M.2 SATA vs M.2 NVMe
Both are M.2 sticks that screw onto the motherboard, and they look almost identical. An M.2 NVMe drive runs over PCIe and is several times faster; an M.2 SATA drive uses the older SATA protocol and is capped at about 550 MB/s. Which one works depends on what your M.2 slot supports.
Buy M.2 NVMe unless your slot is SATA-only, which some older boards and laptops have. The spec line on a listing tells you which drive you are looking at, not the photo.
The difference on paper
These hold for each kind as a whole, independent of any one drive.
The difference in price today
Across 11 M.2 SATA SSDs and 296 M.2 NVMe SSDs with a live offer at the retailers we track, updated daily.
Where a side has fewer than 15 drives, counts are shown instead of percentages. Prices per TB use each drive’s cheapest live offer divided by its capacity. Quality scores are left out on purpose: they are calculated within each kind of drive and do not compare across kinds.
How to tell them apart on a listing
Read the specification line, not the picture. PCIe, NVMe or Gen3/Gen4/Gen5 means an NVMe drive. SATA III, 6 Gb/s, or a rated read speed near 550 MB/s means SATA. If the headline read speed is under 600 MB/s, it is a SATA drive.
Which one your slot takes
Your motherboard or laptop specifications list every M.2 slot and what it supports. Many current slots are PCIe only and will not see an M.2 SATA drive at all; some older slots are SATA only. Slots that accept both exist too. Check before you buy, because the connector notches are not a reliable guide.
The picks on each side
The cheapest per terabyte on each side, and the cheapest that also scores at least 40 out of 100 within its own kind. Recalculated daily from live prices.
M.2 SATA SSDs
M.2 NVMe SSDs
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Common questions
Can an M.2 SATA drive go in an NVMe slot?
Only if the slot also supports SATA. Many modern M.2 slots are PCIe only and will not detect an M.2 SATA drive. Your board's specifications list what each slot supports.
Is M.2 SATA faster than a 2.5-inch SATA SSD?
No. Both use the SATA protocol and top out near 550 MB/s. M.2 SATA only saves the cables and the drive bay.
Why buy M.2 SATA at all?
For a laptop or older board whose M.2 slot only supports SATA. Anywhere an M.2 slot supports PCIe, an NVMe drive is the better buy.
Keep going
Browse M.2 SATA SSDs or M.2 NVMe SSDs with every filter, see how storage prices are moving, or start from the storage comparison hub.