SanDisk Ultra II review

There aren’t many SSDs that can rival Crucial’s MX100 for value, but the SanDisk Ultra II manages just that, at just 38p per GB for the 240GB drive, 32p per GB for 480GB and an astonishing 30p per GB for the 960GB version. This makes the Ultra II an incredible value SSD.

The Ultra II uses a Marvell 88SS9190 controller for the 240GB disk and a Marvell 88SS9189 for the larger capacities. The latter controller is also used by Crucial for its MX100 and M550 SSDs. All the Ultra II drives use SanDisk’s 19nm TLC flash memory, with each cell able to store three bits of data per cell instead of the two in MLC NAND. This means more data can be stored in the same area, allowing for bigger SSDs.

The Ultra II has a SATA3 connector and is 7.5mm thick, so it’ll fit in laptops with slim drive bays designed for single-platter hard disks. A spacer is included for fitting the drive in laptops that require thicker 9.5mm drives.

You don’t get any data migration software bundled explicitly with this SSD, but SanDisk’s SSD Dashboard software is available as a free download. This helps you to monitor and maintain your drive’s health and performance as well as install any firmware upgrades.

We tested the 240GB model, and found its transfer speeds were excellent considering the drive’s low price. In our large file read test we saw a 454.4MB/s, which is average, but the drive could write large files at a highly impressive 617.7MB/s, making the Ultra II a top performer for a budget drive. Small file performance was reasonable, with 77MB/s read and 97.5MB/s write. This isn’t quite up there with Crucial’s MX100, but it’s not far off.

For a long time, the Crucial MX100 was the SSD to beat for those on a tight budget, but the SanDisk Ultra II has stolen its crown. The 240GB model is reasonably priced, but the 960GB version is the best value at just 30p per gigabyte.  For all our current best Buy SSDs see our regularly updated Best SSD article.