Western Digital WD Blue 500GB SATA III 2.5"
Western Digital
56 Overall Score
vs
Samsung 2TB SSD PCIe 5.0 NVMe M.2
Samsung
96 Overall Score
What Buyers Say
Western Digital WD Blue 500GB SATA III 2.5"
88 out of 100 medium confidence 10 reviews
The WD Blue 500GB SSD is widely praised for dramatically speeding up older computers, with users reporting faster boot times and snappier performance after installation. It is considered a reliable, well-priced upgrade, though some note that benchmark speeds don't quite match the advertised figures. One user had a PS4 failure after 8 months but received a warranty replacement, with the caveat that they had to pay shipping.
Pros
- Dramatically faster boot times
- Reliable Western Digital brand
- Good value for money
- Easy installation and cloning
- 5-year warranty
Cons
- Benchmark speeds below advertised
- Warranty shipping costs borne by customer
- PS4 failure reported after 8 months
Performance speed 8
Value for money 5
Reliability 4
Ease of installation 4
Warranty support 2
Benchmark accuracy 2
Samsung 2TB SSD PCIe 5.0 NVMe M.2
No customer feedback yet
Scores
Gaming
Workstation
Console
Budget
Laptop
Portable
Specifications
| Western Digital WD Blue | Samsung 2TB SSD | |
|---|---|---|
| Drive | ||
| Capacity | ||
| Form Factor | 2.5" | M.2 |
| Interface | SATA III | PCIe 5.0 |
| Protocol | SATA | NVMe |
| PCIe Generation | — | 5★ |
| External | ✗ | ✗ |
| Performance | ||
| Sequential Read (MB/s) | ||
| Sequential Write (MB/s) | ||
| Random Read (IOPS) | ||
| Random Write (IOPS) | ||
| Hardware | ||
| NAND | TLC | TLC |
| DRAM Cache | — | ✓★ |
| Controller | — | In-House Controller |
| Reliability | ||
| Endurance (TBW) | ||
| MTBF (hours) | ||
| Warranty (years) | 5 | 5 |
| Features | ||
| Heatsink | — | ✓★ |
| Hardware Encryption | — | ✓★ |
Pros & Cons
Western Digital WD Blue 500GB SATA III 2.5"
- Strong endurance (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Strong social proof (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Strong user sentiment (79th percentile)
- Below average capacity (27th percentile)
Samsung 2TB SSD PCIe 5.0 NVMe M.2
- Strong random (100th percentile)100th %ile
- Strong feature (100th percentile)100th %ile
- Strong speed (99th percentile)99th %ile
- Strong social proof (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Below average affordability (18th percentile)18th %ile
Verdict
Winner: Samsung 2TB SSD
Scores 96 overall, wins 6 of 6 usage categories and 10 of 18 specs.