▷ Is a Chinese ssd worth it?

Are Chinese SSDs quality ? Is the financial savings really worth it? Or is it better to opt for a quality SSD with MLC or TLC memories?

We have recently come out of a period of time when SSD prices were skyrocketing, something that sparked an avalanche of Chinese manufacturers offering these devices at tighter prices.

However, since the beginning of the year, the prices of SSDs have been falling, and this raises the question of whether it is worth buying a Chinese SSD or is it better to opt for a model from a traditional and well-known manufacturer. In this article we analyze the keys to make the decision.

Index of contents

The keys of Chinese SSDs, without DRAM cache and unknown NAND memory chips

One of the measures taken to make SSDs cheaper is to do without the DRAM cache. DRAM-free SSDs reduce costs by skipping cache based on this type of storage, which can be a good move if the controller and NAND are capable of stable performance. All Chinese SSDs come without this DRAM cache, and it is one of the keys to their low prices.

We recommend reading our post on the best SSDs of the moment SATA, M.2 NVMe and PCIe

The obvious problem is that prices have been high for the past few years, so saving the cost of a DRAM chip and using a slightly cheaper controller offers huge savings in SSD manufacturing. The downside may be that poor performance is much worse than the benefit of slightly reduced costs. Any SSD should work better than any HDD, but that doesn't mean we can't get better performance with a more traditional SSD with a DRAM cache without the price going too high.

As for the NAND memory chips of Chinese SSDs, it is usually not known which is its manufacturer, although it is assumed that it comes from a Chinese manufacturer, rather than Toshiba, Samsung or Micron. That sounds like a possible concern, although we would have to be very naive if we don't believe that the Chinese are determined to enter the CPU and memory chip business. It has been inevitable that Chinese NAND starts life on embedded devices, SD cards, and USB drives, and then moved on to SSDs as part of the learning curve. This is the area that causes us the most concern, but also offers Chinese SSD manufacturers the potential to undermine their competition by a significant amount.

The combination of a low-budget DRAM-free SSD controller that doesn't use a cache chip, anonymous NAND memory, and firmware written by a team of unknown provenance adds to a lot of uncertainty.

Price difference, not so bulky after all

At this point, it is time to look at the prices to see if it is really worth a Chinese SD or it is better to opt for a model from a well-known manufacturer. As usual, we will look at Amazon prices to make the comparison.

Crucial BX500 is right now one of the cheapest SSDs that we can find in the market, its 240 GB version has a price that does not reach 45 euros, the time is long gone when an SSD of this capacity reached 100 euros. On the other hand, the 240GB Kingdian, one of the most popular models among Chinese manufacturers, is priced at € 39.99.

Crucial BX500 CT480BX500SSD1 480 GB SSD Internal Hard Drive (3D NAND, SATA, 2.5 Inch) 300% times faster than a normal hard drive; Micron 3D NAND - 40 years global memory and storage technology innovator 59.90 EUR KingDian hard drive with 480GB 2.5 inch capacity, SATA III interface for desktop PC and MacPro (S400 480GB) Large capacity: 2, 5 inches TLC S400480GB.; Interface type: SATA III (100mm x 7mm x 69mm). EUR 53.99

This is less than 5 euros difference, an amount that seems very small and not significant. Crucial is one of the most prestigious manufacturers of NAND memory, and its SSDs have always been very popular for offering an exceptional balance between price and performance.

Final words and conclusion about whether a Chinese SSD is worth it

As we have seen, the price difference between a Chinese SSD and one of a prestigious brand is not very large, only about 5 euros in a 240 GB model. Do you want to risk losing your most valuable data by saving 5 euros? This is the question you should ask yourself to get the answer to the dilemma of whether it is worth opting for a Chinese SSD.

We are clear about it, with the current prices and these differences, it is not worth buying a Chinese SSD, because the money savings will be very little compared to the risk that we may run of losing our data. It is clear that any SSD can fail, but the main manufacturers have shown good reliability over the years, in electronics everything can fail, but the probability is not the same.

This ends our article on whether a Chinese SSD is worth it, we hope it will be very useful when buying a new SSD. You can leave a comment with your opinion. Do you agree with us?