Rank #6 in Best 1TB SATA SSD: 10 Ranked, and Why £190 Buys 10MB/s
fanxiang S101Q 1TB SATA III SSD
Price and rating as shown on Amazon when we collected them. Both change.
The fanxiang S101Q is a 1TB 2.5-inch SATA III solid state drive, listed at £99.49 and sitting sixth in this guide. Its Amazon listing claims a maximum read speed of up to 560MB/s and a maximum write speed of up to 510MB/s over SATA 6Gb/s — the same 560MB/s the Samsung 870 EVO asks £290.77 for. That is this guide's argument in a single product: on claimed read speed, the £191.28 between them buys nothing you can point at.
The listing is less tidy about its own numbers than the headline suggests. One product data field gives Media Speed as 510 megabits_per_second, while the bullet points claim up to 510MB/s writes; megabits and megabytes are different units, and the listing does not reconcile them. Another field lists Cache Memory Installed Size as 1 TB, which is the drive's capacity rather than a cache size. Buyer ratings average 4.3 from 5,166, with 73 of those ratings at five stars and 12 at one star. Everything on this page is taken from the Amazon listing — none of it comes from testing we carried out.
How those 5,166 ratings break down
An average hides its own shape. This is the spread behind the 4.3 stars.
Specification
Exactly as published on the Amazon listing, field for field.
| Price | £99.49 |
|---|---|
| Rating | 4.3 out of 5, from 5,166 ratings |
| Claimed read speed | Up to 560MB/s, SATA III 6Gb/s |
| Claimed write speed | Up to 510MB/s |
| Capacity | 1 TB |
| Endurance | 320TBW and 1.5 million hours MTBF |
| Form factor and interface | 2.5-inch, SATA 6.0 Gb/s |
| Media speed (as listed) | 510 megabits_per_second |
What buyers actually say
Quoted from customer reviews on Amazon
Verified purchase“What stood out:Saturates the SATA III Interface: With sequential read speeds consistently hitting close to the rated 550–560MB/s and writes around 500MB/s, it performs right at the practical ceiling of SATA III.Night-and-Day Boot & Load Times: Swapping out an old mechanical HDD for this transforms the entire responsiveness of a PC or laptop. Windows boot times drop from minutes to seconds, and game loading screens are significantly faster.Standard 7mm Fit: The slim 2.5" form factor drops easily into standard laptop bays, desktop drive sleds, or behind the motherboard tray with zero clearance issues.Price-to-Capacity Value: For secondary storage, game installations, or breathing new life into an aging rig without spending NVMe money, the cost per gigabyte is excellent.Keep in mind:DRAM-Less Design: Like most budget SATA drives, it relies on an SLC cache rather than a dedicated onboard DRAM chip. For day-to-day boot tasks, general gaming, and light file transfers, it stays snappy. However, if you're continuously writing massive 50GB+ files, speeds will throttle down once the cache buffer fills.SATA vs. NVMe: It maxes out SATA III speeds, but if your motherboard has an open M.2 NVMe slot and you do heavy video editing, NVMe will be multiple times faster for similar money.An affordable, dependable drop-in drive that works brilliantly as a game library drive or a budget system revival.”
Verified purchase“These drives are impressive and have a huge noticeable improvement to our old laptop. I didn't want to through the old laptop away, so decided to upgrade it and use it as a simple old school games machine. I had never heard of this product brand before. but know now that FANXIANG is trusted quality and very reliable. The size is like for like on our 2.5 drive slot and offers great speed both write and read. I have also bought the next size above this and it is just as great”
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 fanxiang S101Q claim to be?
The listing states a maximum read speed of up to 560MB/s and a maximum write speed of up to 510MB/s, over a SATA III 6Gb/s interface.
Why does the listing show two different write figures?
The fanxiang bullet points claim up to 510MB/s writes, while a product data field gives Media Speed as 510 megabits_per_second. A megabit is not a megabyte, and the listing does not explain the difference.
How is the fanxiang S101Q rated by buyers?
4.3 out of 5 from 5,166 ratings. Of those ratings, 73 are five-star and 12 are one-star.
What endurance does fanxiang quote?
320TBW (total bytes written) and 1.5 million hours MTBF, with the listing also claiming shockproof, anti-drop, quiet and low power consumption characteristics.
What does the fanxiang S101Q fit?
fanxiang lists it as a 2.5-inch internal SATA 6.0 Gb/s drive compatible with laptops, desktops, all-in-one computers and the Sony PlayStation 4.
How much is it?
£99.49 as listed, against £290.77 for the 560MB/s Samsung 870 EVO in the same guide.
Comments
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