Systems and techniques for control of storage device power states are described herein. In some embodiments, a control system for a storage device of a computing device may include receiver logic to receive a proximity signal indicative of a distance of a user from a proximity sensor, transition logic to determine that the proximity signal satisfies out-of-proximity criteria and generate an out-transition signal based at least in part on the determination that the proximity signal satisfies the out-of-proximity criteria, and state-change logic to cause a change in a power state of the storage device from a first power state to a second power state, in response to the out-transition signal, wherein the storage device consumes less power in the second power state than in the first power state. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.