WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD is an internal SSD built on 3D NAND technology for upgrading the storage capacity of your computer. Available in 2.5-inch and M.2 2280 form factor, the SSDs offer fast and reliable storage for your computer.
Unlike the WD My Passport, a portable external HDD and more especially, the SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD, an external SDD, that are connected outside via external ports, the WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD is installed inside the computer via SATA ports.
WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD is available in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB storage capacities. The 2.5-inch form factor also adds 4TB storage capacity. Our review unit was the Western Digital Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD M.2 2280 with 500GB. The review will focus on the M.2 2280 form factor.
Unboxing the WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD M.2 2280
The SSD comes in a transparent pack inside a blue and white box.
WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD M.2 2280 Specs
- 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB Capacities
- Up to 560 MB/s Transfer Speed
- SATA Interface
- M.2 2280 form factor
- 3D NAND SSD
- 80 x 22.1 x 2.3 mm (3.15″ x 0.87″ x 0.09″)
The Design
Our review unit has the M.2 2280 form factor. It looks more or less like a RAM stick, but is a little taller and the connectors are on the shorter side. The WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD m.2 2280 measures 80mm in length. Of course, by convention the 2280 bit means the stick measure 22 mm width and 80mm in length.
Make sure that your desktop or laptop has the space for the 80mm length on the motherboard. It connects to SATA making it compatible to a wide range of laptops and desktops.
Thanks to WD’s Functional Integrity Testing Lab (FIT Lab), the SSD is verified and certified for compatibility in a wide range of desktops and laptops.
The connectors that go inside the port are on one end and a cutout for screwing the stick on the motherboard is provided on the other end.
The Performance
WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD M.2 2280 is a high performance SSD that will give any compatible desktop or laptop a new lease of life.
Its super fast sequential read speed of up to 560MB/s and sequential write speed of up to 530MB/s makes it great for upgrading your computer for better performance in applications like gaming, video editing, modeling and design, etc
The drive is built with reliability in mind boasting an impressing mean time to failure (MTTF) of up to 1.75 million hours. You also get a 5 year warranty on the product.
Its inherent characteristic as an SSD means there are no moving parts, making it more resilient against shocks, drops, and bumps. This protects against loss of data during or after such events.
Western Digital offers a couple of free downloadable software to enable you get the best performance from the SATA SDD.
The first is the Western Digital SSD Dashboard, which is a utility software that enables you monitor the health and performance of your drive. The software will provide information like available storage capacity, operating temperature, and speed. It also enables you update the firmware of the drive if any update is available in future.
The second software is the Acronis True Image software. Western Digital bundles a license of the Acronis software with the drive. This software will enable you clone you existing drive to the SDD.
Cloning your drive is a great way to upgrade your computer storage from HDD to faster SDD for better performance. The Acronis software will also enable you backup your operating system, applications, settings and all of your data.
WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD M.2 2280 Price and Availability
WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD M.2 2280 price in Nigeria starts at around 20,000 Naira for the 250GB capacity at leading online stores.
The SATA SSD is listed on Western Digital’s website for $44.99, $59.99, $104.99, and $229.99 for the 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities respectively.
In Nigeria, price for the 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB SSD starts at around ₦20,000, ₦40,000, and ₦70,000 respectively.
Compare Prices
Conclusion
The Western Digital Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD M.2 2280 will be a good upgrade to your computer, especially if your device is currently using a hard drive.
Its transfer speed of up to 560MB/s will offer a noticeable performance upgrade that will improve your experience with applications like gaming, video editing, and design.
The bundling of the Acronis imaging software with the drive means you can hit the ground running cloning your old drive without any additional expenses.
With a mean time to failure of up to 1.75 million hour and high endurance capacity of the drive, the WD Blue SSD is a reliable upgrade for your laptop or desktop.
Related Topics
- Best Hard Drives for Gaming
- Best Laptops for Gaming on a Budget
- How to Buy an SD Card?
- SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive m3.0
- SanDisk iXpand Mini
- Memory cards Buy SD SDHC MicroSD from SanDisk Sony Transcend
- SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive USB Type C
- SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive
- How to Buy a USB Flash Drive
- Digital Camera Accessories Battery Chargers Memory cards
- 3 Steps to Recover Deleted Files when Hard Drive suddenly Disappears
