Is It Safe to Buy a Used SSD or Not [Full Guide 2023]
Is it safe to buy a used SSD? Is buying a used SSD a good idea or a bad one? Many people may want to know this question. First, we must know that buying a second-hand SSD is risky. Qiling will tell you why in this article and teach you how to judge whether the second-hand or used SSD you bought is qualified and safe.
Is It Safe to Buy a Used SSD
Many people may be looking to upgrade their PC from an HDD to an SSD, or from a smaller SSD to a larger SSD, or maybe they just want to get an external SSD as a supplement. However, they may want to purchase a used or refurbished SSD due to budgetary concerns. So, is it safe to buy a used SSD ? The answer is that we usually do not recommend buying a used SSD. There are two reasons here:
- ✏️SSDs Have Limited Write Cycles:
As we all know, solid-state drives use flash memory chips to store and keep data. When data is written and modified to a flash cell, the voltage state of the electrons changes. Then, the original data is erased, and new data is written. However, each change of state results in the loss of the insulating silicon oxide, shortening the lifespan of the SSD. Therefore, SSDs typically have limited write cycles. Because of this, many manufacturers will offer SSD warranties in TBW (terabytes written), indicating how much data the drive can write over its useful life.
- ⚙️Reduced Performance:
A used SSD will degrade in performance. Because you don't know what the SSD was ever used for. For example, the original users may use SSDs to mine the Chia cryptocurrency, and miners may resell these used SSDs to cover their losses after the Chia Coin's value plummeted. Therefore, if the SSD has an excessive workload for a long time, its bad blocks will increase. This means there is a risk of data loss, and fewer blocks will be available on the SDD, resulting in increased garbage collection (GC) times. This will seriously reduce the performance of the SSD and affect your use.
The two links can help you improve the performance of the used SSD. Check them if you need help.
- 🧩After-sales Service And Other Factors:
Used SSDs or used SSDs may not have a good aftermarket and may be out of warranty.
But how do you buy a used SSD that's relatively reliable if you're on a tight budget? The next section will tell you what to consider when buying a used SSD. Share this article and let more users know how to choose a reliable used SSD.
How to Buy a Reliable Used SSD
If your budget is limited, a second-hand SSD is a choice. So, how do you safely buy a refurbished SSD? We've listed some key points that you should be aware of.
💡1. Reliable Source
You can buy used SSDs on eBay, Amazon, OLX, or Newegg, but choose a reliable store. Generally, manufacturers don't sell used or refurbished SSDs in their official stores, but some may certify refurbished SSDs. You can use store ratings and user reviews to help you buy a certified and reliable used SSD.
💡2. Low Price
If the price of a second-hand SSD is not low enough, it is not recommended to buy a second-hand SSD. If the price difference is only a few dollars, I suggest buying new ones.
💡3. Warranty
When buying a used SSD, you should ask if the SSD is still under the manufacturer's warranty. If yes, please ask the seller to give you relevant information so you can send the SSD for repair within the warranty period. If not, it is also not recommended that you buy this used SSD.
💡4. Check SMART Status (Most related to the performance of the used SSD)
Checking SSD SMART status is the most important. If you buy an SSD with seriously bad health, your investment is wasted.
To check the SSD health condition, we recommend Qiling Disk Master. This tool can check the health condition of the used SSD you chose. Besides, it can test the read/write speed of it to check if the used SSD is as good as advertised.
This tool can check all the following SMART attributes for your used SSD:
- Health: You should check its score. The higher the score is, the better the health condition of the SSD is. It is usually closely related to SSD remaining life. Qiling Disk Master will issue a warning when the score is not up to standard. If you see the alert, then it is not recommended to buy this used SSD.
- Power On/Cycle Count and Power On Hours: The count and hours should be low if the hard drive is almost new. If the value is too high, the write cycle of this SSD is close to its limit. So at this time, it is not recommended that you buy it.
- Total Host Writes: It represents how much data has been written to the SSD. If the written data is too high, it is not recommended that you buy it.
- Other SSD SMART Attributes: Qiling Disk Master can also test the health status of SSD for you in multiple dimensions.
Here are the steps to test the used SSD SMART status:
Step 1. Launch Qiling Disk Master and click the blue arrow to activate the "Disk Health" feature under the "Discovery" section.
Step 2. Select the target disk and click the "Refresh" button. Then, you can see the health condition of your disk.
Besides, Qiling Disk Master can do the following tasks to help manage your SSD:
- Merge partitions on SSD
- Wipe a used SSD to get more usable disk space
- Format a new SSD or a used one
- Test SSD read/write speed
Download this tool to check the SMART status of the used SSD. If it doesn't read the score you want, choose a better one.
Bonus Tip: How to Optimize the Used SSD's Performance
Used SSDs may not be as good as new SSDs in performance and speed. To speed up your used SSD, you can turn to Qiling Disk Master again. It comes with a "4K Alignment" feature and helps improve the performance of an SSD. To 4K align an SSD, try the best SSD management software, and it makes every step easy! Here is how:
Step 1. Go to "Disk management" and choose "4K Alignment".
Step 2. Select the disk you want to align. Click the "Proceed" button.
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Conclusion
In most cases, we do not recommend buying a used or refurbished SSD because of the worrying longevity and performance of used SSDs. If you want to buy a reliable used/second-hand SSD, you need to consider factors such as the purchase channel, budget, SMART Status of the SSD, and warranty period. It is worth mentioning that when you buy a used SSD, please remember to do the SSD health test on it, which will directly tell you whether you have bought a usable second-hand SSD. Qiling Disk Master can help you check if you are making a good investment. Download and try it now.
FAQs About Is it Safe to Buy a Used SSD
We need to consider the purchase channel, warranty, and SSD health condition when choosing a used SSD. Here are other questions you may be concerned about:
1. Are refurbished SSD good?
Frankly, they are not that good, and I don't recommend buying them. The reasons are as follows:
- Possible bad sectors
- Limited write cycles
- Reduced Performance
- Unreliable after-sales service
2. How do I know if the SSD is legit?
If you see an SSD that is priced ridiculously low compared to other SSDs with similar specs, it is most likely fake. But how can you be sure? Fake SSDs may have reduced read/write speeds or have smaller storage capacities. You can confirm it by testing SSD read/write speed. If the test results are inconsistent with the advertised, it may be a fake SSD.
3. Is it okay to buy a used M 2 SSD?
In my opinion, you should never buy a used SSD or NVMe M.2 drive. However, if you do not have a sufficient budget (in fact, second-hand SSDs are not much cheaper than new SSDs), you should buy second-hand SSDs in regular channels and trustworthy stores.
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