In the event you’re operating out of cupboard space in your laptop computer, or if you want to again up your information and retailer that backlog of movies you are going to edit in the future (I’m, I swear), an exterior arduous drive can remedy your downside. The difficulty is, there are a whole lot of drive choices starting from filth low cost to loopy costly—which one is true in your wants? I’ve examined dozens, throughout working methods and with completely different use circumstances in thoughts, to search out the most effective exterior arduous drives for storage, backups, gaming, video enhancing, network-attached storage (NAS) units, and extra.
Try our different guides, together with Learn how to Again Up and Transfer Your Images Between Providers, Learn how to Again Up Your Digital Life, and Learn how to Again Up Your iPhone.
Up to date February 2025: We have added the Western Digital My Passport Extremely, LaCie’s Rugged Pro5, and the Samsung EVO 990 naked drive. We have additionally up to date costs and hyperlinks all through.
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Desk of Contents
Selecting the correct arduous drive comes right down to balancing three issues: pace, dimension, and worth. In the event you’re making nightly backups, then pace in all probability does not matter. Go for the most cost effective drive yow will discover—up to some extent. Drives do not final without end, however some last more than others. I counsel sticking with recognized manufacturers with a very good popularity, like Seagate, Western Digital, Samsung, and the others featured right here. That is based mostly partly on expertise and partly on the drive failure information that Backblaze has been publishing for years now. Backblaze goes by way of huge quantities of arduous drives backing up clients’ information, and its report is price studying. The takeaway is easy: Persist with names you already know.
Which Are the Most Dependable Manufacturers of Exterior Exhausting Drives?
That is troublesome to reply, because it depends upon too many components. However should you go by Backblaze’s stats report for 2023, the most effective drive makes are Toshiba, Seagate, Western Digital, and Hitachi (HGST in Backblaze’s charts). The present best-performing drives look like Seagate’s 6- and 8-TB SSDs. With that in thoughts, if I have been constructing a network-attached storage (NAS) system, the Seagate Exos 8 TB HDD is what I’d use. After that although, failures—particularly amongst SSDs—seem fairly random.
Which Is Higher, SSD or HDD?
It depends upon what you are doing. In the event you want quick information switch speeds, you then desire a solid-state drive (SSD). If in case you have huge quantities of information to retailer or again up, then a spinning drive (hybrid arduous drive, or HDD) is the cheaper possibility. In the event you’re a videographer, you want each—open your pockets large. Basically, SSDs are the way in which to go when you may afford it.
If pace trumps worth, you then need to take a look at the solid-state drives we have listed right here. SSDs do not simply have a pace benefit. Additionally they lack shifting elements, which implies they will stand up to the bumps and falls of life in a bag on the highway higher than spinning drives. The drawback is that they’ll put on out quicker. Each write operation to an SSD—that’s, once you save one thing to it—barely degrades the person NAND cells that make up the drive, which wears it out considerably quicker than a spinning drive. Simply how a lot quicker depends upon how you employ it. That mentioned, I’ve a number of SSDs which can be greater than 5 years outdated, and I’ve used them for day by day backups all through that point. None of them have had any issues.
Do you want an SSD over a spinning drive? The reply is sort of at all times sure—should you can afford it. However they’re particularly helpful for any drive you are working with frequently: your principal boot drive, an exterior drive you employ to edit paperwork from, and for backups, should you want them to occur quick.
The one caveat is that in case your Mac or PC does not help the identical USB customary because the exterior SSD you are contemplating, you then is likely to be losing your cash. A drive claiming USB 3.0 speeds within the neighborhood of two,000 Mbps will do you no good if all of your laptop computer has is USB 2.0 ports. Remember to test the specs in your laptop computer, and do not waste your cash paying for switch speeds you will by no means see.
Which Backup Software program Ought to You Use?
The reply depends upon whether or not we’re speaking about macOS, Home windows, Linux, Android, or no matter Apple working system you is likely to be utilizing now or sooner or later. Sadly, there is no such thing as a one resolution for every little thing. We recommend utilizing one (or two) of the storage units right here and a few form of cloud storage backup as properly. That approach, even when your drives fail, your information continues to be backed up within the cloud. See our full information to backing up your digital life for our top-pick backup options for each platform.
How We Examined Exterior Exhausting Drives
I examined these drives by first operating them by way of a collection of benchmarking instruments. On Home windows, I exploit CrystalDiskMark to measure each sequential learn/write speeds and random learn/write speeds. On macOS, I do the identical with the Blackmagic Disk Velocity Check and generally AmorphousDiskMark, and on Linux, I exploit KDiskMark (and I often reformat the disk from exFAT to ext4). I run checks six occasions after which take the typical. Along with benchmarks, I’ve two folders for testing real-world speeds. I switch a 25-gigabyte folder of MP3 recordsdata, after which a folder with three recordsdata that collectively are 25 gigabytes in dimension. For prime finish drives I additionally take a look at learn and write speeds for ProRes RAW video recordsdata.
As soon as I’ve run the checks, I exploit the drive in day-to-day duties—enhancing recordsdata immediately off it (booting from it within the case of naked drives), making nightly backups, tossing it in my digital camera bag, and so forth. All these information factors, together with worth, type issue, portability, and different performance (does it supply encryption, and so forth.), go into informing the choices about which disk is greatest.
Greatest for Backups
For incremental backups, which we advocate, pace is not an enormous issue. That is why the primary drive I like to recommend is that this Western Digital Components arduous drive. I’ve been utilizing a variation of the Components desktop arduous drive to make incremental backups of my information for greater than a decade now. These drives are large and require exterior energy, however they’re a number of the least expensive, most dependable drives I’ve used.
Switch speeds should not off the charts—the Components drive I examined scored 120 megabits per second (Mbps) for sequential writes on Home windows—however once more, you must ideally be operating backups in a single day anyway, and even at these speeds the typical PC backup will likely be achieved by morning. These drives use USB-C with help for USB 3, and I’ve had no downside utilizing them with Home windows, macOS, and Linux.
Storage choices go all the way in which as much as 20 terabytes. Simply test the costs; generally you may get a 10- and even 12-TB drive for not rather more than the 8-terabyte model. And I’ve not seen an enormous distinction between the Components line, the WD My E-book drives, or the WD My Passport drives. The My Passport drives command a premium worth as a result of they’re smaller, and the My E-book drives have some encryption options that drive up the worth, however I discover the fundamental Components drive is ample for most individuals.
Different Nice Backup Drives
Seagate Enlargement 8-TB Exterior Exhausting Drive for $159: Seagate is one other dependable drive maker. It by no means hurts to have extra backups, and should you do need a number of backups, use drives from completely different manufacturers, since it would scale back the possibility that each fail concurrently.
Greatest for Transportable Backups
In the event you journey so much, you will need one thing that is simpler to hold than the Components drives, which are not the most effective in a suitcase. For backups when touring, I really like Western Digital’s My Passport sequence, particularly the brand new “Extremely” model, which makes use of a regular USB-C twine, eliminating the necessity to carry a separate cable. It is not the thinnest drive available on the market, but it surely’s lower than an inch thick and stable sufficient that I by no means nervous about tossing it in my bag. (Though it needs to be mentioned that it is a spinning drive, so do not actually toss it.) I additionally like that the corners are properly rounded and there are not any screws or anything that can catch on material in your bag.
There are a selection of colours accessible and you may get from 1 TB to six TB. I examined the 5-TB mannequin, however Western Digital claims the identical speeds no matter drive dimension. I examined it utilizing CrystalDiskMark on Home windows, AmorphousDiskMark on macOS, and KDiskMark on Linux and averaged the outcomes to provide you with 121 MB/s for learn pace and 115 MB/s write pace. It is not what you’d need to copy photographs rapidly for a consumer within the subject, however quick sufficient to run a day by day backup in your resort room.
Different Transportable Backup Drives
The Greatest Drive for When Velocity Is The whole lot
LaCie has up to date its rugged SSD line with the Rugged Pro5. This one ditches the long-lasting orange padding for blue, however it’s in any other case similar to the strange LaCie padded drives on the surface. On the within, that is an amazingly quick drive. The 5 within the identify is for, you guessed it, Thunderbolt 5, which regardless of being introduced seemingly without end in the past, has been painfully sluggish to trickle onto the market. This made testing a bit tough, however thankfully a pal let me borrow his brand-new MacBook Professional 14 for testing. And the outcomes have been spectacular.
LaCie claims learn/write speeds of as much as 6,700 MB/s and 5,300 MB/s, which it says are sufficient for real-time enhancing of 8K and 6K RAW footage. In testing the very best speeds, file transfers have been 5,787 MB/s learn and 5,188 MB/s write—which, whereas not fairly matching the declare, continues to be far and away the quickest drive on the web page. However uncooked speeds are simply numbers for spreadsheets; I used to be extra all for real-world efficiency. Since I occurred to even be testing the Nikon Z6III (8/10, WIRED Recommends), which may shoot 6K ProRes RAW, I loaded a very good little bit of footage on the Pro5 and was certainly in a position to edit utilizing DaVinci Resolve Studio.
The draw back right here is the worth. At $600 for the 4-TB model (which is the minimal you’d need for working with ProRes RAW video recordsdata), it is a very expensive drive. It’s nonetheless, properly well worth the cash if it is pace you are after.
Greatest Price range Transportable SSD
These Essential drives are my favourite general-purpose exterior storage drives. They’re fairly priced (for a transportable SSD) and speedy sufficient for many makes use of. The X6 is light-weight and tiny, making it a sensible choice for working on the espresso store.
This is not a blinding-fast arduous disk. In truth, beneath the hood, the X6 makes use of an older drive interface (Serial AT Attachment, or SATA), which was extra widespread with spinning arduous drives. So whereas it is small and lightweight, its pace is proscribed by that older interface expertise. In my testing on Home windows and macOS, that works out to about 550 Mbps learn pace and 208 Mbps write pace. That is adequate for backup and use as an exterior drive, however I do not advocate it for Xbox or PlayStation use. It does work positive with the iPad Professional although.
The foremost draw back is the plastic building—it’s a transportable arduous drive, not an indestructible arduous drive. In the event you’re nervous about it breaking in your bag, seize a padded case. There are lots on the market, like this one. The Essential X9 (under) is a step up from the X6, each when it comes to construct high quality (it is steel to the X6’s plastic) and pace, however the X9 is significantly dearer.
Different Nice Price range Drives
Kingston XS1000 2-TB for $120: This tiny little drive is the smallest on this information. Just like the Essential X6, it has a largely plastic enclosure, but it surely has withstood life in my bag fairly properly. Whereas it is not as sturdy because the padded choices under, it is robust sufficient for many issues. It is also speedy. Kingston claims as much as 1,050 Mbps. I by no means managed that, however I routinely hit round 800 Mbps, with some older laptops nearer to 600 Mbps, which continues to be fairly good. The drive bogs down a bit with giant recordsdata (MP4s, for instance), so it is not the most effective for professional videographers, however for everybody else, it is a stable, barely cheaper possibility.
Greatest for Photographers
Essential’s X9 Professional hits the candy spot of pace, portability, and worth to be the most effective drives on the market for photographers trying to make backups within the subject. These drives are tiny, about half the scale of a deck of playing cards, and weigh a mere 1.3 ounces (38 grams). They’re going to hook up with absolutely anything. I examined the X9 Professional on Home windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS and by no means hit any points with any of them. With regards to pace, the X9 Professional claims symmetrical learn and write speeds, at 1,050 Mbps. I really persistently acquired larger speeds, as much as 1,110 Mbps for learn and 1,100 Mbps for write. That places the X9 Professional on the prime of the pack when it comes to moveable drive pace.
I have been testing the X9 Professional for a number of months now, and whereas I am unable to but communicate to the long-term survival charge, I’ve been testing X6 and X8 drives from Essential for over two years now with out problem. There may be additionally the X10 Professional drive ($180), which presents even quicker speeds when you have a PC that helps USB 2X2. (The newest Intel chips help this spec, however Apple doesn’t, so there is no level in shopping for the X10 Professional when you have a Mac.) I don’t personal a PC that helps USB 2X2 for intensive testing, however I did get an opportunity to not less than attempt it, and the X10 Professional does certainly ship on its promise of two,100 Mbps (I acquired it as much as 2,050 Mbps). In case your {hardware} helps it, the X10 Professional is price the additional cash.
Greatest Go-Wherever Drive
In the event you want a drive that may stand as much as life in a backpack or digital camera bag, get moist, or deal with a drop onto arduous surfaces, OWC drives are your most suitable option. It is robust to choose a winner right here as a result of there are a lot of stable choices, however OWC’s Elektron drive narrowly beat others in benchmark checks. I additionally like that you could swap out the drive contained in the aluminum casing (it is simple to unscrew), which implies two years from now, you may choose up a quicker naked SSD and drop it within the hardy Elektron enclosure.
Different Nice Rugged SSDs
Sabrent Rocket Nano 1-TB SSD for $120: I actually like this one. It is smaller and barely quicker than the OWC, but it surely has two drawbacks. The primary is that it could actually get scorching. In the event you’re attempting to work with it in your lap, it may be downright uncomfortable. The opposite problem is that generally it is sluggish to be acknowledged by my PC. I might discover no sample to this; generally it appeared straight away, and different occasions it took a few minutes. If these issues do not trouble you, this drive is tiny, cheaper, and features a padded rubber case.
Greatest Padded Drive
The go-anywhere drives above are a stable resolution for individuals who must make backups within the subject, like photographers and videographers. However if you would like an additional stage of consolation, this padded drive from LaCie has lengthy been a favourite of vacationers. LaCie makes each an SSD model and a standard spinning drive model. If pace is not a difficulty, as with making nightly backups, then the cheaper spinning drive makes extra sense. In the event you’re backing up in the midst of a photograph shoot or related scenario the place backing up must occur quick, the SSD model is what you need.
Different Nice Padded Choices
Samsung T7 Defend 2-TB SSD for $149: It is not as padded as LaCie’s rugged drives, but it surely’s cheaper and delivers almost the identical pace. It has an IP65 ranking, which implies it is positive within the rain and is protected against mud and sand. The T7 line is notable for its built-in safety features like hardware-based encryption, however not like the Contact mannequin, the Defend doesn’t have a fingerprint reader. Nonetheless, should you do not want the complete padded safety of the LaCie and need to save a bit cash, the T7 Defend is an efficient possibility.
Greatest Gaming Drive
Take this class with a grain of salt. Many of the drives right here will work simply positive for gaming (simply persist with the quickest you may afford). That mentioned, Western Digital’s new P40 does have some cool RGB lights on the underside if that is your jam. In my testing, that did not appear to influence energy consumption.
As for pace, my checks have been inconsistent. This drive is able to speeds that handily beat each the Envoy Professional and Samsung T7, however at different occasions it appeared to lavatory down (not less than in benchmarks). In real-world use, the bottleneck I persistently hit was some lag in transferring large quantities of information. That is likely to be a deal-breaker for some, however for the worth, it stays a stable selection.
Greatest Naked Drive
If you wish to put a much bigger SSD in your laptop computer, all you want is a naked drive, which is usually cheaper than the drives with enclosures listed above. The very first thing to determine is which drive your PC makes use of. Seek the advice of your producer’s documentation to search out out. In my expertise, the most typical type issue is M.2 2280, which is the lengthy, skinny drive within the picture above. Extra compact laptops might use the same, however shorter, M.2 2242 design. Once more, test your PC to substantiate the drive it wants before you purchase. There are a ton of those available on the market, and I have never had time to check many but, however to date, out of the half dozen I’ve tried, Western Digital’s WD Black sequence has stood out for pace, and it does not run extremely popular.
The SN 770 M.2 2280 achieved speeds of 5,100 Mbps in my testing, which is blazing quick. In the event you’re doing quite a lot of drive-intensive duties, like enhancing video or gaming, this drive is properly well worth the cash. The biggest model you may get is 2 TB, however the worth is cheap contemplating the pace enhance. I have been utilizing it as my principal drive for a number of months and located it quick sufficient for every little thing I do, together with enhancing 5.2K video footage and compiling software program. My favourite half? It generates little or no warmth. My older Dell XPS 13 used to get too scorching to make use of with out one thing between it and my lap. Now it does not get scorching till I begin attempting to export video, however rapidly cools off as quickly because it’s achieved.
A Luxurious Improve
Western Digital SN850X 2-TB SSD for $85: This drive is so screaming quick I needed to run my checks twice as a result of I did not imagine the primary consequence. Western Digital claims as much as 7,300 Mbps learn speeds, and in benchmark checks, this drive’s outcomes got here shut. To take full benefit of the pace right here, you will want a system that helps the PCIe 4.0 SSD customary, however it is a nice drive if you wish to improve a gaming system, whether or not it is a desktop PC or your PlayStation. This drive can also be one of many few I’ve seen that is accessible as much as 8-TB capability.Samsung 990 Evo Plus 2-TB for $143: The 990 EVO Plus is an improve to the highly regarded 990 EVO. The unique didn’t supply something compelling and by no means made this information, however the brand new model manages to be impressively speedy and never overly scorching, as many Gen 5 PCIe disks I’ve examined have been. The 990 EVO Plus additionally launched with a 4-TB mannequin, one thing lacking the primary time round. By way of pace it does not fairly match the SN850X above, topping out at 5,677 MB/s learn, but it surely’s lots quick for many makes use of and stays fairly cool even when pushed. In the event you’re on the lookout for a very good all-around drive that stays cool, this one makes a sensible choice, although it’s on the expensive aspect for what you get.
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