There are some things in the world it's never bad to have more of, and chief among them is file storage. Everything from image files to recorded videos have only gotten bigger over the years thanks to higher resolutions, richer color depth, and other factors, and video game sizes in particular have skyrocketed as a result of the industry's endless pursuit of photorealistic graphics. Because of that, getting a new solid-state drive (SSD) or two is one of the smartest investments you can make for your PC or laptop.
There are tons of internal SATA and NVMe options on the market, but if you'd prefer something you can carry around and use with multiple devices, you'll want to get an external portable SSD. One of the best ones out there is SK hynix's Beetle X31, and while it's normally on the pricey side, the 1TB variant of the drive has fallen to just $62.99 at Newegg thanks to Black Friday. You can also get the 512GB version for $49.99, but the 1TB one definitely gives you more bang for your buck.
🔥The hottest Black Friday deals🔥
- 🎮ASUS ROG Ally (Ryzen Z1) | $349.99 at Best Buy (Save $150!)
- 💽MSI GeForce RTX 4070 + free game + Uber gift card | $479.99 at Newegg (Save $60!)
- 💻Surface Pro 11 (X Plus) | $899.99 at Best Buy (Save $300!)
- 💽AMD Ryzen 5 7600X + free SSD (1TB) | $194.99 at Newegg (Save $74!)
- 📺HP Curved Ultrawide (34-inches) | $299.99 at Best Buy (Save $180!)
- 💾WD_Black Xbox Series X|S Card (1TB) | $99.99 at Best Buy (Save $50!)
🍁More great Black Friday deals🦃
- Best Buy: Big savings on video games, accessories, and more
- Amazon: Constantly rotating sales on everything you can imagine
- Walmart: Early savings on practically everything
- Target: Live deals on a huge range of products
- Dell: Top deals on laptops, gaming PCs, accessories, and more
- HP: Save big on laptops, desktops, accessories, and more
- Lenovo: Doorbuster deals on all Lenovo PCs, monitors, accessories, and more
- Newegg: Save on PC gaming accessories, components, and more
- Razer: Take advantage of free shipping for a limited time
- Samsung: Holiday deals on laptops, TVs, phones, and more are live
Grab SK hynix's ultimate portable SSD upgrade
The 1TB SK hynix Beetle X31 — so named for its resemblance to the golden tortoise beetle — may look like a bug, but its lowest-ever price of $62.99 right now is a feature I recommend taking advantage of while you can if you're in need of portable storage.
The drive's golden colorway may put some off (Newegg's listing erroneously shows an option for a black version), but something that certainly won't is the Beetle's impressive sequential read/write speeds of 1,050MB/s and 1,000MB/s, respectively. That's on the very high end of things for non-Thunderbolt external SSDs, and notably, SK hynix has managed to achieve that much performance with something that's got 74mm x 46mm palm-of-your-hand dimensions and only 53g of weight.
Those speeds are great for gaming and plenty fast for file transfer, and the fact it's extremely small and lightweight means carrying it around will be a breeze. The use of USB-C also means that the drive is compatible with a wide variety of devices, and SK hynix was nice enough to include a USB-A to USB-C adapter you can use if connecting to a legacy port is necessary. The company also includes a protective silicone case for the SSD as well.
The only true downside of the Beetle is its average price of around $85-100, which is a fair bit more expensive than comparable SSDs — though it is smaller than its peers. That caveat has been eliminated by this Black Friday price cut, though, and Newegg's $62.99 price for the SK hynix Beetle X31 is actually the lowest it's ever fallen.
This sale solidifies the Beetle as one of the best SSDs to buy right now, but there are other top-notch options to consider, too. If you don't care about portability and just want elite read/write speeds, check out this 53% discount on the Samsung 990 EVO SSD. There's also the 4TB Samsung 990 PRO that got its price slashed by $200 right now.
Will tariffs raise prices on SSDs?
There's a chance that the United States will begin to place tariffs on products made in foreign countries in 2025, which has many wondering if the price of goods will increase. It's impossible to say what will happen right now, but if tariffs do come, you can indeed expect the cost of electronic goods like SSDs and other computer components to shoot up. Therefore, if you ask me, now is the time to make upgrades; we may never see prices this low again, even during future Prime Day and Black Friday sales.
When is Cyber Monday?
Cyber Monday refers to the Monday after the Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend, and is essentially an extension of the Black Friday sales event. This year, it will be on December 2, 2024. Expect to see most — but not all — of the Black Friday deals available now continue being offered through Monday, though be aware that many will likely end after Monday is over. Many retailers also offer Cyber Monday-exclusive discounts, too, so keep an eye out for those once Monday rolls around.
