Western Digital held out on entering the SSD market for quite some time, but the company has been spinning up with new products quite often. First, we had the WD Black NVMe SSD back in April of 2018, then the WD Black SN750 in January of this year. Then, we had the Blue SN500 a few months later, and now we’ve got the Blue SN550. Confused? Don’t be, keep reading and we’ll break down the difference of all drives below.
WD Blue SN550 NVMe SSD sports 2.4GB/s read speeds
The WD Blue SN550 is the company’s latest NVMe SSD in an M.2 2280 form factor, marking the fourth release of this design. You’ll net the normal things like a 5-year warranty, WD’s historically trustworthy build, and the extremely small footprint that NVMe drives are known for.
Where the SN550 sets itself apart from the rest is in its read speeds. Offering up to 2.4GBs (or 2400MBs), this drive is perfect for any task, from standard boot and programs to video editing, game storage, and more. It’s available in sizes ranging from 250GB to 1TB, depending on how much room you need.
Western Digital’s NVMe lineup has models for everyone
WD’s NVMe lineup is starting to fill up, as the company now makes products that are built for just about every use case.
- WD Black: 3.4GB/s read speeds
- WD Black SN750: 3.4GB/s read speeds
- WD Blue SN550: 2.4GB/s read speeds
- WD Blue SN500: 1.7GB/s read speeds
These drives show that WD is committed to making a product that everyone can use. While the SN750 is a fairly expensive drive, the SN500 is more on the budget-friendly side of things. But, with a gap of 1.7GBs to 3.4GBs, the middle ground was sorely missing a product, which is where the latest SN550 comes into play.
“Taking an NVMe-first approach can speed-up system performance tremendously. This translates to less time waiting on data, so creators can work smarter, not harder, to increase both output and potential income,” said Eric Spanneut, vice president and general manager, Client Business Unit, Western Digital. “The WD Blue SN550 is a great option for customers looking for an all-NVMe portfolio. For a system builder, it means Western Digital delivers a full portfolio of NVMe and SATA SSDs, as well as high-capacity hard drives. This gives them immense flexibility to build systems for our customers’ varying needs.”
Pricing and availability:
Western Digital’s WD Blue SN550 NVMe SSD is available with prices starting at $54.99 for the 250GB, $64.99 for 500GB, and $99.99 for 1TB. Shipping begins as soon as today.
[9to5-press-release]
SAN JOSE, Calif. – (Dec. 10, 2019) –Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) is capable of delivering up to four the speed of our SATA SSDs with the new WD Blue SN550 NVMe SSD. The newest member of the award-winning WD Blue portfolio, as well as another performance-focused NVMe SSD, the new drive is purpose-built for content creator and PC users, allowing them to boot faster and work smarter.
Supports the Four Core Storage Demands
Today’s content creators use data storage at ever-increasing rates. Whether it’s working with 4K/8K video, large document files or storage-intensive applications, these digital environments demand reliable performance, durability, speed, and capacity that the NVMe interface can deliver. According to Forward Insights, NVMe is forecast to account for more than 75 percent of the storage shipped in the PC segment by 2021_[1]_. Leveraging the proven reliability of Western Digital’s NVMe product portfolio, the WD Blue SN550 NVMe SSD is built to address these four core demands, transforming them from pain points to creative productivity.
Powerful Internal Speeds to Do More, Faster
Whether working, creating, casual gaming or processing large amounts of data, the WD Blue SN550 NVMe SSD can deliver over four-times the speed of Western Digital’s fastest SATA drives. With boosted internal speeds, this brings a better overall computing experience for multitaskers and resource-heavy application users who want a fast and responsive system to tackle tough workloads. In addition, an upgraded thermal design enables ultra-responsive PC performance and sustained performance during intense use.
[/9to5-press-release]
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