Black Friday SSD deals flew by last November. Although it was a crazy year for the storage market as a whole, 2022 brought us some incredible SSD prices, and gave us plenty to think about for 2023. If you're fed up with staring at loading screens or waiting for your files to move around, an SSD may be just what you're looking for. These speedy drives provide fast access in addition to increasing your available storage space.
In 2022, we saw the best SSDs for gaming go down to historically low prices. Since demand dropped and companies had to try and recover from the extra costs of the pandemic, the biggest manufacturers admitted they hadn't hit projected sales figures for the year when it got to the end of summer 2022. This resulted in even the best PS5 SSDs, that are often the most popular, being brought down to their Black Friday 2021 prices before Black Friday 2022 had begun. With that blissfully cheap year in our rear view mirror, we've tried to supply our expectations, as well as helpful information we have about what could happen later this year.
There are now more than ever SSD options on the market. Not only are games taking up more space nowadays, but there's a real demand for faster load times, and since current gen consoles have put more emphasis on the use of internal and external SSDs, there are plenty of Black Friday PS5 SSD deals to plan for too. Expanding a PC or console's storage is a lot easier than it might seem at first, and making the most of a decent SSD deal is the first step in doing so.
Below, you'll find frequently asked questions about Black Friday SSD deals, a list of our go-to retailers, and a list of Black Friday 2022's best deals. We hope the latter will give you an idea of what will be on offer during Black Friday, and potentially the kinds of prices you might need to pay.
Black Friday SSD deals 2023 - FAQs
Where will the best SSD deals be?
If you're looking for a solid-state drive during these sales periods then you'll find that all major tech retailers are offering amazing discounts on them during these sales periods.
US Retailers:
Amazon: Wide range of brands and sizes on sale
BestBuy: Discounts on SSDs exclusive to BestBuy
Walmart: Deals on internal and portable SSDs of different sizes
Newegg: Money off of big brands like WD_Black
UK Retailers:
Amazon: Sales on all different brands and sizes
Currys: Money off of tons of solid state drive options
OverClockersUK: Sales on top brands like Seagate and WD
eBuyer: Discounts on a range of internal and external SSDs
Why were SSDs so cheap in 2022?
SSD made its move into storage dominance during the pandemic years, which, as we're sure you'll remember, were ridden with supply chain issues and chip shortages the world over. Since SSDs have been so highly sought after over the past few years, and manufacturers have had to think about extra costs to keep their workers safe amidst the pandemic, as well as recover from it, prices remained high.
In September, however, it was revealed that sales had been declining in the HDD and SSD spaces. Both Seagate and Western Digital, two of the biggest names in the storage market, revealed that it would be unlikely for them to reach their projected revenue figures by the end of 2022.
When you combine the high manufacturing costs of the pandemic age with 2022's cost of living squeezes, you get a stagnation of the market. In short, it got easier to buy an SSD, but people either don't have the money to buy one, or no longer needed them as desperately.
With no choice but to slash prices to offset reduced demand, SSD manufacturers dramatically reduced costs.
What to expect from Black Friday SSD deals 2023
According to the majority of forecasters, SSD prices are expected to continue dropping in 2023. So much so, that some sources believe these continued low prices could help bring on the final demise of HDD. Whether we'll see SSD prices continue to drop all the way to Black Friday remains to be seen, but we'd at least expect them to stay reasonably low as the year progresses. Since Holiday sales typically bring about the lowest prices of the year for computing components, we'd be willing to bet that November will be a great time to buy.
Having said that, with prices staying at such an affordable level compared to their 2020 and 2021 heights, you might not need to wait until November to get the best drives at a low price. If we were you, we'd keep an eye on the price of your favourite drives throughout the year. You may well find that that they're affordable without Black Friday price cuts. It's difficult to say how much you should spend on one (because they keep getting cheaper), but you can be confident that any you buy at the moment will be at a significantly cheaper price than this time last year, and considerably cheaper than folks paid for them in 2021.
Although its hard to predict a market that's in such a state of flux, for November we'd predict the same kind of discounts we saw in 2022. If the big manufacturers like Seagate, Western Digital, and Samsung bring out newer models, you may find that the drives we know and love now will be cheaper. Even then, the SN850X came out in 2022 and saw its cheapest ever price during Black Friday last year, so you can be confident Black Friday will bring about great prices.
What types of Solid State Drives are there?
- SATA SSD: This style of solid-state drive uses the same 2.5-inch form-factor as any standard HDD, meaning they normally fit in any pre-existing drive bays that your PC case may have. The trade-off, however, is that, while cheaper, they're not as quick as some of the newer types on the market. They're also chunkier than other SSD types, so keep that in mind too.
- External SSD: As the name may imply, instead of being slotted inside your machine, they are connected externally via USB 3.0 or USB-C depending on read and write speeds. These days, USB-C is more commonplace.
- PCIe/NVMe/M.2: This is the newest form of SSD storage that's used on everything from game consoles to gaming desktops. These SSDs are famed not only for their faster-than-ever speeds but for ultra-small form-factors and ease of use. Usually, they can just be screwed into place (usually with a heatsink). In addition, they tend to have longer lifespans and a lower risk of mechanical fault. Having said that, they're the more expensive option, and they can benefit from working with heatsinks to help them run as efficiently as possible.
Black Friday 2022 SSD deals in the US
Black Friday 2022 SSD deals in the UK
Looking to upgrade your gaming PC? Then Black Friday CPU deals and Black Friday RAM deals should have you covered. Be sure to take a look at Black Friday Samsung deals for more.
