Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally users know just how precious storage can be for handheld gaming, where every spare gigabyte matters. Thankfully, as Amazon Prime Big Deals Day deals are stacking up, three attractively priced upgrades are here to increase your storage in the smallest SSD form factor, on both Amazon and Newegg. Two of these drives are even on our tested list of the best SSDs for the Steam Deck and other gaming handhelds.
The Crucial P310 2TB 2230 is on sale for its lowest-ever price, sitting at $121.99, 49% off the list price. In 1TB sizes, the WD Black SN770M 1TB 2230 is at 39% off ($85.49), and the Kingston NV3 2230 1TB is shockingly affordable at $65.80 on Newegg. The Kingston is also at its lowest-ever price, with the WD Black dipping into its lowest price tag since last holiday season.
All three fun-sized storage drives above are heavyweights for their classes and worthy of consideration for the deals-savvy buyer. From high capacity and no compromises, to wicked-fast TLC performance, to crazy levels of bang-for-your-buck, these drives offer something for every handheld gamer.
The Crucial P310 2230 is undoubtedly the star of the show today. $121.99 for 2TB of M.2 storage from a highly reputable vendor like Crucial is attractive on its own, but that same price in the itty-bitty M.2-2230 size is beyond compare. The drive received very high marks from our reviewer at its launch, and to this day, it is the second-fastest 2TB M.2-2230 SSD that Tom's Hardware has ever tested. Its QLC memory makes it more power-efficient than the 2TB flavor of the WD Black 2230 competitor below it on this list, and just a hair faster in our testing. Top read/write speeds of 7,100 / 6,000 MB/s push the drive close to the limits of its PCIe 4.0 connection, and 2TB of storage make it likely to serve you well for a good while, even with heavy downloading.
Of course, for those looking for highly increased longevity along with higher performance at the cost of some battery life, TLC SSDs are the way to go. And for TLC hunters, look no further than the WD Black SN770M. This tiny drive also got a four-star review at the time of release, and it still holds as the bronze medalist in our rankings of the best Steam Deck SSDs. The TLC SSD has powerful performance in both its 1TB and 2TB offerings, with the 1TB today representing an incredible deal price. The warranty and software support the WD Black line is known for are nice additions here, and the power-without-compromise promises of the SN770M make it a scary good pick for gamers on the go.
For those on a tighter gaming budget, we don't blame you for steering clear of the kingly options higher on the list. The Kingston NV3 is a killer budget drive most days, and at today's Newegg sale price, it becomes a serious contender. As we found in our review of the drive's standard length cousin, the M.2-2280 NV3, the SSD has solid performance among budget drives, and runs quite a bit cooler than either the Crucial P310 or SN770M. Plus, Kingston is a well-regarded name in storage and memory, making it arguably a safer acquisition than any number of other budget drives from lesser-known vendors. And of course, those without a Prime account have Newegg to turn to for this deal.
For those with a Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, Ally X, MSI Claw, Lenovo Legion Go, or even some newer Windows Surface models, upgrading storage can be a bit of a hassle. These devices only accept storage drives at the littlest end of the M.2 pack, already a tiny form factor family. M.2-2230 drives, as a result, have tended to run high in price compared to the gumstick-length 2280 form factor. With the help of the above picks, however, gamers and other users will have a much easier time upgrading storage at a price point comparable to typical PC storage upgrades today, an important consideration at a time when consumer costs continue to rise.
For further SSD research, be sure to check out our exhaustive list of the best SSDs for Steam Deck and other handheld gaming devices, where two of these drives rank highly even without the help of their killer deal prices. And as Amazon's Prime Day approaches, beginning in full on Tuesday, be sure to look out at our Prime Day Deals live blog for the best tech deals as they arrive.
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