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How we rank products

The formula is the same on every comparison: official maker specification figures, published weights, and no paid placement.

1. Specs come from official maker specification pages

We enter only figures published on official Samsung, Crucial and SanDisk product pages (SanDisk also publishes official WD_BLACK, WD Blue, WD Green, WD Red and WD pages), and we link that official page under every product. If a figure isn't published we show "Not listed" instead of guessing. Official sequential read and official sequential write, when the maker lists them as “up to” figures, are still those official figures, not a speed we measured. Official capacity, official interface, official form factor and official warranty are shown as facts when published. Official endurance (TBW) is shown as a fact when published and is not scored, because many official Samsung US pages and official portable pages in this set omit it.

2. Scores use a fixed reference range

Each criterion has a fixed reference range, from a "weakest reasonable" value to a "best in class" value (for example official black print speed from 20 to 55 ppm in the monochrome laser table). A product's figure is placed on that range and clamped between 0 and 1, so scores stay meaningful as products are added. Official figures outside a category's reference range are clamped at those reference ends for scoring only. The official figures still appear on the product page. The ranges are listed below.

Internal NVMe SSDs

  • Official sequential read · weight 50 · range 2000–15000 MB/s — The official sequential read speed published on the official product page, in megabytes per second. When the official page lists an “up to” figure, that official figure is what we use, not a speed we measured. Official values outside the reference range are clamped for scoring only; the official figure is still shown.
  • Official sequential write · weight 50 · range 1000–14000 MB/s — The official sequential write speed published on the official product page, in megabytes per second. When the official page lists an “up to” figure, that official figure is what we use, not a speed we measured. Official values outside the reference range are clamped for scoring only; the official figure is still shown.

Internal SATA SSDs

  • Official sequential read · weight 50 · range 500–560 MB/s — The official sequential read speed published on the official product page, in megabytes per second. When the official page lists an “up to” figure, that official figure is what we use, not a speed we measured. Official values outside the reference range are clamped for scoring only; the official figure is still shown.
  • Official sequential write · weight 50 · range 80–530 MB/s — The official sequential write speed published on the official product page, in megabytes per second. When the official page lists an “up to” figure, that official figure is what we use, not a speed we measured. Official values outside the reference range are clamped for scoring only; the official figure is still shown.

Portable and external SSDs

  • Official sequential read · weight 50 · range 400–4000 MB/s — The official sequential read speed published on the official product page, in megabytes per second. When the official page lists an “up to” figure, that official figure is what we use, not a speed we measured. Official values outside the reference range are clamped for scoring only; the official figure is still shown.
  • Official sequential write · weight 50 · range 400–3800 MB/s — The official sequential write speed published on the official product page, in megabytes per second. When the official page lists an “up to” figure, that official figure is what we use, not a speed we measured. Official values outside the reference range are clamped for scoring only; the official figure is still shown.

3. Missing official figures never beat published ones

When a scored field is Not listed, it receives the category minimum for that criterion. An unpublished number cannot outrank a published one. We do not use prices or customer ratings, even if a retailer later lists them.

4. What the score cannot tell you

The score cannot tell you whether the official form factor and official interface fit the computer, how a drive will behave in a specific workload, or whether official endurance (TBW) is published for that SKU. Official sequential speed is a published figure, often listed as “up to,” not a test we ran. Use the score to shortlist, then read the pros, cons, safety notes and sources, and confirm the current official specification with the maker and the retailer. When we add hands-on testing notes, we label them clearly.