WD Blue SSD 250GB Review

Brady Meyers Avatar

Written by:

Updated 11:23 pm

Expert Rating

95

In their reluctance, Western Digital created the WD Blue SSD 250GB, or WDS250G2B0A, a SATA III SSD drive that stands toe to toe with big name brands like Samsung, and comes out swinging with one of the best SSD options around. The WD Blue SSD is all about read and write performance, promising up to 500TB of TBW and free downloadable software, WD SSD Dashboard, to keep an eye on its performance.

Why We Like It – WD Blue SSD 250GB

Western Digital stopped working on hard drives for a moment to give us the WD Blue SSD. In a surprising twist of events, this SSD performs well next to others of its bracket, and will do so even after you’ve read and written hundreds of GBs of data. If you still want to look at a hard drive, take a look at our HGST Travelstar 2.5 inch 1TB 7200RPM 32 MB cache hard drive review.

Pros
  • Great price per GB
  • Excellent performance
  • Free software included
Cons
  • Storage is lacking

Performance

Speaking of performance, the WD Blue SSD can top off margely better performance than Samsung’s EVO 860. By utilizing TLC NAND, the WDS250G2B0A has sequential read speeds of 560MB/s, and sequential write speeds of 530MB/s. The EVO 860 can peak at read speeds of 560MB/s, but unreliably; the WDS250G2B0A outdoes it by being more consistent in that department. The EVO 860 has write speeds of 520MB/s, so the WD Blue SSD 250GB has a clear advantage yet again. However, both have random read speeds that were almost always on par with one another, and the difference being negligible. Read the Adata su800 review for an SSD with RAID Engine and data shaping for ultimate protection.

Design

This WD SSD doesn’t stray from the typical SATA SSD designs; it’s small 2.5-inch form factor and thin exterior make a great option for compact computers—especially with how little heat the Marvell 88SS1074 controller produces. And when it does, a thermal pad will spread it out. You can safely mount this to your PC’s chassis.

While its casing is plastic, it doesn’t feel cheap, unlike the Silicon Power A55. Several threaded holes are found on the same side as the product sticker, providing the option to mount. If you are looking for a slim SSD for an Ultrabook, then check out our Silicon power a55 review.

Value

Considering the read write speeds of the WD Blue SSD 250GB, and its pricing, you are getting a really good deal—especially next to the ADATA SU800 SSD. It too performs well next to the 860 EVO, but ultimately suffers from latency issues. The WD Blue is a lot more consistent with its read write speeds, even having write speeds.

With that said, 250GB isn’t a whole lot of storage. It’s an excellent choice if you’re migrating your operating system, but not for normal use. You’re better off jumping up to its 500GB model, the WDS500G2B0A, which has an even better per GB cost.”

WD Blue SSD 250GB Wrap Up

This SSD review ultimately revealed the WD Blue SSD 250GB as being a great SSD for both desktop use and consumer use. It has excellent performance compared to more mainstream brands, like Samsung, and can often outperform its contemporaries in the same bracket. While its storage capacity is relatively small, jumping up to its larger models is an easy choice to make, especially with how far the prices have dropped since its initial release.

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