eMMC vs SSD Storage: What is the Difference

There is a few similarities between Embedded multimedia cards (eMMCs) and Solid State Drives (SSDs), including the use of NAND flash memory. However, SSDs almost always offer superior performance and come in much larger sizes for mass storage. In most cases, if you’re not aiming for a budget PC, we recommend going with an SSD over eMMC storage. As new Laptops become more and more compact, manufacturers are scrambling to miniaturize computer components without a big loss in performance. In this guide, we will talk about the difference between eMMC storage vs SSD disk in detail below.

eMMC vs. SSD Storage

SSDs and eMMC interfaces are different in several ways. Although they have the same function, namely to store data, they do not have the same performance in use, nor the same fields of application. While the SSD will be more present on computers, we will find the eMMC interface on all electronic devices with internal memory, such as smartphones for example. Let’s look at the question in more detail.

Speed matters

Here is the first difference between SSD and eMMC storage. The SSD drive, taking advantage of the SATA interface, is much faster in reading and writing than an eMMC interface. Regarding the latter, it is between the average speed of the hard disk (HDD) and the flash disk (SSD).

SSD disk: more for computers

Traditionally, SSD internal hard drive represents the evolution of mechanical internal hard drive. Faster and stronger, it is gradually replacing it since this technology remains quite expensive. Since the SSD drive is the logical continuity of the hard drive, it is mainly found on laptop (and desktop) computers. Note also that given its dimensions (especially for the thickness), it is not seen on hybrid laptops also called PC Tablets or 2-in-1 PCs. The latter will prefer to integrate an M.2 card (in NVMe format) which is much more compact.

eMMC: onboard storage

eMMC technology could be sketched out like an onboard memory multimedia card. It is rarely found in computers and for good reason, it is generally based on 32 GB or 64 GB storage. Unlike SSDs, this space is quite limited for a Windows computer, so we will come across the eMMC in Smartphone type devices. The technology used also allows it to be extended, like our Android smartphones which have internal storage (eMMC) + a port for a microSD card (extension). Regarding the price, it should be noted that for an equal volume in Gigabytes, eMMC storage has a much lower cost price than SSD storage. This is why we will largely find this format in a Chromebook type device.

That’s all there is to know about the key differences between eMMC vs. SSD Storage. If you are looking for more similar types of guides, check out our other articles here: How to Recover Data from Damaged/Broken Mac SSD, and Is WD Black SN850x SSD Good for Gaming or Video Editing.