90 PCWorld JANUARY 2022F E ATU R E NVME VS. M.2 VS. SATA SSD
S
olid-state drives are universally
faster than old-school hard-disk
drives, but not all SSDs are the
same. They come in different
shapes and sizes, have different maximum
speeds, and command different prices.
We explain each type of drive in deep detail
in “What type of SSD should you buy?” (fave.
co/3z0hBhD) and also highlight specific
recommendations in our round-up of the best
SSDs (fave.co/2Z26gQg), but that information
can be harder to apply when you’re trying to buy
a laptop or prebuilt PC. It’s often more important
to understand what kind of SSD you’re getting
so you can decide if it suits your purposes.
To make that simple, we’ve created this
quick breakdown for you. Key differences are
outlined below, with a full chart at the end foreasy side-by-side comparisons. It’s fast
reading, so you should be able to get back to
your purchasing lickety-split.KEY DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN NVME, M.2,
AND SATA SSDS
Interface type
SSDs can either use NVMe or SATA as the
method for communicating with the rest of a
PC. SATA is slower than NVMe.
M.2, on the other hand, is actually a type
of form factor. You can find both NVMe M.2
SSDs and SATA M.2 SSDs in the wild.
Sometimes product advertisements or
summaries use “M.2 SSD” to imply an NVMe
drive and “SATA SSD” to indicate the presence of
a 2.5-inch form factor SSD. Because of this, don’t