Rank #1 in Best 1TB SATA SSD: 10 Ranked, and Why £190 Buys 10MB/s
Crucial BX500 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD
Price and rating as shown on Amazon when we collected them. Both change.
The Crucial BX500 1TB is the drive at the top of this guide, and its listing gives three numbers straight away: a claimed read speed of 540MB/s, a price of £149.99, and 4.7 out of 5 from 156,111 Amazon ratings. Place it on the same price ladder as the rest of the guide and something odd shows up. It costs £50 more than the £99.99 drive that claims 550MB/s, and £140 less than the £290.77 drive that claims 560MB/s. The entire spread of claimed read speeds in this guide is 60MB/s, so the £149.99 here lands in the middle of a very narrow band rather than at the top of it.
The Crucial listing also disagrees with itself in places. One bullet says "Store up to 4TB of data", yet the name, the digital storage capacity and the hard-drive size all say 1TB. The spec table lists the product features as "Portable", while the name describes an internal 2.5-inch drive for laptop and desktop and the compatible-devices field says desktop only. The 540MB/s figure sits under a SATA 6Gb/s interface, which is roughly a 600MB/s ceiling — so the drive claims to run just under the limit of the connection. Every figure and claim on this page comes from the Amazon listing as it stands, not from any drive we bought, installed or benchmarked.
How those 156,111 ratings break down
An average hides its own shape. This is the spread behind the 4.7 stars.
Specification
Exactly as published on the Amazon listing, field for field.
| Price | £149.99 |
|---|---|
| Amazon rating | 4.7 out of 5 from 156,111 ratings |
| Claimed read speed | 540MB/s |
| Interface | SATA 6Gb/s, listed as a 6 Gigabits per second data transfer rate (as listed) |
| Capacity | 1TB |
| Form factor | 2.5 Inches (as listed) |
| Warranty | 3-year limited, as stated in the listing |
| Weight | 35.1 g |
What buyers actually say
Quoted from customer reviews on Amazon
Verified purchase“I was in the market to purchase a new SSD for my PS4 and everyone pointed me to this one. The quality is great, the price is reasonable despite the outrageous storage prices. Without a doubt one of the easiest set ups ever. In my opinion, this is THE SSD you need for a PS4.”
Verified purchase“Put this in my NUC to run as a mini home server. Works well so far. No issues even with some heavy data writing. Running Linux with no issues after formatting.”
What it is up against
The rivals it was ranked against in Best 1TB SATA SSD: 10 Ranked, and Why £190 Buys 10MB/s.
Questions people ask
How fast does the Crucial BX500 1TB read?
The listing states up to 540MB/s and repeats the figure as 540 MB/s under media speed. It runs on SATA 6Gb/s, a connection whose own listed data transfer rate of 6 Gigabits per second works out at roughly a 600MB/s ceiling.
Does the Crucial BX500 1TB really store 4TB?
No. The bullet says "Store up to 4TB of data", but the product name, the digital storage capacity and the hard-drive size for this model all read 1TB. The 4TB wording covers the wider Crucial range, not this drive.
Is the Crucial BX500 an internal or a portable drive?
The name and the 2.5-inch form factor describe an internal SATA drive for laptop and desktop use, and the name says laptop and desktop compatible. The spec table nevertheless lists product features as "Portable" and compatible devices as "Desktop" only.
What software comes with the Crucial BX500?
The listing says it includes free Acronis True Image HD software for easy data migration, and that the drive works with the Crucial Storage Executive tool for drive maintenance.
Does the Crucial BX500 encrypt data?
The listing claims hardware-based 256-bit AES encryption, said to meet Microsoft eDrive, IEEE-1667 and TCG Opal 2.0 standards.
What warranty does this Crucial drive carry?
A 3-year limited warranty, according to the listing.
Comments
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