution for PC storage.

First and foremost, you should have strong authentication enabled on your cloud service account. Multifactor authentication is a given, but you can go further with biometrics and authenticators. If your cloud service isn't providing strong encryption for your data, it's probably time to look for a different provider.

👉 Related: How I saved the internet on an SSD — Documents, survival guides, and entire websites to prepare for the apocalypse

Let's assume that you already have your data stored securely in a cloud provider's vault. Nothing has gone wrong so far, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be proactive in setting up safeguards against data loss.

The 3-2-1 backup rule has been around for decades, and it remains a solid foundation for proper data retention.

The rule suggests that you have three copies of your data at any one time. These three copies should be stored on two different types of media or devices (like a hard drive, external SSD, or cloud service). And one copy of the data should be stored off-site.

If you're using Windows 10 or Windows 11, you can back up your PC's data automatically with relative ease using the built-in Backup and Restore tool. This feature makes regular and full backups of your PC's drive to an external hard drive, allowing for easy restores should something go wrong.

👉 Related: Best external solid-state drives

If you'd rather save specific files and folders rather than your entire PC, Windows 11's File History tool is a solid option that allows for automatic backups to an external SSD. With external storage backups handled, you can configure something like Microsoft's OneDrive to make the same backups in the cloud. Our guide on how to get started with the Windows 11 Backup app has a lot more information.

That hits the 3-2-1 rule's suggestion: you have a copy of your data on your PC, on an external drive, and in the cloud. It's on two different devices, and one of them (the cloud) is off-site. Adding extra redundancies, setting up your own NAS storage system, and storing data in additional off-site locations might be required to achieve peace of mind.

You can, of course, go a lot further than the 3-2-1 rule, especially if you're dealing with particularly sensitive data. The 3-2-1-1-0 rule has gained traction in the era of ransomware, adding an extra copy that's stored immutably (disconnected from any network) and with zero errors in the data.

Cloud storage is extremely convenient, but it doesn't come without some risks. Now, a software engineer and self-proclaimed open-source enthusiast is claiming to have lost 10 years' worth of data saved on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud.

In a lengthy blog post published on Seuros, the software engineer details "a catastrophic internal mistake at AWS MENA" that led to 20 days of support futility and, ultimately, no meaningful resolution.

Abdelkader Boudih, aka Seuros, lays out the background of the problem in the blog post (via Tom's Hardware). According to Boudih, the AWS deletion wiped out a trove of developer tools that were saved to the cloud in an attempt to get away from the chaos of their desktop.

Circuit breaker patterns for Ruby, time-based state machines, performance monitoring tools for Rails, an entire programming book written in their own style, electronics tutorials, Ruby developer lessons, and "years of unpublished work that could have helped thousands" were included in the wipe.

As Boudih states, this AWS deletion didn't just hurt the user but also any developers who use these tools.

Boudih explains that this wasn't a regular data loss, and that the tools and suggestions provided by AWS should have been safeguards. Boudih claims to have used multi-region replication, a dead man's switch for recovery, proper backup architectures (based on AWS suggestions), and segregated encryption keys.

The only thing Boudih didn't plan for was "AWS itself becoming the extinction event." Of course, no extinction event comes without some attempts to recover what was lost, which kicked off, as Boudih calls it, a "20-day support nightmare."

It all began with a simple verification request from AWS, which expired before Boudih could respond. The next form arrived and required ID and a copy of a utility bill, which Boudih sent in. AWS claimed the document was unreadable. The next day, Boudih's account was terminated.

The trail didn't end there, as Boudih attempted to find out if the data was still in existence. The penultimate message from support read, "Because the account verification wasn’t completed by this date, the resources on the account were terminated." The final message had AWS asking for feedback on the experience.

Despite jumping through all of the hoops set up by the AWS support team, Boudih says they received "zero straight answers" and "multiple requests for 5-star reviews" while their data hung in the balance.

Boudih is rightly upset, especially since AWS documentation states that there is a 90-day grace period between account closure and data deletion. After those 90 days, the account is closed forever, and all data is deleted. Considering Boudih never made it past 20 days, it seems like AWS is at least partly at fault here.

AWS ultimately blamed the account's destruction on an issue with a third-party payer, but Boudih outlines why that doesn't exactly make sense; billing could have been switched to a different card on file, or, at the very least, there could have been a suspension of service rather than complete deletion.

AWS responds to Boudih's claims, and an 'AWS insider' suggests a conspiracy

Having news that your cloud storage service is deleting user data isn't something that AWS wants. In response to the original reporting at Tom's Hardware, an AWS spokesperson reached out to offer a statement:

This is no doubt in response to Boudih's claims that an AWS insider had reached out shortly after the Seuros blog post began circulating publicly.

The insider suggested that AWS MENA (the second acronym stands for Middle East and North Africa) was "running some kind of proof of concept on 'dormant' and 'low-activity' accounts." It wasn't just Boudih's account that was affected.

It gets technical from this point on, but it basically boils down to the assumption that an AWS developer typed the wrong command and ended up deleting accounts that were still very much in use, like Boudih's.

There's no real proof that any of this happened, but Boudih points to the slow progress and ineffective feedback from support as explanations for a potential cover-up.

Another sober reminder that cloud storage is not as safe as you think it is

Lately, it seems that there have been more high-profile data loss stories than usual. In June, a OneDrive user was locked out of "30 years' worth of photos and work", receiving no help from Microsoft support.

More recently, a LibreOffice — an open-source competitor for Microsoft Office — developer had their Microsoft account locked after sharing some notes on bugs and fixes in an email. The developer eventually regained access to their account, but I don't expect they'll stick around for long.

This is your reminder not to put so much trust in cloud storage services. They're convenient, but they clearly come with some risks. Even in our tech-heavy 2025 world, a good ol' USB drive or external SSD is still the way to go, at least as a secondary backup.

Closing out the blog post, Boudih explains that they're developing a free tool that will help people get their data out of AWS: "My clients — representing over $400k/month in AWS billing — have already agreed to migrate to Oracle OCI, Azure, and Google Cloud."

The SSD enclosure that I purchased earlier this year is currently 30% off during Amazon Prime Day, bringing the price down to just $15.99 at Amazon.

To be fair, it isn't all that expensive of a device to begin with, but at this low of a price it's now extremely affordable to anyone with an Amazon Prime membership.

You can use it to read or clone any compatible 2230, 2242, 2260, or 2280 SSD that you might have.

Bring your data from one SSD to another with this useful enclosure

I purchased the UGREEN SSD Enclosure earlier this year when I decided it was time to upgrade my Legion Go SSD. More specifically, I wanted to clone the data on the original storage device onto a 2TB PNY 2230 SSD I'd purchased.

All that was required of me was to place my new SSD (solid-state drive) inside the SSD enclosure, connect it to my gaming handheld, and then use a program called Macrium Reflect to copy the information.

The process only took about 40 minutes, total, and my new SSD has been working perfectly ever since I swapped it out for the original.

Because the process went so smoothly, I found myself using the enclosure a time or two after that, with other SSDs I own as well.

The thing is, I'm a bit of a penny-pincher, so I was a little sad to see that the SSD enclosure was selling for $15.99 at Amazon, which is less than what I paid for it.

Still, my loss on savings is your gain.

This UGREEN SSD enclosure is specifically compatible with 2230, 2242, 2260, and 2280 SSDs. There are holes inside the device and a rubber nub, which are used to secure any of these SSD sizes inside it.

You'll just need to make sure that the SSD is properly connected inside for the device to work properly, but that isn't a hard thing to do.

As an added convenience, the UGREEN SSD enclosure comes with both a USB-C to USB-C cable and a USB-A to USB-C cable, making it easier to connect to a wide range of devices.

If you'd like step-by-step instructions on how to use the SSD enclosure with Macrium Reflect, you can find them in my guide on how to upgrade the Legion Go SSD.

Regardless of the device your new SSD is intended for, this SSD Enclosure is an inexpensive and reliable option worth considering.

I also recommend...

If you're anything like me, you probably don't enjoy spending money on PC upgrades, but sometimes, it's less of a luxury and more of a necessity. Most SSDs I've used over the years, both PCIe Gen 3 and 4, never actually died, but one that did had me feeling more conscious of my storage.

I was firmly in the "PCIe 4.0 is fast enough" camp when WD_BLACK offered its Gen 5 SN8100 NVMe SSD, but sure enough, it almost doubled the performance of the Gen 4 Samsung 990 PRO acting as my Windows 11 boot drive.

It was, however, a little too expensive at launch, so anyone looking for Amazon Prime Day PC gaming deals should consider it now that it's dropped to under $210 at Amazon with a Prime membership. 2TB is plenty, too, or at least it always felt that way.. not sure if 2TB is becoming the new normal(?)

• Shop all Prime Day deals at Amazon

Heatsink required, not just recommended

If you're building (or recently built) a gaming desktop PC with a PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD slot, you probably entertained the idea of picking up a compatible storage drive before noticing how hilariously expensive they are. I know I did, but the proof of how fast these WD_BLACK SN8100 drives can be is almost completely justified by a better "dollar per MB/s" value than my PCIe Gen 4 champion, the Samsung 990 PRO.

Yes, that's 14MB per second. It's a significant jump with the new PCIe generation, but it doesn't come without a trade-off. When the WD_BLACK SN8100 is under stress, say, when installing a game, it gets hot.

I know WD_BLACK says you can, but do not use this SSD without a heatsink. That's my tip.

Plenty of motherboards come with an SSD heatsink these days, but if you haven't finalized your component choices yet, make sure you choose one that does. It's not like it won't work at all, but keeping the temperatures under control ensures that the SN8100 doesn't have to throttle its speeds to maintain healthy operation.

Oh hey, my motherboard is on sale, too

Yep, if you wanted to be a complete copycat and just build the same PC as mine, you could spring for the previously reviewed ASUS ROG STRIX B650-A GAMING WIFI while it's enjoying a similar discount for Amazon Prime Day.

Originally, I used it to test the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D and, later, to run its successor, the 9800X3D, and it's still going strong. The SSD heatsink has been through a lot, too, as I keep swapping it out to change M.2 drives for data transfer and testing, but it keeps the temperatures lower, and I've never suffered any noticeable data slowdowns.

As the years pass, much different tech comes across my desk. It's a perk of the job, getting to check out the latest new products, but there are always a few which stick around.

At the same time, one thing we all need is storage. Lots and lots of storage. So one of the products I've tested that stuck around the longest is the Samsung T7 portable SSD.

Thanks to Amazon Prime Day, you can snag the highest capacity 4TB Samsung T7 for just $218.49, its lowest price yet.

• Shop all Amazon Prime Day deals

At this price, it works out to a ridiculously low 5 cents per GB, which represents great value. Even better is that you can still get it at its previously lowest ever price, $229.99, if you don't have Amazon Prime. Subscribers just get a little extra off for Prime Day.

When I first reviewed the Samsung T7 portable SSD, one of the negative points was that you needed USB 3.2 to really get the most from it. Back then, this wasn't nearly as widespread as it is now. Samsung has no problem being on the cutting edge.

What that means is that it's more suitable now for more people than it was back then. At least, if you're hoping to extract the most from it. Transfer speeds are good, though, with USB 3.2 I measured a 3GB file transfer from my laptop to the SSD at just 7 seconds.

I've used my T7 for a variety of purposes, one of which has been stashing a backup of my Steam library. When I was reviewing more laptops and more desktop SSDs, I needed to move my game library about a lot. This SSD is perfect for that.

So, it's insanely portable, great value, and fast. Any downsides? Only really one, and that's the cable. The one you get from Samsung isn't very long. It's fine if you're using the SSD with a laptop mainly, but if you also want to hook up to a desktop, you might want to invest in a longer cable.

• 10 foot USB-C 3.2 cable - $11.38 (save 33%) at Amazon w/ Prime

While the Samsung T7 has been durable in my experience, if you're a regular outdoors tech user, or work in an industry where ruggedness is key, there's also a deal for you.

The Samsung T7 Shield, the version designed to withstand basically anything, is also 40% off for Prime Day. Now is very much the time to top up on your external storage.

• Samsung T7 Shield 4TB portable SSD - $299.99 (save 40%) at Amazon w/ Prime

I take data preservation very seriously, especially for the files and documents that I know I can't afford to ever lose.

Rather than rely completely on cloud storage, which has had its fair share of data leaks and data losses over the years, I've invested in a couple of these rugged Samsung T7 Shield SSDs.

I paid full price, unfortunately, but that doesn't mean you have to do the same. Amazon Prime Day and Best Buy's competing Black Friday in July events have both dropped the 4TB T7 Shield down to $299.99, which is about 40% off the regular price with a Prime membership.

• Shop all Prime Day deals at Amazon

Why I can easily recommend Samsung's T7 Shield SSD

I'm never shy about telling other people to back up their data, and I've taken my own advice to heart.

Not only do I use one of Samsung's T7 Shield external SSDs for everyday backups, but I've also purchased a second model to use as a data deposit for important documents — including all of Wikipedia — should I ever lose access to the internet.

The T7 Shield is the SSD I chose to save the internet for several reasons. First and most important, it's an SSD with several additional durability standards.

It has a shockproof shell that can protect it from drops up to three meters in height, and the shell also plays into the SSD's IP65 certification against water and dust.

Despite the added durability, these drives are small enough to easily slip into a pants pocket, never mind a backpack or messenger.

Beyond environmental protection, Samsung adds 256-bit AES encryption with password protection. It's easy to set up, and it means that no one can get into your files without the proper credentials.

The T7 Shield is durable and secure, but how does it perform?

Thanks to a USB-C 3.2 (Gen 2) host connection, you can expect 10Gbps performance. That translates to about 1,064MB/s read and 958MB/s write speeds (as tested).

In the real world, that works out to being able to transfer roughly 4,500 images in about 49 seconds. Working with larger files? I only took about 18 seconds to move a 10GB file from my PC to the drive.

In my Samsung T7 Shield review, I remarked:

"Read and write speeds are some of the best we've seen from portable USB-C drives, the extra AES encryption and password protection keep your data safe if you happen to misplace the drive, and the included host cables let you connect to just about any device."

I awarded the T7 Shield a Windows Central Recommended Award in my review, but after a few years of flawless use, I could comfortably upgrade that to a Best Award.

And considering it's now so much cheaper than when I first tested it, this deal is a no-brainer for anyone like me who is paranoid about losing data or losing access to data should the internet ever go down.

The 4TB T7 Shield model is available for $299.99 at both Amazon and Best Buy; neither retailer asks for a membership, so you can freely choose your preferred store.

A reliable, fast portable SSD can be one of the most important tools in your arsenal, and a lot of people turn to Crucial to fill that need.

The new Crucial X10 Portable SSD is the company's flagship external storage solution, and it checks a lot of boxes: extremely compact design, universal compatibility via USB, consistent performance, and a wide array of sizes.

There's nothing particularly exciting about this portable SSD, but it also doesn't trip anywhere, either. It's a reliable portable SSD that's shockingly small, and those willing to pay a lot can fill that tiny space with an immense 8TB of space — more than enough for all the games, movies, music, photos, and more.

This review was made possible thanks to a review sample provided by Crucial. Crucial and Micron had no input nor saw the contents of this review prior to publication.

Crucial X10 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A very compact portable SSD with up to 8TB of storage.
• Who is it for? Those who need a fast, ultraportable external storage solution with a lot of space.
• How much does it cost? The Crucial X10 Portable SSD starts from $119.99 at Best Buy for 1TB, and goes all the way to $599.99 at Best Buy for 8TB. You can also get the X10 from $119.99 at Amazon.
• What did I like? The compact dimensions, the reliable performance, and the diverse storage options.
• What did I not like? The high price tag, the scratch-prone plastic case.

Crucial X10 review: Pricing and specifications

The Crucial X10 feels right at home in the larger portable SSD market, nicely competing with the top options — but things do get expensive fast as you go up in size.

The Crucial X10 Portable SSD (1TB) retails for $119.99 at Best Buy, with prices going up to $210 for 2TB, $330 for 4TB, $430 for 6TB, and $600 for 8TB.

You can also find the Crucial X10 from $119.99 at Amazon. I have seen this SSD go on sale already, so look out for those discounts.

In the box, you'll only find the Crucial X10 Portable SSD and a short USB Type-C to USB Type-C data cable. Sadly, there's no USB Type-C to Type-A adapter for older devices in the box.

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Crucial X10 review: What I like

A portable SSD isn't worth much if it isn't actually portable, so all of the top-rated external drives boast similarly demure dimensions. The Crucial X10 plays this game a little better, though.

Clad in a relatively sleek, matte blue plastic enclosure, the Crucial X10 is one of the most compact portable SSD's I've seen. It's nearly half the length and thickness of the similarly-specced WD_BLACK P40 Game Drive I reviewed, for example, while being the same width.

Despite being so small, the Crucial X10 one-ups many of the most popular portable SSDs in storage capacity, ranging anywhere from 1TB to a wild 8TB of equally fast space.

This SSD feels solidly built, too, and Crucial upgraded its ingress protection to IP65 dust and water resistance compared to its previous offers, and promises up to 3 meters of drop resistance. There is a tiny slot for a lanyard, if you want that added peace of mind.

The cable included in the box is ridiculously short, but it does firmly click into the Crucial X10 with no sign of wiggle.

The Crucial X10 Portable SSD uses the USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2x2 interface, meaning it can use up to 20GBps of bandwidth for a maximum theoretical speed of 2,100MB/s.

You'll probably never see those speeds, and write speeds are definitely lower than read speeds, but the Crucial X10 is still a high-performance external SSD in line with the category leaders.

That does mean you'll probably need a USB4 or Thunderbolt 4 port to see the best possible speeds, but there's honestly not a big real-world difference with the 10GBps USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports present on millions of devices.

Performance is consistent, too, making it easy to transfer movies, documents, and games as much as you need to. Even moving larger files of 64GB and up didn't show any decrease in average speeds.

If you're looking for an external SSD to expand your Xbox Series X|S storage (especially for playing Xbox One or older backward compatible titles), the Crucial X10 will give you the best load times possible — but it's also totally overkill, with Xbox using 5GBps USB ports.

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Crucial X10 review: What I don't like

As much as Crucial has made plenty of guarantees that the X10 is competitive on the durability front, I have some concerns. This tiny SSD is encased in plastic, after all, and that enclosure has already collected some battle scars in my limited time with the drive.

I don't abuse my tech, either; the Crucial X10 has spent most of its time in my hands moving around my desk, and even that has resulted in scuffs and microscratches, especially on the rear and the glossy sides.

Those unwanted marks are superficial and only affect aesthetics, though, so in no way do I think the Crucial X10 is in any danger of falling apart. Still, there's no denying that the X10's plastic case isn't nearly as reassuring as the metal or rubber-clad enclosures of other portable SSDs.

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Crucial X10 review: Also consider

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Crucial X10 review: My final thoughts

✅You should buy this if ...

• You need a portable SSD that's as compact as possible.
• You need some of the fastest SSD speeds possible through USB.
• You actually need up to 8TB of portable storage.

❌You should not buy this if ...

• You want the most rugged portable SSD you can find.
• You won't take advantage of these read and write speeds.

Some people need the smallest portable SSD possible; some need the fastest speeds through USB possible; others need to know their external SSD can survive the worst torment and protect their data.

The Crucial X10 Portable SSD at least hits two of those points, and it brings something else to the mix: an absurd amount of storage that's still relatively uncommon in the category.

Do I need 8TB of portable storage? No, but this is likely the SSD I'd choose if I did... and if I also had a whopping $600 to drop on such a thing.

I'm not the biggest fan of the plastic casing protecting the Crucial X10, but ultimately this is a great, premium, and fast portable SSD for those who need a lot of storage in a small package.

The Crucial X10 Portable SSD can be yours from $119.99 at Best Buy or from $119.99 at Amazon.

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Memorial Day deals are live, and I'm combing through all the major retailers to find the best deals for our readers.

SK hynix's 2TB Platinum P41 SSD, to which I have a full five stars and a Windows Central Best Award in my review, caught my eye now that it's down to $129.99 at Newegg.

It's the M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD I continue to use in my personal gaming PC. I've had no issues since installing it a couple of years ago, and despite its age, it can keep up with the latest PC builds without issue.

Why I can easily recommend the SK hynix Platinum P41 SSD

The SK hynix Platinum P41 is an M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD released in 2022. Don't let the launch date scare you — it remains a top option in 2025, especially since PCIe 5.0 isn't yet nearly as common as the older standard.

I've had this drive in my personal gaming PC since launch, and after a few transplants and other hardware updates, I see no reason to make a switch.

During the testing period for my Platinum P41 review, I saw read speeds cap out at about 7,150 MB/s and write speeds hit 6,790 MB/s.

That's considerably faster than Samsung's 980 Pro (which is about the same price as the discounted P41), and it's enough speed to easily handle all modern games.

For reference, the PC in which I use the drive has a Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU and NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti GPU, so it's not like I'm pairing it with budget hardware.

The only thing I didn't like about the Platinum P41 during the review process was a lack of included heatsink, but heat really hasn't been an issue at all in the years following.

The 2TB Platinum P41 has a beefy 1,200 TBW rating, meaning you can theoretically write 1,200TB of data to the drive before it fails. To back up your purchase, SK hynix includes a five-year warranty.

Crucial just announced a new T710 PCIe 5.0 SSD for laptops and desktop PCs at Computex 2025, and it arrives alongside a new external X10 portable SSD.

The T710 is the company's "fastest Gen5 drive yet," according to Crucial, capable of reaching sequential read speeds up to 14,900MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 13,800MB/s.

Crucial says it'll deliver "unmatched Gen5 performance for pro-level gaming, creative applications, and data-intensive tasks like AI."

It's a successor to the Crucial T700 and T705 PCIe 5.0 drives, and the company says the T710 provides "up to 67% more IOPS per watt" than the predecessors. It works out to 2.2M random read Input/Output Operations per Second (IOPS) and 2.3M random write IOPS.

That makes it a lot faster than Crucial's other drives, but it also makes it run cooler. Considering how much heat PCIe 5.0 drives can put out, especially in laptops where no heatsink is available, this is a big step forward.

Crucial is offering an optional heatsink (now 47% slimmer) for the T710, perfect for desktop users who want to ensure maximum performance.

But it should also be suitable for laptops, thanks to the one-sided design and a massive reduction in power draw. According to Crucial, you can expect a 67% power reduction while reading and an 80% reduction while writing.

Part of the magic comes from a controller switch compared to the T700 and T705. Rather than Phison, Crucial switched to Silicon Motion's SM2508 controller that uses less power. The controller relies on Micron's ninth-gen 276-layer TLC NAND.

👉 Related: Best SSDs we've tested and reviewed

These improvements, if proven to be true when the T710 launches in July 2025, will be perfect for laptops. PCIe 5.0 drives that run cool enough for cramped spaces aren't that plentiful. Add that to Crucial's reliable reputation, and this is a drive I'll likely pick up for my PC.

It's arriving in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities, and Crucial offers a 600 Terabytes Written (TBW) rating for each terabyte of data. That means you'll theoretically be able to write up to 2,400TB of data to the 4TB drive before risk of failure.

To further protect your purchase, Crucial offers a respectable five-year warranty. And to protect your data, it comes with AES 256-bit encryption and TCH Opal 2.01+ compatibility.

Crucial also has a new portable SSD headed our way soon

Crucial also announced today a new X10 portable external SSD.

It uses the USB-C 3.2 (Gen 2x2) standard to connect, which improves bandwidth from 10Gbps in standard USB-C 3.2 (Gen 2) to 20Gbps. The kicker is that you need a compatible port on your PC to hit those speeds. It's fairly rare, but it is out there.

The Crucial X10 can hit read speeds up to 2,100MB/s, which is twice as fast as its X9 predecessor. As explained, however, those speeds are only possible on a PC that supports USB-C 3.2 (Gen 2x2).

👉 Related: Best external solid-state drives we've tested

Perhaps the most attractive part of the new Crucial X10 is its storage capacities. Whereas the X9 climbed to 4TB, the X10 lineup includes 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 6TB, and 8TB capacities.

The compact drive is rated for IP65 water and dust resistance, and it should survive drops up to 9.8 feet (3 meters) in height. Its durability compares well to the Samsung T7 Shield I reviewed and still use.

The Crucial X10 is available to buy now. Best Buy has a listing that's not quite ready to go at the time of writing, but it's readily available at Amazon.

The 1TB X10 starts at $140, climbing all the way to $780 for the 8TB model.

SD Express is the next-gen standard for convenient removable storage, and ADATA has just launched what it claims to be the "industry's first" SD 8.0 Express memory card.

The new SD 8.0 Express standard takes over for SD 7.0 Express, and in the process adds some major performance improvements. SD 7.0 Express, introduced in 2018, tops out at about 985MB/s.

ADATA says its new Premier Extreme SD 8.0 Express memory card can read maximum speeds of up to 1,600MB/s on the read side and 1,200MB/s on the write side.

The newfound performance is thanks to the card's ability to leverage the PCIe (Gen 3 x2) interface and NVMe transfer protocol, similar to what modern SSDs use.

ADATA says its new SD 8.0 Express card is about "12 times faster than UHS-I" and "4 times faster than UHS-II."

Considering that a vast majority of external SSDs are still using USB to connect (which caps the transfer rate around 1GB/s), SD Express 8.0 is looking quite good as a more portable and powerful storage solution.

You can expect the usual high-end SD card features, with a U3 speed class and V30 video speed class. That's enough to handle 4K video capture and RAW images.

SD Express is backward compatible with older SD standards (like UHS-I and UHS-II), and speeds are capped to the reader's abilities.

Although it doesn't appear that the new Premier Extreme SD 8.0 cards are available to buy just yet, ADATA says they'll come in a 512GB capacity.

SD Express hardware is understandably more expensive than standard SD cards; massive performance gains like this don't come free.

The added price has contributed to keeping SD Express out of the mainstream, but news that the Nintendo Switch 2 is exclusive to SD Express will certainly highlight the storage's profile.

ADATA adds a new flash drive and SSD enclosure to its lineup

The Premier Extreme SD 8.0 Express card was announced alongside a couple of other new products from ADATA.

The UE720 drive uses the USB 3.2 (Gen 2) standard, and ADATA says it can hit 550MB/s and 450MB/s read and write speeds, respectively.

The UE720 weighs just 13 grams (0.02 pounds), and it will be available in 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB sizes. It's listed at ADATA's website, but doesn't appear to be available to buy.

Also announced is a new EC680 M.2 SSD enclosure with USB-A and USB-C connectors; it tops out at 1,050MB/s with the latter cable.

The EC680 enclosure is made from aluminum alloy, and it has fins on the outside for better heat dissipation.

ADATA says it supports 2230, 2242, and 2280 M.2 sizes, and it's compatible with Windows, Android, MacOS, PS5, and Xbox.

SSD enclosures are generally used to get a second life out of an M.2 SSD that's been replaced. With a drive installed, you effectively turn the package into an external drive to be used everywhere.

MicroSD Express Card technology has been around since 2019, but these flash-memory cards haven't been as popular as traditional microSD cards, yet. This will likely change as more of these cards come out and more devices specifically require one to work properly.

If you want a flash-memory card that can transfer data quickly, whether that be for gaming, video transcoding, or more, then the microSD Express might suit your needs better than a traditional card. However, that's only if the card reader in your device is compatible.

Simply by looking at their speeds, you might think that microSD Express cards are ideal for gaming handhelds with UHS-I or UHS-II card readers such as the Steam Deck, ROG Ally, Legion Go, MSI Claw 8 AI+, and Nintendo Switch 2. However, none of these devices were specifically designed to be used with these PC handhelds.

So while a microSD Express card will work in one of these PC gaming handhelds, it won't be able to hit the highest speeds that it was designed for.

Of course, future handheld gaming PCs could be designed to work with microSD Express cards, and I hope they do.

Best MicroSD Express cards

There aren't a ton of microSD Express Cards on the market at present, but more will likely get produced now that this is the only kind of flash-memory the Nintendo Switch 2 works with.

Here are the very best microSD Express Cards to buy right now.

MicroSD Express FAQ

I've created this section to answer any frequently asked questions you might have about MicroSD Express Cards.

Gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally are great, we love them. But game sizes are getting increasingly large, and storage just doesn't go as far as it used to. That's why it's worth upgrading the SSD inside, and this deal on a Crucial P310 2TB SSD down to under $160 is the perfect tool for the job.

I actually put one of these into my now ex-ROG Ally (which is in the great electronics pile in the sky now). Admittedly, I used the 1TB version, which is also currently reduced, but I always wished I'd gone for the larger capacity that's on offer here.

Obviously, the main caveat is that you're comfortable opening up your handheld, putting in a new SSD, and then reinstalling the OS. On the ROG Ally, this is particularly straightforward, with ASUS having a handy tool to reflash it from the cloud.

The Steam Deck is a little more of a process, needing a USB-C thumbstick to flash SteamOS from, but in both cases, actually installing the drive is quite simple. Just go slowly and have patience. We have a guide on upgrading the SSD on both the Steam Deck and the ROG Ally if you need assistance.

In the case of the ROG Ally, besides doubling the storage of my base 512GB model, it added additional performance, too. The Crucial P310 is much faster at both read and write than the stock SSD in that handheld, so, you know, if you crave speed, you'll get it here.

But most of all you're getting significantly more space for all those lovely games you want to play. Amazon's Big Spring Sale isn't on for long, so this discount won't be hanging about. Grab one while you can, you won't regret it.

If you're tight on storage in your desktop PC, chances are you could upgrade to the world's most popular solid-state drive, Samsung's 990 PRO, down to only $149.99 at Newegg.com with price-matching offers at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. Buy through Newegg, and you'll enjoy an extended return period of January 31, 2025, or a 30-day standard affair with Amazon. Either way, check your motherboard documentation first to ensure PCI 4.0 (Gen 4) storage compatibility with M.2-2280 drives or install it into a PlayStation 5 for an extended games library.

The most popular NVMe SSD for a reason

I've used plenty of M.2-2280 variants when building custom PCs with solid-state drives, and it's still the best option with faster speeds than more traditional 2.5-inch variants connected via SATA cables. Sure, you need to be positive that your motherboard supports PCI 4.0 (Gen 4) to use Samsung's world-class 990 PRO and access the 2TB of space, but it's relatively commonplace these days since PCI 5.0 (Gen 5) is steadily rolling out.

It's also a versatile drive, compatible with Sony's PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro (via Android Central), with no extra effort than it takes to upgrade a PC. All you need for either is a screwdriver and, sometimes, extra attention to remove pre-applied heatsink stickers that can help cool the SSD under constant operation. Upgrading an M.2 drive is honestly one of the most straightforward DIY jobs you'll encounter with desktop PCs, alongside installing or replacing memory modules (RAM.)

Don't be intimidated — it's a super simple process and no more complicated than plugging an old-school game cartridge into a retro console, except you do it at a slight angle and then screw the thing down. Not sure about the drive itself? Check out our full Samsung 990 Pro review from when this SSD launched back in October 2022, and rest assured that I still rely on a 1TB variant to this day while I'm custom-building gaming desktop and testing parts.

🎃The best early Black Friday deals🦃

• 🎮Lenovo Legion Go (512GB) | $499.99 at Best Buy (Save $200!)
• 🖥️ABS Cyclone Desktop (RTX 4060) | $1,099.99 at Newegg (Save $400!)
• 💻ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 4060) | $1,249.99 at Best Buy (Save $350!)
• 📺HP Omen 27qs (QHD, 240Hz) | $349.99 at Best Buy (Save $80!)
• 💻Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge (X Elite) | $849.99 at Best Buy (Save $500!)
• 🔊2.1ch Soundbar for TVs & Monitors | $44.99 at Walmart (Save $55!)
• 🎧Sennheiser Momentum 4 ANC | $229.95 at Amazon (Save $170!)
• 📺LG C4 OLED 4K TV (42-inches) | $999.99 at Best Buy (Save $400!)

It's the last day of Prime Day, and that means time is running out to save on the amazing deals going on during this event. As someone who creates a lot of creative files in Adobe programs, I personally get a lot of use out of flash drives and memory cards. So, it's great to see that PNY has reduced the prices of many of its UHS-II SDXC memory cards and flash drives. Of course, if you're a photographer, you'll appreciate the transfer speeds and discounted prices of these devices as well. 

Among the many PNY deals going on now, a 512GB EliteX-PRO60 UHS-II Memory Card is discounted to just $67.99 at Amazon. Check out that deal and multiple others below. 

• Shop all of Amazon's October Prime Day deals

🎃The best early Black Friday deals🦃

• 💾Seagate Xbox Expansion Card (1TB) | $129.99 at Best Buy (Save $70!)
• 📺Amazon Fire TV Stick | $24.99 at Amazon (Save $25!)
• 🎮ASUS ROG Ally (Z1 Extreme) | $499.99 at Best Buy (Save $150!)
• 💻Lenovo IdeaPad 1 (Ryzen 5) | $329.99 at Best Buy (Save $250!)
• 📺LG C4 OLED 4K TV (42-inches) | $899.99 at Best Buy (Save $500!)
• 💻Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge (X Elite) | $799.99 at Best Buy (Save $550!)
• 💻Dell XPS 13 (X Elite) | $999.99 at Best Buy (Save $500!)
• 🎧Sony ANC Wireless Headphones | $228 at Walmart (Save $122!)
• 💻HP Envy 2-in-1 14 (Ryzen 7) | $649.99 at Best Buy (Save $400!)

Take care of your storage and transfer needs at bargain prices

If you're a photographer, creative, or someone who regularly needs to transfer data from one device to another, then having reliable and fast storage devices is important. That's where flash drives and memory cards really come in handy. 

As someone who takes commissions to create digital art for others, it's nice to have a pack of flash drives that I can transfer my work onto and then present to my clients. It's a more secure way of sharing files. Of course, using devices with fast transfer speeds means that I don't have to wait as long while my projects move from my laptop onto the storage devices. Thankfully, the PNY thumb drives and SD cards on sale during Prime Day all offer really great transfer speeds to help with that. 

We at Windows Central are scouring the internet for the very best Amazon Prime Day deals as well as deals that appear at other retailers. So, check back here to find the best discounts available now on tech. 

More Prime Day deals and anti-Prime Day deals

We at Windows Central are scouring the internet for the best Prime Day deals and anti-Prime Day deals, but there are plenty more discounts going on now. Here's where to find more savings:

• Monitor deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg 
  Xbox controller deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg 
• Xbox SSD storage deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg 
• Gaming headset deals: Walmart | Dell | Target | Best Buy | Amazon 
• MicroSD storage deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg 
• Gaming handheld deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg 
• Laptop deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg 
• Copilot+ AI laptop deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg 
• Mini PC deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg 
• Gaming keyboard deals: Walmart | Best Buy | Amazon | Dell | Newegg 
• Gaming mice deals: Walmart | Best Buy | Amazon | Dell | Newegg

As someone who uses my computer for over 40 hours every week, I often find myself running out of storage space or needing to delete data and make room for more. While I could upgrade to a larger internal solid-state drive (SSD) or hard disk drive (HDD), being able to simply plug an external device into my desktop is a whole lot easier. 

There are plenty of HDDs and SSDs on the market, and either type of storage device can be a good fit for someone, depending on what they want to do with it (for more info, check out our SSD vs HDD guide).

I've spent time testing and using the SanDisk Professional G-DRIVE ArmorATD, which just recently upped its largest capacity to 6TB. It's proved to be a useful accessory, but only once I was able to get it to work with Windows. Here's why it's such a good storage choice for laptops and desktops. 

This review was made possible with a review sample provided by Western Digital. The company did not see the contents of the review before publishing.

My Passport Ultra: Price, availability, and specs

Western Digital acquired SanDisk a few years back, which is why this device is attributed to both companies. The G-DRIVE ArmorATD is available in five different capacities and can be found selling at most major retailers, including Walmart, Best Buy, Newegg, Amazon, and the Western Digital website. 

The 1TB sells for $99.99 MSRP, 2TB sells for $119.99 MSRP, 4TB sells for $164.99 MSRP, 5TB sells for $189.99, and the new 6TB sells for $229.99 MSRP. These are all at a good price point, considering this device's extra protections that other HDDs don't tend to have. 

You can connect it to your laptop or desktop using either the included USB-C to USB-C cable or the included USB-C to USB-A cable. It's compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.2 Gen 1. 

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My Passport Ultra: Design and compatibility

The SanDisk Profesional G-DRIVE ArmorATD stands out from other HDDs thanks to its obvious rugged design. Its edges are encased in thick rubber, which Western Digital says is not only IP54 rain and dust-resistant but also crush-resistant up to 1,000 pounds. This being the case, it's better suited to travel than your average HDD. However, that doesn't mean you should chuck it around. 

Hard drives are far more fragile than SSDs because they operate using mechanical parts. As such, you'll always want to handle this HDD gently. The rugged casing simply increases this HDD's resistance to damage but doesn't completely shield it.

As part of making it more rugged, the USB-C port on the bottom of the HDD has a rubber flap that plugs into it to keep the port clean and protected from the elements. This stays in place brilliantly, so you won't have to worry about the hinged door coming out and exposing the connection point. 

Meanwhile, the overall rubber casing also makes the device more "grippable," so it's less likely to slip from your hands. Altogether, it makes for a good-looking hard drive that isn't as at risk in the elements as some competitors. 

As you can see, the rubber casing makes this hard drive a bit thicker than many others out there. The larger the capacity you go with, the thicker the main metal casing will be. This shouldn't cause any problems with your average travel bag, though. The HDD is still small enough to easily slip inside laptop bags and backpacks. 

To make using the G-DRIVE ArmorATD easier, this HDD comes with both a USB-C to USB-C cable as well as a USB-C to USB-A cable. That way, it should be easy to connect it with more devices right out of the box. The port itself is compatible with both Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.2 Gen 1.

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My Passport Ultra: Transfer speed tests

Before I was able to start using the G-DRIVE ArmorATD, I had to reformat it for Windows 11 since it comes formatted for macOS out of the box. Thankfully, Western Digital has a handy step-by-step HDD reformatting guide, which makes this process easy. 

Prior to running a CrystalDiskMark test to verify the G-DRIVE ArmorATD's read and write speeds, I checked the device's box, and it claimed that the hard drive could reach transfer speeds up to 130 MB/s. As such, I was a bit surprised when I found that the CrystalDiskMark benchmark actually showed that the HDD had hit a significantly higher 199 MB/s read speed and 180 MB/s write speed. I ran the test again just to be sure, and I got the same results. 

After that, I transferred roughly 4TB of data in one go onto the HDD (made up mostly of small game files, large PSD drawing files, and high-resolution wedding photos) and watched its transfer performance. As is expected with HDDs, transfer speeds started really high, dropped for a second, but then boosted back up. The lowest speed I saw was 17 MB/s for only a split second, but after that, the speeds shot up and stayed well above 200 MB/s. I even noted that it was as high as 312 MB/s, which is excellent. As such, it didn't take long at all for the 4TB of data to transfer to the hard drive. 

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My Passport Ultra: Competition

If you want an HDD but don't need it to be as protected as the G-DRIVE ArmorATD, then you should check out my My Passport Ultra review. This is another Western Digital HDD that comes in 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 5TB, or the new 6TB capacities. In my testing, it showed a 118 MB/s read speed and a 116 MB/s write speed, which isn't as fast as the G-DRIVE ArmorATD but steady and reliable nonetheless. At the time of writing, the My Passport Ultra 1TB is selling for $69.99 at Western Digital, while the largest 6TB is selling for $204.99 at Amazon.

Anyone who specifically wants an HDD for gaming should look at my colleague Ben Wilson's WD_BLACK P10 review. This device works with PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. It offers read and write speeds up to 130 MB/s and is the perfect option for running old game data or storing modern games for later access. Just note that you cannot run games for Xbox Series X|S or PlayStation 5 on this HDD. 

Of course, you might also want to check out our list of the best external SSDs. For my number one pick, I suggest you take a look at our Samsung T7 Shield review. This SSD comes in either blue, black, or beige casing with capacity options of 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB. It's notably faster than the HDDs previously listed, as it reaches read speeds up to 1,050 MB/s. The 1TB capacity sells for $99.00 at Amazon, while the 4TB option sells for $318.39 at Amazon.

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My Passport Ultra: Should you buy it?

You should buy it if ...

✅ You tend to travel and want a more rugged hard drive to keep up with you

While it isn't immune to damage, being rain, dust, and crush-resistant means this device is a bit more hearty than the average HDD.

You shouldn't buy it if ...

❌ You want an SSD because it's less fragile than an HDD

There's no denying that SSDs are less fragile and faster than HDDs. So, if you're willing to pay more for an SSD, it might be a better choice for you. Otherwise, sticking with an HDD lets you get a lot more storage for less money.

Anyone who wants a more damage-resistant HDD should definitely consider the SanDisk Professional G-Drive ArmorATD. The rugged rubber casing around the edge helps protect against bumps, drops, and pressure up to a certain point, while the rubber covering over the USB-C port protects the connection from potential water and dust damage. You'll still want to handle this drive carefully since HDDs are more fragile than SSDs, but it should be heartier for travel than other HDDs. 

Because of its rugged design, this hard drive isn't as slim and compact as some competitors, but it's still small enough to easily fit in your travel bag or work bag. You'll just need to make sure you reformat it for Windows since it comes formatted for macOS, but reformatting is an easy process. 

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When it comes to increasing storage space on your laptop or desktop, one of the easiest means available to you is with either an external solid-state drive (SSD) or a hard disk drive (HDD). There are a lot of pros and cons for either option (you can dive into that more in our SSD vs HDD guide), but HDDs tend to cost less while still providing a large storage capacity for you to use. This makes them an especially good choice for people who want a lot of storage space without spending a bunch for it. 

Recently, Western Digital upped its highest My Passport Ultra HDD to a 6TB capacity. I had the opportunity to evaluate this new option over the course of the last week. Let's dive into what makes this little device so useful. 

This review was made possible with a review sample provided by Western Digital. The company did not see the contents of the review before publishing.

My Passport Ultra: Price, availability, and specs

Western Digital is a well-known manufacturer of data storage devices and drives. As such, its products, including the My Passport Ultra, are available at various retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Newegg, and more. You can also purchase the My Passport Ultra directly from the Western Digital website. This device is available in different colors, with the most prevalent options being black, blue, silver, or gold. However, some color choices are only available at specific stores.

This hard drive currently comes in five capacities, and each one has a different value — 1TB has a $69.99 MSRP, 2TB has a $89.99 MSRP, 4TB has a $129.99 MSRP, 5TB has a $139.99 MSRP, and the 6TB has a $204.99 MSRP. These are good prices compared to other HDD competitors.

It's also possible to find some or all of these capacities selling at lower prices during retailer sales events. 

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My Passport Ultra: Design and compatibility

While it isn't the slimmest HDD on the market, the My Passport Ultra does look nice and fits in my hand. Since it is less than an inch thick, it's compact enough for easy travel. I also appreciate that it is sturdy enough for me to feel comfortable throwing it into my laptop bag or backpack without feeling like it will break in transit. Of course, you don't want to throw it around intentionally, but it should handle general travel well.

Depending on the capacity you choose, there are several different color options, and each one has rubber footpads on the underside to prevent the device from sliding around on a desk. The 6TB HDD I received has an attractive blue casing on the front that turns into a black matte casing on the back. It looks good in both formal and relaxed settings, which makes it a great option for work or personal use. 

By default, the My Passport Ultra works with Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices. However, the Western Digital website also explains that it can be used with macOS 11+ if you reformat the device and download the appropriate NTFS driver. 

After looking around a bit online, I discovered that there are two versions of this HDD—one with an outdated micro-B USB port and one with a much more modern USB-C port. The version I received has the latter, and I advise anyone looking to buy this HDD to make sure to get this USB-C version. It will make the HDD compatible with more modern devices out of the box. 

The My Passport Ultra I received also comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable and a USB-C to USB-A adapter to ensure that I'll be able to connect it to whatever computer I need to. The minute it gets plugged in, a small white light comes on, and the HDD is ready to be used. It's very convenient and works well. 

Security-wise, this HDD offers 256-bit AES hardware encryption and also comes with a five-year license for Acronis True Image, a program that not only protects against ransomware attacks but also allows you to backup and restore files. Basically, this adds an extra level of security and assurance to My Passport Ultra that some other HDDs on the market do not have. 

In order to activate Acronis, I simply had to connect the My Passport Ultra to my computer, open the drive, and click on the preinstalled program labeled "Install Western Digital Software for Windows." This program then brought up a page that took me to the Acronis download. After installing that, I was able to use the program to clone the disk, clean the disk, and adjust active protections.

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My Passport Ultra: Transfer speed tests

During my time with My Passport Ultra, I transferred a lot of data onto it and also used it with a few different laptops and desktops. Each time I plugged it in, the My Passport Ultra immediately became ready for use, and I never had any major issues with its performance. 

I ran a CystalDiskMark test using the My Passport Ultra, which showed a 118 MB/s read speed and a 116 MB/s write speed. This isn't the fastest HDD out there, but it is solid and steady. 

In addition to the CrystalDiskMark test, I also transferred roughly 4GB of data (comprised of a few small games, several big PSD files of digital drawings, and large wedding photos) onto the HDD in one go and kept an eye on the HDD's speed. As is usually the case, the HDD started off really fast but slowed down a bit as the minutes ticked by. There were a few stretches where the read speed dipped down and got as low as 20.7 MB/s, but the HDD recovered and picked back up. Overall, the read speed mostly stuck between 119 MB/s and 91 MB/s, which is good. 

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My Passport Ultra: Competition

When considering other external storage devices, you have your pick of either the best external SSDs or the best external HDDs. In general, SSDs are faster, but they tend to cost more. So, it really just depends on what you want from your storage device. 

When it comes to SSDs, I suggest you take a look at our Samsung T7 Shield review. This SSD is available in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities with your choice of a black, beige, or blue rugged casing. It reaches read speeds up to 1050 MB/s, making it significantly faster than the My Passport Ultra HDD. The 1TB sells for $99.00 at Amazon, while the 4TB sells for $318.39 at Amazon. 

If you're specifically looking for a good Xbox gaming HDD, then you should look at our WD_BLACK P10 review. This game drive supports up to 130 MB/s transfers and comes in 2TB, 4TB, 5TB, or 6TB capacities. It's compatible with Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. The 2 TB model costs $94.99 at Best Buy, while the largest 6TB option sells for $189.99 at Amazon.

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My Passport Ultra: Should you buy it?

You should buy it if ...

✅ You want to expand your storage without having to open your laptop or desktop up

External HDDs like the My Passport Ultra simply require you to plug them into your laptop or desktop and then you have more room for files and programs. There are no extra steps for upgrading your computer in order to gain more storage space. 

You shouldn't buy it if ...

❌ You'd really prefer an external SSD to an external HDD

HDDs and SSDs are both helpful storage devices. However, there's no denying that SSDs are a lot faster as long as you're willing to pay more to get one. 

If you need additional storage space on your laptop or desktop, then this external HDD is a great choice. My Passport Ultra has plenty of storage capacities to choose from to help meet your needs, and they're all well-priced and within a reasonable range. Plus, this HDD offers solid performance to handle whatever files you need it to hold. Of course, getting a five-year license for Acronis True Image with this purchase also adds to this device's security while making maintenance easier. 

It's not the sleekest or slimmest HDD out there, but it is hearty and should travel well without getting damaged too easily. If you do decide to purchase My Passport Ultra, just make sure you buy one with a USB-C port rather than the outdated micro USB.

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What you need to know

• Western Digital is a well-known computer drive and data storage company that acquired flash memory manufacturer, SanDisk, in 2016.
• Today, the company announced that it would be adding 6TB capacity options to three of its HDD products including My Passport Ultra, WD_BLACK P10 Game Drive, and SanDisk Professional G-DRIVE ArmorATD. 
•  According to Western Digital, it now offers the "highest storage capacity in a 2.5" portable HDD." 

Western Digital is a respected computer drive and data storage company that has provided reliable products for desktops and laptops for years. Its products are often listed on lists of the best portable hard drives and are a go-to for gamers. Today, the company announced that it would be adding a 6TB capacity option to three of its HDD products: My Passport Ultra, P10 Game Drive, and G-DRIVE ArmorATD. Western Digital also says that this means it now offers the"world’s highest capacity 2.5” portable HDDs."

Here are the Western Digital HDDs that are receiving a 6TB capacity option: 

• WD My Passport Ultra: Offered in 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 5TB, and now 6TB capacities. This portable HDD offers password protection with 256-bit AES hardware encryption. You connect it to your devices via USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port and it comes with a USB-C 3.0 adapter. Use it to expand the storage of your computer or laptop. It's offered in grey or blue depending on the capacity chosen. The new 6TB option has an MSRP of $199.99. 
• WD_BLACK P10 Game Drive: Marketed toward console and PC gamers, this HDD comes in 2TB, 4TB, 5TB, and now 6TB capacities with fast speeds of up to 130MB/s. The higher the capacity, the more game data you can store before running out of space. That way, you don't have to worry about needing to delete or rearrange game files as much. This game drive has a slim form factor that looks good on any desk. The new 6TB capacity sells for $184.99 MSRP.
• SanDisk Professional G-DRIVE ArmorATD: Western Digital acquired SanDisk back in 2016. This HDD is better protected and thus a great laptop travel accessory than others on the market. A rubber casing protects from accidental drops and bumps while the port is protected by a hatch. You don't have to worry as much about the weather, either, since it has an IP54 rain and dust rating. It offers transfer rates up to 130MB/s and features a USB-C (5Gbps) port. It's available in 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 5TB, and now 6TB capacities. You can purchase this new 6TB HDD for $229.99 at Western Digital. 

Increased storage for our growing data libraries

Sometimes, I think back to the small external hard drive I used in college and I marvel at its tiny capacity. Despite having much more space on my devices these days I often find myself running out of storage quickly on both my work computer and my gaming PC. That's especially true given the digital art I create, the work documents I generate, and the video games I play, which all fill up my usable space far too quickly.

Of course, a 6TB HDD won't be necessary for everyone, but it's nice having the option for those of us can make use of it. I'd certainly spend a lot less time rearranging and deleting my own files if I had such a large-capacity drive. The WD_BLACK 910 Game Drive is especially appealing thanks to its fast speeds. However, the G-DRIVE ArmorATD would also come in handy for work trips. Knowing that it's protected by that water-resistant and particle-resistant rubber casing, would help me feel assured that my personal data isn't likely to get damaged in transit. 

We at Windows Central plan to test and review these devices down the line, so check back later to see just how well these HDDs perform. 

They may not be exciting or as crucial as they once were, but USB flash drives are still an important tool used by millions all over the world. There are several companies known for creating quality, reliable flash drives that you can depend on, and one such company is PNY. Flash drives are highly portable, incredibly versatile, and can come in clutch whenever you need to backup important information, transfer large files, or simply take your work on the go.

I've been using PNY flash drives for many years, and the company offered to send me two of its latest products on opposite ends of its lineup. One is incredibly cheap and supports practically every device under the sun, while the other offers lightning-fast mass storage in a smaller package than practically any external SSD. I've been testing the duo for weeks now, and my experience has cemented what I already knew: PNY is my go-to for my flash storage needs.

Disclaimer: This article was made possible with sample units provided by PNY. The company did not see the contents of the article before publishing.

Never let down by a PNY flash drive

Since I was a child and first began using computers, flash drives have always been a regular addition to my bag. Especially in school, I had a multitude of various flash drives for storing and transferring projects, creating backups of photos and videos (before OneDrive took over that particular task), and turning in assignments when the schools of my lower-class childhood didn't have internet access that could be relied on.

Two decades later, I still have many of those flash drives. Plenty came and went in the interim, but a small collection of flash drives that simply refused to quit continued to preserve my past in tiny plastic containers. Of those flash drives, almost every single one is a PNY (the remaining survivors are all SanDisk, another company I wholeheartedly recommend). Even the USB flash drive that has continued to see regular use since I first got it in high school comes from PNY. I've yet to experience one of these flash drives giving out from under me or failing to keep my files safe; this is a trust that has been built up over 20 years of experience.

Of course, none of my PNY flash drives can be considered new. That's why I was interested in seeing the ways in which the company has evolved.

Modern options for ultra-portability or ultra-speed

PNY sent me two flash drives to test, and they couldn't be more different. The PNY Elite-X USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 1 flash drive is all about compact, affordable storage that can work with all your devices, including smartphones and tablets. On the other hand, the premium PNY Pro Elite V2 USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 2 flash drive is only compact in comparison to external SSDs but can actually compete with those drives when it comes to speed. It's for those who need a solid amount of speedy storage but don't want to pay for or store a traditional external drive.

Let's start with the former. Starting at just $14.99 at Amazon, the PNY Elite-X is among the more affordable USB Type-C flash drives, continuing a long line of cheap and reliable USB drives from the company. This drive won't impress you with its read and write speeds (PNY claims up to 200MB/s, but my tests peaked at around 120.9MB/s), but it's still more than fast enough for storing and moving photos, music, documents, and more. As far as compatibility is concerned, it works with pretty much any Type-C device that supports USB storage, so it's the perfect universal, cross-platform flash drive.

The PNY Elite-X USB Type-C flash drive is tiny, barely more than the width of a USB Type-C port. The connector can slide into the casing to protect it from damage, and it's designed to effortlessly attach to keyrings or lanyards for easy access. My only complaint is that the plastic body is both a blessing and a curse — this flash drive is ludicrously light, but it's also prone to scratches and scuffs, and it can be very finicky to reveal or hide the connector. I also had to format the flash drive at first use to transfer larger files, which I thought was odd, especially since the default format type (exFAT) and allocation size (128KB) seemed fine and worked great after formatting.

The PNY PRO Elite V2 USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 2 flash drive is considerably more straightforward because it just doesn't seem to have any cons other than its cost. Yes, it's more expensive than most people are probably used to paying for a USB flash drive, but the trade-off is excellent, durable build quality, and some impressive speeds. This is a heavy flash drive with a thick metal shell enclosing the inner plastic flash drive (which also feels very solid); that shell also protects the connector when you're not using the flash drive.

You can get up to 1TB of storage with the PNY PRO Elite V2, which is in the same range as premium SD cards and external SSDs. It starts at $49.99 at Amazon for the 256GB version and goes up to $109.99 at Amazon for the 1TB version. I can't attest to the speeds of smaller storage capacities, as PNY sent me the 1TB model, but my tests actually saw this flash drive exceed PNY's promised 600MB/s. Read speeds peaked for me at 649MB/s, and write speeds honestly didn't seem to be significantly slower than that.

That meant transferring a 6GB video file took mere seconds, and moving batches of a dozen JPG photos back and forth was so fast it felt instant. Yes, you can find faster speeds with external SSDs like the Samsung T7, but you'll be paying more for those speeds and giving up a lot of portability. The PNY PRO Elite V2 is no larger than your average USB Type-A flash drive and still has a holder for storage on a keyring or lanyard. I was honestly really impressed with this flash drive in general, although it's starting to get into price ranges where additional encryption and privacy features start to appear in premium flash drives.

Still the only flash drives I need in my computer bag

There is room to improve with PNY's ultra-portable USB Type-C flash drives, but overall, it's still a great value for the incredibly low price. Having that kind of compact, universal storage around makes it a lot easier to get files from one device to the other, especially when you really need those photos you just took on your phone and your cellular signal is low. As I stated above, though, maybe take the flash drive for a test run on a PC before fully committing to cross-device use, and be prepared for that plastic body to show some marks over time.

There are no such warnings with the PNY PRO Elite V2 USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 2 flash drive. If you need speed, durability, and portability in one USB drive, this is a great option. More expensive flash drives offer encryption and additional privacy features for those who need extra protection for their data, but this flash drive is a reliable middle ground that's definitely finding a permanent place in my laptop bag. PNY is still making quality storage products, although, of course, it's not the only company out there.

As a general PSA, please do not buy random flash drives or microSD cards from random, unknown companies just to save a few bucks or cents. When it comes to storage (especially affordable flash storage), scammy and unreliable products are all too common. PNY, SanDisk, Samsung, and Western Digital are all excellent sources for all your storage needs, from flash drives to internal PC SSDs. For me, PNY is still the champion of the former, but both Samsung and Western Digital have also won my heart for external, portable SSDs.

If you're in the market for a new USB flash drive, you can purchase both of the PNY options I thoroughly tested below.