WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD: One Of The Fastest TLC Drives You Can Buy

TLC NAND has been a performance drag, until now.

- Jon L. Jacobi

A maller form-factor means a larger and less aesthetically pleasing machine.The WD Blue 3D SSD is a SATA SSD with a not-so-secret twin: Sandisk’s Ultra 3D SSD. They are in fact the same drive with different labels, WD owning Sandisk and all that. The ‘3D’ term means the drives use stacked (layered, vertical, etc.) NAND. Practically speaking, that means more storage in less horizontal space.

The only real differences between the drives are the outward appearance, the marketing, and the fact that the WD Blue 3D ships in the M.2 form factor, while the Ultra 3D does not. Beyond that, they’re peas in a pod. Given their superior performance compared to other TLC NAND drives—that’s a really good thing.

DESIGN AND CAPACITY

Though available in the 2.5-inch form factor, WD sent us the M.2 2280 (22mm wide/80mm long) Blue 3D, which is handy for upgrading laptops or desktops that feature an M.2 slot. It’s SATA, not NVMe—just to be clear. Be sure to check which flavor your M.2 slot is before you buy. Just FYI, NVMe (go.pcworld.com/n4me) is a lot faster.

The Blue 3D is available in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB (the size we tested), and 2TB capacities, which sell for $95, $165, $310, and $620 respectively. Those are the prices from WD’s site—you may find them cheaper at Amazon, Newegg, or the like.