Best SSD and Hard Drive Deals for December 2025

Many of us do a bit of housekeeping at the end of the year, and it can be shocking to see how much hard drive space we’ve filled up in 2025. Picking up a new storage solution, whether you opt for an internal or an external drive, is the best way to ensure your files are always there when you need them. Whether you need a fast but lightweight SSD or a slow-moving but capacious HDD, we’ve found offers on major brands like Crucial, WD, and SanDisk. Here are December’s most impressive HDD and SSD deals.
Acer MA200 512GB Internal SSD for $51.99 (list price $69.99)
Crucial BX500 1TB Internal SSD for $89.99 (list price $94.99)
Samsung 9100 Pro 2TB Internal SSD for $219.99 (list price $279.99)
Western Digital 1TB My Passport Portable SSD for $109.99 (list price $129.99)
SanDisk Extreme 1TB Portable SSD for $119.99 (list price $129.99)
Crucial X10 2TB Portable SSD for $224.99 (list price $275.99)
Seagate Expansion 12TB External Hard Drive for $255.00 (list price $299.99)
LaCie Mini Rugged 5TB External Hard Drive for $159.99 (list price $169.99)
Western Digital 14TB Elements Desktop External HDD for $239.04 (list price $279.99)
Keeping your drive inside your computer is the traditional way to go, and internal SSDs are faster and less expensive than external drives. Cross-check to ensure these storage devices are compatible with your desktop or laptop. With capacities up to 2TB, you won’t need much more than this to keep your data close.
Specs: 512GB | 5,200 MB/s read/write | PCIe 4.0
Compact-sized SSDs are a growing market, mainly for compact laptops and Windows-based gaming portables like the Asus ROG Ally. If you’re looking to slot more storage into a small form factor, this price cut on the Acer MA200 is right up your alley. The reduced size does limit it in certain ways (most notably slower transfer speeds), but it’s still efficient and reliable. The inclusion of HMB + SLC Cache smart buffering gives you fast game booting and shorter loading times. Amazon has a 26% discount.
Acer MA200 512GB Internal SSD for $51.99 (list price $69.99)
Specs: 1TB | 550 MB/s read, 540 MB/s write | SATA
Here’s a solid budget pick for an internal SSD with a decent amount of storage. This drive’s been on the market for half a decade but still delivers decent results, especially for the price. PCMag reviewed it when it came out and was impressed by its solid performance and reliability, even if other Crucial models had better speed. The BX500 uses Micron 3D NAND storage technology and comes with a three-year limited warranty.
Crucial BX500 1TB Internal SSD for $89.99 (list price $94.99)
Specs: 2TB | 14,700/13,400 MB/s read/write | PCie 5.0
Stepping up to PCIe 5.0 connectivity significantly boosts the performance of internal solid-state drives, doubling read/write speeds with ease. The Samsung 9100 Pro is a high-quality storage solution that PCMag praised for “blazing sequential throughput performance” in its review. While random write speeds are slightly slower than the peak, it’s still incredibly fast, featuring Samsung’s Magician Software for seamless firmware updates and massive heat reduction compared to the previous generation of internal drives.
Samsung 9100 Pro 2TB Internal SSD for $219.99 (list price $279.99)
If you need a little more portability without sacrificing space, an external SSD is the way to go. These have come a long way since the measly flash memory sticks and can now hold massive amounts of data and transfer it back and forth through USB-C to laptops, desktops, and other devices. They’re also housed in rugged casings to survive frequent transport.
Specs: 1TB | 1,050/1,000 MB/s read/write | USB-3.2
It’s been on the market for a while, but the My Passport external SSD from Western Digital is a reliable performer that gets the job done at a nice price. PCMag gave this model an Editors’ Choice award in its review, saying that “its on-par speed and capacity make it a fine choice for housing a quick-access media library.” With an impressive five-year warranty and compact form factor, it’s great for travelers. One note: The included USB cable is pretty short, so you might want to snag a longer one with the money you save on this deal.
Western Digital 1TB My Passport Portable SSD for $109.99 (list price $129.99)
Specs: 1TB | 1,050/1,000MB/s read/write | USB 3.2
This is a tremendous price on a rugged and easy-to-use drive that can withstand some serious situations. USB-C connectivity gives you the best read-write speeds for an external drive, at over 1,000 megabytes per second. The casing is durable and has a handy loop for a lanyard or carabiner. 256-bit AES encryption helps you keep the contents safe if you misplace it. This is one of the nicest prices you’ll see on a portable of this capacity, so take it home while you can.
SanDisk Extreme 1TB Portable SSD for $119.99 (list price $129.99)
Specs: 2TB | 2,100 MB/s read/write | USB 3.2, USB-C
Here’s another Editors’ Choice winner from PCMag, this one with more connectivity options and a rough and rugged design. In its review, PCMag praised the Crucial X10 for its reasonable cost-to-capacity ratio, support for both USB 3.2 and USB-C, and excellent performance in benchmarking tests. It lacks built-in AES hardware-based encryption, so it might not be a prime choice for the security-conscious, but for games, photos, and other non-sensitive info, it’s tough to beat at 18% off.
Crucial X10 2TB Portable SSD for $224.99 (list price $275.99)
For the maximum amount of storage, you’ve got to go old-school with a hard disk drive. Although these are more vulnerable to mechanical wear than solid-state drives, hard disks are a time-tested technology that is both reliable and affordable. This category covers internal and external drives, some designed for desktops and others for laptops.
Specs: 12TB | 120MB/s read/write | USB 3.0
Have a ton of files to manage? This beefcake is ready to flex for you. The Seagate Expansion external hard drive boasts a muscular 12TB of available storage space, and it’s way cheaper per terabyte than any competing SSD, which can’t get anywhere near the capacity. While the USB 3.0 connection isn’t the latest and greatest, it’s still perfectly fast, and Seagate’s Rescue Data Recovery services can save your files from accidental erasure.
Seagate Expansion 12TB External Hard Drive for $255.00 (list price $299.99)
Specs: 5TB | 130MB/s read/write | USB 2.0/3.0
The orange wrap of LaCie’s external drives has become a visual shorthand for durability, and it’s the brand of choice for many professional photographers, audio recorders, and others who do their work in the great outdoors. This is the tiniest model LaCie makes, a pocket-sized drive with solid speeds and great reliability. It’s a breeze to set up, with plug-and-play operation and included backup software. $10 isn’t the biggest discount, but every little bit helps.
LaCie Mini Rugged 5TB External Hard Drive for $159.99 (list price $169.99)
Specs: 14TB | 113MB/s read/write | USB, Thunderbolt
Another desktop-based storage solution, this tower-shaped Western Digital drive is an imposing behemoth, but behind the shiny black exterior beats the heart of a champion. This potent plug-and-play drive for Windows computers is effortless to set up, offers fast data transfer speeds, and provides plenty of stability and security. The unit supports both USB 3.0 and USB 3.2 for maximum compatibility, and Amazon has it on sale for 15% off right now.
Western Digital 14TB Elements Desktop External HDD for $239.04 (list price $279.99)
Looking to upgrade your storage? Here are some things to keep in mind:
Internal SSDs and HDDs come in several form factors, with the most popular now being the M.2 “gumstick” variety, although 2.5-inch drives still have plenty of use cases. Typically, solid-state drives have more variance because they don’t require a mechanical spool. Ensure that the model you’re purchasing will fit your machine—consult the manual or the manufacturer’s website for specifications.
Storage drives also use several different interfaces, and compatibility is important there as well. The two primary options are SATA and PCIe, each with advantages and disadvantages. In addition, the data transfer protocol is also different between units. Make sure they match.
Performance-wise, two factors matter: size and speed. Both increase cost, so balancing your budget with how much space you want is key. Thankfully, drive prices are lower than ever when you consider how capacious they are, so you can get massive multi-terabyte drives for pretty cheap.
The sheer variety of solid-state drives on the market can be overwhelming. Purchasing with purpose is the way to get the best value moving forward. If you’re moving files between locations, you obviously need an external SSD. A smaller solid-state drive will be more cost-effective if you build a desktop that keeps system files on an SSD and program files on an HDD. If you need to store massive amounts of data on a budget, an HDD will be the best option.
The major difference in solid-state drives is their interface method. Serial ATA technology is older and works like traditional mechanical drives, while Non-Volatile Memory Express was designed to work exclusively with SSDs. NVMe uses the PCIe bus, which is being regularly updated and expanded to exploit additional lanes of data transfer, increasing speed and capacity with each generation. NVMe will generally provide better results, but SATA may be compatible with more systems.
As the great computer scientist Tupac Shakur famously said, “Only God can judge you.” We’re proponents of investing a little more than you think you need for a more spacious drive. Given the skyrocketing sizes of file installs, with some AAA games coming in at over 100GB, you’ll find whatever drive you buy filling up fast. It’s smart to future-proof your setup now instead of buying a patchwork of external storage later.
Acer MA200 512GB Internal SSD for $51.99 (list price $69.99)
Crucial BX500 1TB Internal SSD for $89.99 (list price $94.99)
Samsung 9100 Pro 2TB Internal SSD for $219.99 (list price $279.99)
Western Digital 1TB My Passport Portable SSD for $109.99 (list price $129.99)
SanDisk Extreme 1TB Portable SSD for $119.99 (list price $129.99)
Crucial X10 2TB Portable SSD for $224.99 (list price $275.99)
Seagate Expansion 12TB External Hard Drive for $255.00 (list price $299.99)
LaCie Mini Rugged 5TB External Hard Drive for $159.99 (list price $169.99)
Western Digital 14TB Elements Desktop External HDD for $239.04 (list price $279.99)
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