These Prime Day SSD deals prove that you can beat the tech price hikes in 2026
The RAM and storage crisis has made buying hard drives, memory modules, and SSDs costlier than ever before. Most consumer SSDs are selling for twice as much as last year, and if you want a 4TB or 8TB M.2 drive, prices are astronomical.
However, there are still a few deals now and again, and Prime Day brings a good selection of products that are discounted. The caveat is that you won't see any SSDs at their all-time low, like we got last year. We are still some ways away from that, but the good news is that you don't need to shell out in excess of $200 just to get a 1TB external SSD like the Samsung T9.
I'm including both external SSDs and internal NVMe drives in the list, and I'm steering clear of some of the newer Chinese brands that have made their debut in this category in the last two years. The number one trait in an SSD is reliability, and I just haven't used enough of these drives to guarantee they'll stand the test of time; that's why I'm limiting this list to the likes of SanDisk, Seagate, Samsung, Orico, and other SSDs that I've tested and used over the years.
External SSD deals
Prime Day is live now, and it runs until June 26. Amazon started the sale a little earlier than usual this year, but you still get the same four-day sales extravaganza.
Do I have to be a member to shop during Amazon Prime Day?Yes, Amazon reserves its best deals for Prime members, so you will need to sign up to take advantage of the savings. That said, Amazon offers a 30-day free trial, so you can easily sign up without having to shell out anything. Already used your existing email for a trial in the past? You can use this clever Gmail trick to use the same mail ID again (and again).
What's going on with SSD pricing anyway?In one word: AI. Because of the sheer scale of the infrastructure that is being built to facilitate frontier AI models, SSD makers are running extremely high on demand and running into shortages, and this has created a market where most consumer drives are significantly costlier than previous years. This demand is set to continue through most of 2026 and may extend to next year, so if you need additional storage, I'd suggest taking a look at some of the deals highlighted above.
More Prime Day 2026 - quick links- Phones: major savings on Pixel, Samsung, and beyond
- Wearables: up to 50% off Garmin, Galaxy Watch, and Fitbit
- Tablets: Galaxy Tab, Kindle, and Amazon Fire tablets from $50
- Chromebooks: discounts on ASUS, HP, and Lenovo
- Smart Home: up to 60% off Alexa devices
- Headphones/earbuds: huge discounts on Beats, Sony, and more
- Smart TVs: cheap smart TVs from $69.99