SanDisk's Optimus SSDs: A Bold Rebrand or Just a Marketing Shuffle?

SanDisk is jettisoning Western Digital's iconic color-coded SSD branding in favor of the resurrected Optimus line-up, but is this a fresh start or just a marketing shuffle?

Western Digital's color-coded SSD branding (WD Black/Blue) is being retired, replaced by SanDisk's Optimus line-up after the flash business spinoff.

The new tiered naming structure—Optimus, Optimus GX, and Optimus GX Pro—aims to simplify consumer choice by aligning product tiers with performance levels.

The Optimus GX Pro, for instance, targets professionals and gamers with PCIe 4.0 speeds up to 7,250 MB/s, replacing the WD Black SN8100.

A new M.2 2230 model, the Optimus GX 7100M (1TB-2TB), is designed for handheld gaming devices and ultrathin laptops. The 'Optimus' name was revived from SanDisk's 2013 SMART Storage Systems acquisition, last used in 2014.