On Amazon you can apparently find pocket-sized external SSDs with a lot of memory for little money. how Reviewgeek reported that Amazon SSDs with high storage capacities are to be offered for suspiciously little money. Customers should be able to purchase SSDs with a capacity of 16 TB for less than 100 dollars.
We have checked whether similar offers also exist in Europey.
Do you come across it yourself?
It’s not hard to find similar deals on Amazon. A quick search for 16 TB external SSD hard drive
lists the first dubious offer prominently highlighted by advertising: a portable SSD with USB 3.0, three years guarantee and 2 TB storage for only 46 dollars. Directly below: an offer from Seagate for an external SSD with 6 TB for 128 dollars.
This 16 TB SSD even comes with a three-year warranty.
The difference: The Seagate hard drive is not suitable for the trouser pocket. There is no other explanation for the much higher price per terabyte for the sponsored blue hard drive.
When scrolling down, other dubious offers become apparent: behind the hard drives from Seagate there are almost only offers that advertise either 16 TB for 83 dollars or 2 TB for 37 dollars.
After all: Many of the offers only have one to a maximum of three stars and corresponding comments. This makes it easier for customers to identify dubious offers.
The ratings can be used to distinguish between serious and dubious offers.
How do these SSDs work?
In most cases, the supposedly cheap SSDs are structured as follows: A standard USB stick or a micro SD card with, for example, 64 GB is used as the storage medium. The storage medium is soldered onto a circuit board and built into the SSD housing together with a small weight.
The storage medium is then modified so that computers identify it as 2, 4, 6, 8 or 16 TB of storage. In the worst case, this leads to permanent data loss when files are copied to the supposedly free hard drive.
SSD vs HDD
What is the difference and how important is an SSD for gamers?
Tip: Use common sense
Above all, people who are not very familiar with technology often buy SSDs according to the motto: More memory is always better
. Accordingly, they are looking for the cheapest hard drive with the largest total storage capacity. And fall for dubious offers.
According to its own statement, Amazon actively takes action against dubious offers. However, as long as the offers are still for sale on Amazon, you should read the reviews when buying unknown products. It is also helpful to compare similar products when offers sound too good or to research price developments on platforms such as Idealo or Geizhals.
Alternatively, you can take a look at our SSD comparison, in which we compared the currently best NVMe SSDs:
Buyer’s guide – The best M.2 SSDs with NVMe.
Have you ever felt annoyed about an online purchase because you received the wrong product? Or do you have friends in your environment who fell for such a trick? Write it to us in the comments!
