Who We Are
Your Trusted Source
for SSD Intelligence
SSD Buddy was founded in 2022 in Dallas, Texas, with a single purpose: cut through the noise in the SSD market and give real answers to real questions. In a market flooded with paid placements and copy-paste spec sheets, we committed from day one to original testing, transparent methodology, and editorial independence.
Today, SSDbuddy.com covers everything from entry-level 2.5″ SATA upgrades to bleeding-edge PCIe Gen5 NVMe drives — across consumers, gamers, creators, NAS builders, and enterprise users. Our content is read by over 50,000 people every month, and we treat every one of those readers as someone who deserves accurate, actionable information.
“To make finding the right SSD as fast as the drives we review — with zero guesswork and zero bias.”— John Billy, Founder, SSD Buddy
Our Content
What We Do
Four content pillars — each designed to answer a different question you might have about SSD storage.
Hands-on, benchmark-driven reviews of internal NVMe drives, portable SSDs, NAS storage, and enterprise solutions — tested across multiple real-world use cases before we write a word.
“Best SSD for gaming,” “best PS5 SSD,” “best budget NVMe” — curated picks for every use case, budget, and platform, updated regularly as new drives land in our lab.
From “what is NAND flash?” to “TLC vs QLC endurance” and “why your SSD is running slow” — our knowledge base demystifies storage technology in plain English.
Head-to-head drive matchups and step-by-step guides for installing, cloning, setting up, and optimising SSDs in any system — PC, Mac, laptop, or console.
Our Story
How SSD Buddy Grew
From a single admin with a mission to cut through bad SSD advice, to a team of four industry veterans.
John Billy registers ssdbuddy.com with a clear mission: provide 100% original, accurate SSD content in a market drowning in duplicate specs and paid placements. The first articles are knowledge base explainers — SSD basics, boot time comparisons, and HDD vs SSD guides — building the foundation of what would become one of the net’s most comprehensive SSD libraries.
SSDbuddy expands from educational content into full product reviews, beginning with the most-searched consumer NVMe and SATA drives. The site joins the Amazon Associates program, creating a sustainable model that funds deeper, more rigorous testing without compromising editorial independence. The product review process — buy or borrow, benchmark, write, disclose — is established and documented.
SSDbuddy brings in a roster of industry-veteran contributors: Les Tokar (Founder, The SSD Review), Gavin Bonshor (ex-Senior Editor, AnandTech and The Register), Billy Tallis (AnandTech Storage Editor), and Sean Webster (Contributing Editor, Tom’s Hardware). The content quality jumps significantly as bylined, expert-authored reviews replace generic spec summaries.
The review library surpasses 500 drives across SATA, NVMe Gen4, portable, enterprise, and NAS categories. NAS-focused coverage launches for Asustor and UGREEN platforms. The site’s breadth now covers brands from Samsung and WD down to emerging players like KingSpec, Fanxiang, and Vansuny — giving budget shoppers the same depth of research as enthusiasts.
In 2026, SSDbuddy is focused on three priorities: (1) deeper coverage of the emerging PCIe Gen5 NVMe segment as mainstream pricing falls; (2) building out the comparison database with head-to-head matchups across every major drive category; and (3) launching the SSD Deal Alert newsletter to help readers act on the best prices as they appear.
Editorial Team
The People Behind the Reviews
Every article on SSDbuddy.com is bylined to a real person with a verifiable public track record in storage technology. We don’t use anonymous contributors or generic “staff” bylines.
Founder of The SSD Review (2010) and author of the internet’s first-ever consumer SSD review, published August 29, 2007. Nearly two decades covering flash storage — from consumer SATA to enterprise Gen5 NVMe. Has attended industry briefings at Samsung HQ in Seoul and provided confidential evaluation reports for SSD manufacturers.
Former Senior Editor at AnandTech, directing CPU and semiconductor coverage with an uncompromising commitment to factual accuracy. Moved to The Register as systems reporter, then to XDA Developers for PC hardware and silicon coverage. Brings deep analytical rigour to every comparison and top-pick selection.
AnandTech’s dedicated storage editor and one of a small number of journalists globally to cover the NVMe 2.0 specification release at technical depth. Reviewed the full evolution of consumer NVMe from PCIe 3.0 through the Phison E18 and Samsung SN850 generations. His AnandTech reviews consistently generated hundreds of reader comments and remain among the most-cited SSD analyses in the industry.
Contributing Editor at Tom’s Hardware, one of the world’s most authoritative PC hardware publications, where he specialises in storage hardware reviews. Longtime contributor to The SSD Review and published in APC, VentureBeat, and Linux Format. Also a professional photographer specialising in portrait and automotive work. Best known for breaking the story on SSD manufacturers silently swapping internal components — cited across the industry.
What We Stand For
Mission & Values
Six principles that guide every review, buying guide, and editorial decision we make.
We’d rather publish a review three days later with verified benchmark data than be first with specs copied from a press release. Every claim we make is traceable to a test, a spec sheet, or a primary source.
We disclose every affiliate link, every review sample, every sponsored post, and every material relationship that could influence our coverage. Our affiliate disclosure appears on every page. Readers deserve to know exactly how we make money.
Our reviews reference actual benchmark tools — CrystalDiskMark, Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, PCMark 10, and CrystalDiskInfo — run on disclosed test hardware. We do not republish manufacturer-supplied benchmark images.
Storage technology is genuinely complex. But “this drive uses BiCS6 TLC with a 12nm FinFET controller” serves no one who just wants to know if it’s worth buying. We explain the technology, then tell you what it actually means for your use case.
If you spot an error in any of our articles — a wrong spec, an outdated price, an inaccurate benchmark — we want to know. We treat corrections as contributions, credit the person who flagged it, and publish a correction notice at the base of the updated article.
No manufacturer, PR agency, or advertiser can purchase a positive review, a higher rating, or removal of negative findings. Review samples are evaluated on the same criteria as retail-purchased drives. If a drive is bad, we say so.
How We Work
Our Editorial Process
Every review follows the same four-stage process — regardless of whether the drive was purchased or received as a sample.
Drive purchased at retail or received as a manufacturer sample. Source is always disclosed in the review header.
Tested across sequential, random, and sustained workloads. Real-world file transfer tests run on disclosed hardware.
Expert contributor writes the review using test data. Rating assigned on a 5-point scale covering speed, value, endurance, and warranty.
Published with full disclosure. Revisited when prices change, firmware updates land, or component revisions are detected.
Everything We Cover
Category Coverage
Fourteen content categories — from consumer SATA to enterprise Gen5 NVMe.
Ready to Find Your Perfect SSD?
Start with our buying guides — curated by the same journalists who’ve reviewed thousands of drives for AnandTech, Tom’s Hardware, and The SSD Review.
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