There’s a new entrant into the 2230 SSD race, and this time it’s the maker of high-end storage options, Western Digital.
- The new SSDs come in the 2230 format, meaning they’ll work with the Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally.
- Three sizes are available: 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB.
- Pricing comes in it at $74.99, $109.99, or $219.99.
Each of the M.2 devices comes equipped with PCIe Gen 4.0 and should deliver speeds of up to 5,150 megabytes per second, although that last part normally depends on how full the drive is. SSDs are like that. They’re faster than standard SATA drives, but that speed degrades the fuller it becomes. They’re still very worth the upgrade, though.
How hard are SSDs to install on the Steam Deck and ROG Ally? Not very. The Steam Deck is a literal 15-minute job followed by around an hour to redownload and install SteamOS. The Ally, meanwhile, is a 10-minute workload hampered by a three-hour Windows install time.
I originally picked up the 512GB Steam Deck and boy did that fill up fast! Switching in the 512GB SSD felt like moving from a box to a mansion.
The Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and the upcoming Lenovo Legion Go all use the 2230 model of SSDs, which until the Steam Deck didn’t really have a large presence in the online space. In fact, there was once a time a little after the Steam Deck’s launch when the only real option to upgrade storage was to buy a pre-owned 2230 that’s been pulled out of a Surface tablet. With Corsair, Sabrent, and now Western Digital all in on the action, that means there’s more choice for consumers, and that’s always a good thing.
If you want to see for yourself how easy installing a new SSD is, feel free to peruse my guides for the Steam Deck and the ASUS ROG Ally.
Source: The Western Digital Website.
