If you happen to’re working out of space for storing in your laptop computer, or if that you must again up your information and retailer that backlog of movies you are going to edit sooner or later (I’m, I swear), an exterior onerous drive can remedy your drawback. The difficulty is, there are tons of of drive choices starting from filth low-cost to loopy costly—which one is correct in your wants? I’ve examined dozens, throughout working programs and with completely different use instances in thoughts, to seek out the very best exterior onerous drives for storage, backups, gaming, video enhancing, network-attached storage (NAS) units, and extra.
Take a look at our different guides, together with Easy methods to Again Up and Transfer Your Photographs Between Providers, Easy methods to Again Up Your Digital Life, and Easy methods 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 onerous drive comes right down to balancing three issues: pace, measurement, and worth. If you happen to’re making nightly backups, then pace most likely does not matter. Go for the most cost effective drive you will discover—up to a degree. Drives do not final perpetually, however some last more than others. I counsel sticking with recognized manufacturers with repute, like Seagate, Western Digital, Samsung, and the others featured right here. That is primarily based partly on expertise and partly on the drive failure information that Backblaze has been publishing for years now. Backblaze goes by large quantities of onerous drives backing up clients’ information, and its report is value studying. The takeaway is easy: Stick to names .
Which Are the Most Dependable Manufacturers of Exterior Onerous Drives?
That is troublesome to reply, because it is dependent upon too many elements. However in case you go by Backblaze’s stats report for 2023, the very best drive makes are Toshiba, Seagate, Western Digital, and Hitachi (HGST in Backblaze’s charts). The present best-performing drives seem like Seagate’s 6- and 8-TB SSDs. With that in thoughts, if I had 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 is dependent upon what you are doing. If you happen to want quick information switch speeds, then you definitely desire a solid-state drive (SSD). When you have large quantities of knowledge to retailer or again up, then a spinning drive (hybrid onerous drive, or HDD) is the cheaper possibility. If you happen to’re a videographer, you want each—open your pockets huge. Usually, SSDs are the way in which to go when you may afford it.
If pace trumps worth, then you definitely wish to have a look at the solid-state drives we have listed right here. SSDs do not simply have a pace benefit. Additionally they lack transferring components, which implies they’re going to face up to the bumps and falls of life in a bag on the highway higher than spinning drives. The drawback is that they will put on out sooner. Each write operation to an SSD—that’s, if you save one thing to it—barely degrades the person NAND cells that make up the drive, which wears it out considerably sooner than a spinning drive. Simply how a lot sooner is dependent upon how you employ it. That stated, I’ve a number of SSDs which are 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—in case you can afford it. However they’re particularly helpful for any drive you are working with repeatedly: your primary boot drive, an exterior drive you employ to edit paperwork from, and for backups, in case you want them to occur quick.
The one caveat is that in case your Mac or PC does not help the identical USB normal because the exterior SSD you are contemplating, then you definitely 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. You should definitely examine the specs in your laptop computer, and do not waste your cash paying for switch speeds you may by no means see.
Which Backup Software program Ought to You Use?
The reply is dependent 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 isn’t a one resolution for every thing. We advise utilizing one (or two) of the storage units right here and a few form of cloud storage backup as nicely. That approach, even when your drives fail, your information remains 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 Onerous Drives
I examined these drives by first working them by 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 Take a look at and generally AmorphousDiskMark, and on Linux, I exploit KDiskMark (and I often reformat the disk from exFAT to ext4). I run exams six instances after which take the common. Along with benchmarks, I’ve two folders for testing real-world speeds. I switch a 25-gigabyte folder of MP3 information, after which a folder with three information that collectively are 25 gigabytes in measurement. For prime finish drives I additionally check learn and write speeds for ProRes RAW video information.
As soon as I’ve run the exams, I exploit the drive in day-to-day duties—enhancing information immediately off it (booting from it within the case of naked drives), making nightly backups, tossing it in my digicam 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 finest.
Greatest for Backups
For incremental backups, which we suggest, pace is not an enormous issue. That is why the primary drive I like to recommend is that this Western Digital Parts onerous drive. I’ve been utilizing a variation of the Parts desktop onerous drive to make incremental backups of my information for greater than a decade now. These drives are huge and require exterior energy, however they’re a few of the least expensive, most dependable drives I’ve used.
Switch speeds should not off the charts—the Parts drive I examined scored 120 megabits per second (Mbps) for sequential writes on Home windows—however once more, you must ideally be working backups in a single day anyway, and even at these speeds the common PC backup shall be completed by morning. These drives use USB-C with help for USB 3, and I’ve had no drawback utilizing them with Home windows, macOS, and Linux.
Storage choices go all the way in which as much as 20 terabytes. Simply examine 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 Parts line, the WD My Ebook 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 Ebook drives have some encryption options that drive up the value, however I discover the fundamental Parts drive is adequate for most individuals.
Different Nice Backup Drives
- Seagate Growth 8-TB Exterior Onerous Drive for $159: Seagate is one other dependable drive maker. It by no means hurts to have extra backups, and in case 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
If you happen to journey loads, you may need one thing that is simpler to hold than the Parts drives, which are not the very best in a suitcase. For backups when touring, I really like Western Digital’s My Passport collection, 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, nevertheless it’s lower than an inch thick and stable sufficient that I by no means frightened about tossing it in my bag. (Though it must be stated that this can be 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 may catch on material in your bag.
There are a number of colours obtainable 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 measurement. 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 wish to copy photographs shortly for a consumer within the area, however quick sufficient to run a day by day backup in your lodge room.
Different Transportable Backup Drives
The Greatest Drive for When Velocity Is Every part
LaCie has up to date its rugged SSD line with the Rugged Pro5. This one ditches the enduring orange padding for blue, however it’s in any other case similar to the extraordinary LaCie padded drives on the skin. On the within, that is an amazingly quick drive. The 5 within the title is for, you guessed it, Thunderbolt 5, which regardless of being introduced seemingly perpetually in the past, has been painfully sluggish to trickle onto the market. This made testing a bit tough, however luckily a good friend let me borrow his brand-new MacBook Professional 14 for testing. And the outcomes had 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 had been 5,787 MB/s learn and 5,188 MB/s write—which, whereas not fairly matching the declare, remains 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 desirous about real-world efficiency. Since I occurred to even be testing the Nikon Z6III (8/10, WIRED Recommends), which might shoot 6K ProRes RAW, I loaded 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 value. At $600 for the 4-TB model (which is the minimal you’d need for working with ProRes RAW video information), this can be a very expensive drive. It’s nonetheless, nicely 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 onerous disk. In truth, below the hood, the X6 makes use of an older drive interface (Serial AT Attachment, or SATA), which was extra widespread with spinning onerous drives. So whereas it is small and light-weight, its pace is restricted by that older interface know-how. 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 suggest it for Xbox or PlayStation use. It does work effective with the iPad Professional although.
The main draw back is the plastic building—it’s a transportable onerous drive, not an indestructible onerous drive. If you happen to’re frightened about it breaking in your bag, seize a padded case. There are a lot on the market, like this one. The Essential X9 (beneath) is a step up from the X6, each by way of construct high quality (it is steel to the X6’s plastic) and pace, however the X9 is significantly costlier.
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 principally plastic enclosure, nevertheless it has withstood life in my bag fairly nicely. Whereas it is not as sturdy because the padded choices beneath, it is sturdy 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 remains to be fairly good. The drive bogs down a bit with giant information (MP4s, for instance), so it is not the very best for professional videographers, however for everybody else, this can be a stable, barely cheaper possibility.
Greatest for Photographers
Essential’s X9 Professional hits the candy spot of pace, portability, and worth to be top-of-the-line drives on the market for photographers trying to make backups within the area. These drives are tiny, about half the scale of a deck of playing cards, and weigh a mere 1.3 ounces (38 grams). They will connect 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. In relation to pace, the X9 Professional claims symmetrical learn and write speeds, at 1,050 Mbps. I really constantly received 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 by way of moveable drive pace.
I have been testing the X9 Professional for a number of months now, and whereas I am unable to but converse to the long-term survival price, I’ve been testing X6 and X8 drives from Essential for over two years now with out concern. There may be additionally the X10 Professional drive ($180), which gives even sooner speeds when you have a PC that helps USB 2X2. (The most recent Intel chips help this spec, however Apple doesn’t, so there is not any level in shopping for the X10 Professional when you have a Mac.) I don’t personal a PC that helps USB 2X2 for in depth testing, however I did get an opportunity to no less than attempt it, and the X10 Professional does certainly ship on its promise of two,100 Mbps (I received it as much as 2,050 Mbps). In case your {hardware} helps it, the X10 Professional is value the additional cash.
Greatest Go-Wherever Drive
If you happen to want a drive that may stand as much as life in a backpack or digicam bag, get moist, or deal with a drop onto onerous surfaces, OWC drives are your best option. It is robust to choose a winner right here as a result of there are lots of stable choices, however OWC’s Elektron drive narrowly beat others in benchmark exams. I additionally like which you can swap out the drive contained in the aluminum casing (it is easy to unscrew), which implies two years from now, you may decide up a sooner 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 sooner than the OWC, nevertheless it has two drawbacks. The primary is that it will probably get scorching. If you happen to’re making an attempt to work with it in your lap, it may be downright uncomfortable. The opposite concern is that generally it is sluggish to be acknowledged by my PC. I may discover no sample to this; generally it appeared immediately, and different instances 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 area, like photographers and videographers. However if you’d 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 conventional spinning drive model. If pace is not a problem, as with making nightly backups, then the cheaper spinning drive makes extra sense. If you happen to’re backing up in the course of a photograph shoot or related state of affairs the place backing up must occur quick, the SSD model is what you need.
Different Nice Padded Choices
- Samsung T7 Protect 2-TB SSD for $149: It is not as padded as LaCie’s rugged drives, nevertheless it’s cheaper and delivers practically the identical pace. It has an IP65 score, which implies it is effective within the rain and is protected against mud and sand. The T7 line is notable for its built-in security measures like hardware-based encryption, however not like the Contact mannequin, the Protect doesn’t have a fingerprint reader. Nonetheless, in case you do not want the total padded safety of the LaCie and wish to save a little bit cash, the T7 Protect is an efficient possibility.
Greatest Gaming Drive
Take this class with a grain of salt. A lot of the drives right here will work simply effective for gaming (simply persist with the quickest you may afford). That stated, 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 impression energy consumption.
As for pace, my exams had been inconsistent. This drive is able to speeds that handily beat each the Envoy Professional and Samsung T7, however at different instances it appeared to lavatory down (no less than in benchmarks). In real-world use, the bottleneck I constantly hit was some lag in transferring big quantities of knowledge. That is likely to be a deal-breaker for some, however for the value, it stays a stable alternative.
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 seek 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, examine your PC to verify 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 this point, out of the half dozen I’ve tried, Western Digital’s WD Black collection has stood out for pace, and it does not run highly regarded.
The SN 770 M.2 2280 achieved speeds of 5,100 Mbps in my testing, which is blazing quick. If you happen to’re doing numerous drive-intensive duties, like enhancing video or gaming, this drive is nicely 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 primary drive for a number of months and located it quick sufficient for every 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 making an attempt to export video, however shortly cools off as quickly because it’s completed.
A Luxurious Improve
- Western Digital SN850X 2-TB SSD for $85: This drive is so screaming quick I needed to run my exams twice as a result of I did not imagine the primary outcome. Western Digital claims as much as 7,300 Mbps learn speeds, and in benchmark exams, this drive’s outcomes got here shut. To take full benefit of the pace right here, you may want a system that helps the PCIe 4.0 SSD normal, however this can be 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 obtainable as much as 8-TB capability.
- Samsung 990 Evo Plus 2-TB for $143: The 990 EVO Plus is an improve to the very fashionable 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. When it comes to pace it does not fairly match the SN850X above, topping out at 5,677 MB/s learn, nevertheless it’s a lot quick for many makes use of and stays fairly cool even when pushed. If you happen to’re searching for all-around drive that stays cool, this one makes a sensible choice, although it’s on the expensive aspect for what you get.