WD Black SN850P review

Let's break it down. The SN850P boasts read speeds of up to 7,300MB/s and write speeds of up to 6,600MB/s for a 2TB variant. Sounds impressive, right? Well, the SN850X offers almost identical speeds, with 7,300MB/s read and 6,600MB/s write speeds. In real-world use, you'd be hard-pressed to notice the difference. We got 6954MB/s read and 6670MB/s write speeds on the SN850P. The WD SN850X 1TB had 6919MB/s read and 6453MB/s write speeds during our review.  You can read that here .Both drives will load games faster than you can say "haptic feedback" and make those pesky loading screens a distant memory.

In real-world conditions, it takes 15 minutes to copy 178GB of game files from the PlayStation 5 internal storage to the WD SN850P drive. On our test bench gaming PC, specs below, it takes about 4 minutes for 771GB worth of game files to move from the WD SN850P to our long-term Seagate FireCuda 530 SSD. Even copying the same data back to the Seagate took roughly the same time.

So, where does the "P" come in? It stands for PlayStation, my friends. This means the SN850P has been officially certified for use with the PS5. Sony's console isn’t fussy when it comes to SSDs but this badge of honour gives you peace of mind that the SN850P will play nicely with your beloved console. But here's the thing: the SN850X also works flawlessly with the PS5. It fits snugly in the M.2 slot and delivers those same blistering speeds. Even our test bench SSDs like the Seagate FireCuda 530 SSD 2TB and the Kingston Fury Renegade 1TB were PS5 ready so the choice pretty much boils down to pricing to performance. The Seagate and the SN850P are both expensive meanwhile the Kingston and SN850X are a few grands less for pretty much the same speed.

Now, let's talk about the elephant in the room: the price. The SN850P, with its fancy PlayStation branding, tends to command a slightly higher price tag than the SN850X. So, you're essentially paying a premium for that little logo. If you're a die-hard PlayStation fan who wants the absolute assurance of a licensed product, then go for it. But if you're looking for the best value for your money, the SN850X is the way to go.

Ultimately, the choice comes down to personal preference and budget. If you're happy to pay a little extra for the peace of mind that comes with the PlayStation logo, then the SN850P is a solid choice. But if you're looking for the best bang for your buck, the SN850X is the clear winner. It's like choosing between two Ferraris: they're both incredibly fast and luxurious, but one might have a slightly fancier paint job.