What's the difference between M.2 SSDs SATA and NVMe

M.2 storage technology, often refers to an SSD and it's form factor, either SATA or NVMe. They're small and slim size, making them ideal for portable lightweight devices.

Before we begin, if you're looking at buying an M.2 SSD, your motherboard must support the M.2 interface. This is fairly common on modern motherboards these days but it's best to check your manual for more details on the specific type (SATA or NVMe).

There are 2 options to choose from SSD M.2 SATA and SSD M.2 NVMe.

SATA M.2 SSD

A lot of manufacturers have stopped supplying M.2 SATA SSDs. Soon they'll be out of stock and are quickly becoming uncompatible with most motherboards.

They're still quite useful and affective on laptops and desktops, providing lightning faster booting, application load times, and file saving. They have 3 to 4 times the bandwidth compared to spinning rotational disk hard drives.

Whilst it's possible to buy an M.2 SATA SSD with a SATA interface, it's recommended to use SSD M.2 NVMe instead. M.2 NVMe is a hybrid interface that allows for faster and more efficient data transfer speeds.

SATA M.2 NVMe

NVMe M.2 SSDs utilise the NVMe protocol that was specially designed for SSDs to provide a faster and more efficient data transfer speed. Through the PCIe sockets SSD M.2 NVMe drives communicate directly with the CPU. Providing a competitive advantage over SATA M.2 SSDs.