Kingston A400 240GB SATA SSD (SA400S37/240G)
A cheap, simple hard drive replacement for old PCs; skip it for heavy file copying.
The short version
- Anyone upgrading an older laptop or desktop from a hard drive
- A cheap boot drive for a basic office or browsing PC
- You copy large video files or install big games often
- Your machine has an M.2 NVMe slot, which supports much faster drives than SATA
- You want a drive that holds full speed when nearly full
What owners like
- Big jump in boot and load times over a hard drive
- Low price makes it a common choice for reviving old machines
- Most long term users report it keeps working as a daily boot drive
Common complaints
- Write speed falls off hard during long copies once the cache is full
- Real world averages come in below the rated sequential speeds
- Parts inside can vary between production batches, so performance is not always identical
- Occasional failure reports, though they are a minority
Based on Kingston's datasheet, The Techno Tricks review and UserBenchmark's aggregated results and user comments.
Research scores
Scored from the maker's specs and what owners report. Drew's own notes and photos will refine these.
Ownership
Drew's hands-on notes for this product are on the way. Long-term updates will be added to this timeline.
What it does
A budget 2.5 inch SATA solid state drive meant to replace a hard drive in an older laptop or desktop.
- Standard 2.5 inch SATA drive that drops into most laptops and desktops built for a hard drive
- No moving parts, so it is quieter and more shock resistant than a spinning drive
- Kingston rates it at up to 10 times faster than a traditional hard drive
- Also sold in 120GB, 480GB and 960GB sizes, plus an M.2 2280 SATA version
- Kingston says it is designed for desktop and notebook use, not servers
A sensible pick for bringing an old laptop or desktop back to life, or as a cheap boot drive, where it feels far quicker than any hard drive. The trade-off is sustained writing: it has no DRAM cache, and once its fast cache fills during big copies or game installs, write speed drops sharply.
How it compares
Specs
- Capacity
- 240GB
- Form factor
- 2.5 inch, 7mm thick
- Interface
- SATA Rev. 3.0 (6Gb/s), works on SATA 2.0
- Rated speed
- Up to 500MB/s read, 350MB/s write (maker, 240GB)
- Endurance
- 80TB written (maker rating, 240GB)
- Warranty
- Limited 3 years
- MTBF
- 1 million hours
- Weight
- 41g
Worth knowing
- Kingston states it is not intended for server environments
Questions
Does the Kingston A400 have DRAM?
No. It is a DRAM-less drive with a Phison controller and TLC flash, which is why long writes slow down.
Is the Kingston A400 good for gaming?
It loads games much faster than a hard drive, but large game installs can slow down once its cache fills, and 240GB fills quickly.
How long does the Kingston A400 last?
Kingston rates the 240GB model for 80TB written and backs it with a limited 3 year warranty.
Will the A400 work in an old laptop with SATA 2?
Yes. Kingston lists backward compatibility with SATA Rev. 2.0, though speeds will be capped by the older port.
Sources
- Amazon: Kingston 240GB A400 SATA 3 2.5" Internal SSD SA400S37/240G
- Kingston: A400 SSD datasheet
- The Techno Tricks: Kingston A400 Review
- UserBenchmark: Kingston A400 240GB
Researched 2026-10-01. We bought this product; our page is built from the maker's details and what owners report across reviews and forums. We never copy Amazon customer reviews.
