Systems and methods are disclosed to perform media certification with different recording widths, in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure. An apparatus may be configured to record data using at least two selectable recording widths. In some embodiments, the recording width may be controlled by adjusting a laser current supplied to a laser emitter of a heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) device. Certification data may be recorded to a storage medium at a selected recording width, with wider widths reducing testing time and narrower widths reducing wear on write heads. In some embodiments, an apparatus may be configured to record servo data using a first recording width to a storage medium, and record certification data using a second recording width. The drive may record servo data and certification during a first disc rotation, and may record servo data and read certification data during a second disc rotation.