If you utilize a PC, likelihood is you might have information saved on it that you simply don’t wish to lose. One of the most effective methods to verify your information isn’t misplaced is to avoid wasting a duplicate onto an exterior drive. It’s a reasonable and useful approach to again up your vital information or retailer any overflow. It will also be a handy approach to transport or switch information between your gadgets.
You will nearly at all times have the necessity for extra storage as information information proceed to get bigger and also you accumulate extra of them. An exterior drive is likely one of the greatest methods to cowl your self in case of an emergency. We’ve examined quite a few exterior drives and curated the most effective picks beneath. We’ve included exterior drives with blazing-fast efficiency in addition to a choose for greatest price range possibility, greatest transportable SSD, and every part in between. Below our suggestions you’ll discover extra useful info on what it’s worthwhile to know to decide on the most effective exterior drive on your wants.
Updated 02/09/2023: To embody the brand new 4TB Samsung T7 Shield as our choose for greatest efficiency USB drive. You can examine our new greatest choose beneath.
Also, remember to try our newest assessment of the Teamgroup C212 USB drive. It would possibly appear like your common thumb drive, however the C212 has extraordinarily quick switch charges and storage as much as 1TB—it’s mainly an ultraportable SSD.
1. Samsung T7 Shield – Best efficiency USB drive
Pros
- Fast 1GBps sustained transfers
- Excellent actual world efficiency
- Vast 4TB capability
- Svelte and good-looking
Cons
- Not low cost
- Small 4K efficiency glitch beneath CrystalDiskMark 8 writing 4K information
We’re followers of the unique Samsung T7 Shield, and now we’re ever greater followers of the follow-up, bigger capability 4TB model of the T7 Shield. Now upgraded to a 4TB capability from the earlier 1TB and 2TB variations, Samsung has continued with their glorious observe report of pace and sturdiness with their T7 drives. Whereas the T7’s predecessor, the Samsung Touch, distinguished itself with a fingerprint reader for information safety, the Shield fashions lean in to bodily safety, with IP65 rankings towards particulate matter and water spray, making them good efficiency drives for out within the subject. (Mind you, the Shield can nonetheless be secured with password safety.)
While the 4TB mannequin is able to dealing with the biggest end-user information units, additionally it is a bit dear. Thankfully, in case you don’t want a lot storage, you may merely buy our earlier greatest choose 1TB or 2TB variations for much less. Regardless of the dimensions, all T7 Shields boast USB 3.2 10Gbps implementation permitting for 10Gbps switch speeds which provides it the sting over many different exterior drives available on the market immediately.
Read our full
Review Samsung T7 4TB
2. SanDisk Extreme Pro Portable SSD – Best efficiency drive runner-up
Pros
- Overall quickest USB SSD at the moment accessible
- Relatively reasonably priced
- IP55 rated towards mud and delicate streams of water
Cons
- Slightly slower studying information than Samsung’s T7
While we’ve moved SanDisk’s Extreme Pro Portable SSD (1TB) to runner-up standing in gentle of the Samsung T7’s improved write speeds, make no mistake, it’s nonetheless one the quickest USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) exterior SSD we’ve examined up to now. It’s barely dearer than the T7 Shield, at $190 for 1GB and $300 for 2GB, and it’s rated at IP55 for barely much less safety from the weather. But each are glorious performers.
Note: There are quicker USB 3.2 2×2 (also referred to as SuperSpeed 20Gbps) SSDs accessible, such because the WD Black P50 and Seagate Barracuda Fast SSD. However, SuperSpeed 20Gbps and USB4 ports are nonetheless so uncommon, we’re unsure it issues. Those drives are additionally simply not as svelte because the Extreme Pro.
Read our full
Review SanDisk Extreme Pro Portable SSD
3. WD Black P50 Game Drive SSD (1TB) – Best for gaming
Pros
- Up to 2GBps with SuperSpeed USB 20Gbps
- Distinctively militaristic styling
Cons
- Pricey in comparison with SuperSpeed 10Gbps drives
- Requires the extraordinarily uncommon SuperSpeed USB 20Gbps port for full efficiency
Today’s video games can absorb 50GB or 100GB of storage and extra. If you’re on the lookout for a drive to rapidly load that sport from in your gaming laptop computer, we advocate WD’s Black P50 Game Drive. And no, not simply as a result of it’s actually referred to as “Game Drive,” however as a result of we want sport’s to be launched from an SSD the place it may actually be a aggressive benefit in some titles. Running an exterior SSD on your video games additionally means far, far quicker stage masses, too, in comparison with a plodding exhausting drive. While many PCs don’t have the USB SuperSpeed 20Gbps ports wanted to make the Black P50 sing, it’s truly turning into pretty customary in newer desktops. The excellent news is, even working a sport at USB 10Gbps speeds means reads and writes as much as 1,000MBps, which remains to be an enormous enchancment over a tough drive. (Learn extra about how we consider the best external SSD for gaming.)
4. SanDisk Professional G-Drive SSD – Best for photographers
Pros
- Fastest USB 10Gbps drive up to now
- IP67 rated towards mud and water
- Stylish
- The identical or lower-priced than the competitors
MSRP:
$139 – 500GB; $189 – 1TB; $349 – 2TB; $679.99 – 4TB
We’re a bit of torn between recommending a Thunderbolt-based drive for exterior storage versus a USB exterior drive. While a Thunderbolt 3 exterior SSD usually gives larger efficiency, that doesn’t make it easier to in case your laptop computer doesn’t have a Thunderbolt port, and plenty of of these drives don’t have any USB help. That makes SanDisk’s G-Drive SSD the popular drive. It doesn’t help the extra superior, and in addition uncommon, USB SuperSpeed 20Gbps speeds, but it surely’s within the high tier with USB 10Gbps speeds, which is what you’ll principally discover. Perhaps extra importantly for a photographer shifting information within the subject, is its robust shell. The drive is constructed with IP67 water-resistance and dust-resistance rankings and may face up to 2,000 kilos of weight, so that you received’t lose that valuable picture of a ghost cat within the mountains of Afganistan.
5. Crucial X6 Portable SSD (2TB) – Best price range possibility
Pros
- Ergonomic design
- Good on a regular basis efficiency
- Very reasonably priced for an exterior SSD
Cons
- Performance tanks when cache runs out
The Crucial X6 Portable SSD is sq. to be hip. Or positioned in your hip pocket, at any price. In a sea of transportable SSDs whose form makes them a literal ache when pocketed, the skinny, rounded-edge X6 is a sigh of reduction. It’s not state-of-the-art quick, but it surely’s quick sufficient for many customers and intensely reasonably priced.
Read our full
Review Crucial X6 Portable SSD (2TB)
6. Adata Elite SE880 SSD – Most transportable exterior drive
Pros
- Very quick, over-20Gbps USB connection
- Extremely small kind issue
- 5-year guarantee
Cons
- Slows significantly throughout lengthy contiguous writes
- Somewhat low TBW ranking
MSRP:
$79.99 for 500GB I $129.99 for 1TB
No exterior SSD we’ve seen can match Adata’s Elite SE880 for portability. Indeed, measuring in at solely 2.55 inches lengthy, 1.38 inches huge, and 0.48 inches thick, it reminds you extra of a USB thumb drive than a regular exterior SSD. It weighs a mere 1.1 ounces in addition, just about disappearing in your pocket.
The Elite SE880 can be very quick at on a regular basis duties however slows down throughout lengthy writes. In real-world 48GB switch assessments, the drive displayed excellent marks, even beating out another opponents on this record. But it misplaced important floor within the longer contiguous write assessments, displaying that picture and video execs with giant information to switch would possibly wish to contemplate different choices.
Read our full
Review Adata Elite SE880 SSD
7. Kingston XS200 USB SSD – Most transportable high-capacity drive
Pros
- Super svelte
- Good 20Gbps efficiency
- Available in as much as 4TB in capability
Cons
- Slower than a lot of the competitors
- Not a lot of a looker
MSRP:
$75 for 500GB I $160 for 1TB I $285 for 2TB I $500 for 4TB
The Kingston XS2000 is an admirable mix of dimension, capability, and pace—all for an inexpensive value. With as much as 4TB in capability, it’s akin to a few of the largest drives on this record but it surely matches in your pocket.
The Kingston XS2000 additionally has information switch charges of as much as 20Gbps, which isn’t lightning quick, but it surely beats the 10Gbps of some opponents. Overall, this small, surprisingly reasonably priced, and decently quick SSD is a stable product, particularly in case you plan to hold plenty of information round with you.
Read our full
Review Kingston XS200 USB SSD
8. Portable SSD X5 – Best Thunderbolt 3 drive
Cons
- Lack of AC jack makes it Thunderbolt 3 solely
- Expensive, although not out of whack for NVMe SSDs
If you might have Thunderbolt 3 or 4 in your system, you owe it to your self to take a look at a transportable Thunderbolt 3 drive equivalent to Samsung’s SSD X5. As an NVMe SSD utilizing PCIe over a cable (that’s mainly what Thunderbolt 3 is), it’s stupidly quick—over 2.5GBps studying and writing.
The solely motive we don’t universally advocate the Portable SSD X5 is the relative rarity of Thunderbolt 3/4 ports on PCs. The creation of USB4 ought to alleviate this, however provided that distributors determine to mix it with the superset expertise that’s Thunderbolt 4. Or you might merely quickly see USB4 drives with the identical 40Gbps switch charges. It will get complicated.
9. WD My Passport 5TB – Best for backups
Pros
- Excellent price per gigabyte
- Nice styling
- Comprehensive software program suite
Cons
- Slower than common with giant information
You wish to know why we selected WD’s My Passport 5TB for backups? It’s proper there within the title—that additional 1TB may be invaluable within the age of 4K.
Read our full
Review WD My Passport 5TB
10. Seagate Backup Plus Portable – Best for backups runner-up
Pros
- Up to 5TB in a 2.5-inch package deal
- Affordable
Cons
- Slow writing small information and folders
Like the WD above, Seagate’s Backup Plus Portable is a USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5Gbps) drive—a lot sufficient bandwidth for the exhausting drive inside. Capacity tops out at 5TB, however the drive can be accessible in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB sizes.
In our assessments of the 4TB model, we discovered the Seagate to be barely quicker than the WD with giant file transfers (assume motion pictures), however slower with small file transfers (assume Office paperwork). All in all, a worthy runner-up.
Read our full
Review Seagate Backup Plus Portable
What it’s worthwhile to know before you purchase
Yes, USB4 will present the identical large throughput as Thunderbolt 3 at decrease costs ultimately, and certain way more merchandise too.
Capacity and value
For most customers, the primary purchasing issues for exterior storage are capability and value. However, whilst you would possibly assume that the lowest-cost drive gives essentially the most worth, it typically doesn’t. In truth, greenback for greenback, cheaper low-capacity drives are most frequently the worst deal traditionally. We’ve been doing this comparability for years and it’s at all times been the worst worth.
You can see that beneath the place we evaluate the favored WD Elements desktop hard drive’s accessible capacities and costs. You’re paying greater than twice as a lot for the lowest-capacity drive versus the following step up. It’s nearly equally as dangerous on the WD Elements Portable drive.
How a lot capability do you want?
The greatest “value” are usually for the biggest exhausting drives as you may see, but it surely brings significantly larger costs and never everybody wants that a lot capability. So how a lot do you want? We advocate a backup drive not less than twice as giant as the entire capability of your PC. If you might have 1TB of storage in your PC, 2TB will let you make a full backup whereas conserving historic backups on the identical drive. Having extra storage means that you can hold extra historic information must you want them or use the identical drive to backup extra PCs.
While the desktop drive gives a far larger capability, additionally they require extra cables, weigh extra, and usually will not be fairly as shock resistant as a transportable exhausting drive that’s designed to take a couple of extra bumps, even when on.
The worst worth for an exterior exhausting drive is usually the lowest-capacity drive.
IDG
Interface
The overwhelming majority of exterior drives immediately are USB drives. Beyond that straightforward assertion, the story will get complicated—largely due to the plethora of variations: USB 3.0, USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5Gbps, which is mainly USB 3.0), USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps), and USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20Gbps), and now the up-and-coming USB4. In an try to simplify issues, the USB Forum has not too long ago modified the nomenclature to point throughput pace—SuperSpeed USB 5Gbps, SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps, and SuperSpeed USB 20Gbps—as a result of efficiency is a precedence for many makes use of. For the sake of brevity (and sanity), we typically shorten these names to USB 10Gbps, or 10Gbps USB, as an example.
No exhausting drive, until mixed in RAID with others, can outstrip the 5Gbps (roughly 500MBps real-world after overhead) throughput of USB 3.1 Gen 1. Don’t fear about Gen 2, 10Gbps, or Thunderbolt with single exhausting drive enclosures as a result of it doesn’t actually matter.
Where SuperSpeed 10Gbps/20Gbps, USB4, or Thunderbolt will certainly assistance is with the aforementioned RAID exhausting drive setups, or extra possible—an SSD. The excellent news is that whereas USB 3.1 Gen 2, which is greater than quick sufficient for many customers at 10Gbps, was costly, it’s mainly the usual immediately. A SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD, our runner-up for transportable storage, may be had for $90 in a 500GB capability.
The quicker USB 3.2 SuperSpeed 20Gbps (Gen 2×2) strikes you right into a higher-price bracket, with the Seagate Firecuda Gaming SSD costing $200 for a similar 500GB of storage. Although quicker than the standard USB 3.2 SuperSpeed 10Gbps, there aren’t plenty of USB 20Gbps gen 2×2 ports on the market, however these drives ought to work with the upcoming USB4 on the identical 20Gbps tempo.
Thunderbolt 3 and the newer Thunderbolt 4 usually are the highest-performing interfaces for exterior storage, with the important thing limitation being a premium value and a basic lack of compatibility with the way more standard USB 3.2 ports on the earth. Still, if you would like essentially the most efficiency, you will get it in drives equivalent to our advisable transportable, the Samsung Portable SSD X5, which is $200 for 500GB of capability. For comparability, a slower 1TB Samsung T5 on USB is only $125.
The high drive makes use of the older, slower Mini-USB interface. The second drive options the connector that changed it: Micro B SuperSpeed. The Orange drive options each a SuperSpeed Micro B and Thunderbolt 2 (mini DisplayPort connector). The backside drive options USB-C or USB Type C.
Ports
External drives include a wide range of ports, although they’re step by step consolidating on the Type-C connector. Here’s what it’s worthwhile to care about:
USB 3 Micro-B Superspeed. This remains to be a quite common port on many lower-cost transportable and desktop exterior exhausting drives immediately. It’s truly the identical Micro USB port used in your telephone, however beefed up with extra information strains to hit USB 3.0 speeds. It’ll do 5Gbps and is okay for exhausting drives and SATA (internally) SSDs.
USB 3 Type-B is the bigger, blocky model of USB 3.0 Micro B. Type B ports have gotten uncommon, although you would possibly discover one on enclosures supporting 5.25-inch exhausting drives or optical drives. It helps speeds as much as 5Gbps.
USB-C is the newest of the USB connectors the world is coalescing round. You see it in every part from telephones to laptops. Keep in thoughts, USB-C refers solely to the connector itself. What is carried over the wires varies vastly. For instance, for information transfers from an exterior drive, a USB-C port may imply every part from USB 2.0 High Speed (480Mbps) to USB 3.2 SuperSpeed 20Gbps in addition to USB4 and Thunderbolt 3. Any larger efficiency port immediately must be USB-C—simply do not forget that simply because it’s USB-C doesn’t imply the precise electronics contained in the PC or drive can hit the best speeds of what a USB-C port can do.
USB Type-A You received’t discover this port on any drive, however you will see that this acquainted rectangular port on PCs and laptops. The motive we point out it’s that any drive with a Type-C port ought to include a Type-C to Type-A cable or adapter, hopefully, since most PCs have these.
Thunderbolt 2 is at this level, a useless port. Using the mini-DisplayPort connector, it solely actually gained recognition on Macs, and even Apple put it out to pasture in 2017. There’s no must spend money on a Thunderbolt 2 drive until it’s for legacy help points.
Note that Apple makes a bi-directional Thunderbolt 1/2 to 3 adapter if it’s worthwhile to join the one to the opposite. It doesn’t switch energy, nevertheless, so you may’t apply it to its personal with bus-powered exterior drives. You’ll want a powered dock for that.
eSATA is one other legacy port that’s mainly disappeared. Created for attaching exterior storage to your laptop’s SATA bus, eSATA was an affordable means in its day to get past the 60MBps efficiency of USB 2.0. USB 3.0 put the final nail in its coffin. As with Thunderbolt 2, the one motive to spend money on an eSATA drive is to be used with older computer systems.
A second drive as backup?
In backup, there’s a elementary maxim appropriately named the Rule of Three. It states that you must at all times preserve three copies of your irreplaceable information: the unique information, a backup, and a backup of the backup. Preferably, the 2 backups are saved in separate places, one being offsite. Keeping a duplicate on-line is nice for smaller quantities of knowledge and positively meets the offsite standards. However, for huge picture, audio, and/or video collections, exterior drives in pairs (or extra), are a quicker, extra sensible answer.
Create full backups alternately to the 2 drives each few months. True patrons of knowledge would possibly even take the second drive to work, so there’s no probability of shedding each drives to the identical native catastrophe.
For extra steerage on constructing out the most effective backup plan attainable, see our roundups of the best cloud backup services and greatest Windows backup software.
Our storage testbed is a Core i7-5820Ok with 64GB of RAM on an Asus X99 Deluxe board. Older Asus Thunderbolt EX 3 and ATI graphics playing cards is proven. Currently a Gigabyte Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt card and x2 Nvidia 710 GPU card are employed.
How we examined
We use our customary storage take a look at mattress to judge the efficiency of each exterior drive we assessment. It’s a six-core (twelve-thread) Intel Core i7-5820Ok on an Asus X99 Deluxe motherboard with 64GB of Kingston DDR4 reminiscence working Windows 10.
A discrete Gigabyte Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt 3 card and Ableconn USB 3.2 2×2 20Gbps card (Asmedia 2142 controller) are used for connecting the exterior drives. An Asus USB 3.1/10Gbps (Asmedia 1142 controller) card was employed for a few of the older drives on the chart.
We run numerous artificial benchmarks together with Crystal Disk Mark 6/7/8, AS SSD 2, and Iometer. We additionally carry out real-world switch assessments utilizing a 48GB batch of small information and folders, in addition to a single 48GB and 450GB information. The testbed boots from a NVMe drive, however the real-world (Windows) file transfers are carried out to and from a 58GB RAM disk.
External drive FAQ
What is the distinction between an SSD and an HDD?
HDDs (exhausting disk drives) have been round for greater than 50 years and depend on spinning disks to learn and write information. They are basically composed of spinning metallic platters with magnetic coatings the place the info is saved and a learn/write arm that strikes throughout the platters to entry the info.
SSDs (stable state drives), alternatively, use flash reminiscence and don’t have any shifting components contained in the drive. Data is as an alternative saved on flash reminiscence microchips that are interconnected with each other. This interconnectedness permits for information to be pulled from many alternative locations without delay and considerably will increase reminiscence learn speeds.
Generally talking, SSDs will likely be a greater guess for an exterior drive on account of their smaller dimension, quicker speeds, and total sturdiness. The primary downside to SSDs is that you’ll pay more cash for a similar storage capability as HDDs. As expertise improves nevertheless, the value of SSDs will proceed to drop.
How typically must you again up your information?
Ideally, you must again up your information as typically as attainable. This is particularly true if you’re engaged on an vital venture or have information that you simply completely can not afford to lose.
If you might have your exterior exhausting drive related to your laptop always, it’s a good suggestion to automate the backup course of and have the drive again up your information each hour or so. If you disconnect or journey together with your exterior exhausting drive, you must attempt to bear in mind to again up your information onto it each time you modify your information or not less than daily.
Why is my precise exhausting drive storage smaller than specified?
This comes all the way down to the perceived dimension of storage (KB, MB, GB, TB) versus the precise dimension of that storage. Most customers are led to imagine {that a} Kilobyte (KB) is 1,000 bytes when it’s truly 1,024 bytes. Most customers then are led to imagine {that a} Megabyte (MB) is 1,000 KB when it’s truly 1,024 KB. So a producer’s exhausting drive that claims to have 1TB of storage truly has solely 931.31 GB of storage. It is actually a rounding error that producers neglect to promote as a result of spherical numbers are simpler to grasp.
Another motive that precise storage might seem lower than marketed is that arduous drives need to be formatted to learn and write information correctly. When formatting, a portion of the space for storing on the drive is allotted in an effort to catalog the info.
How lengthy does an exterior exhausting drive final?
The common lifespan of an exterior exhausting drive is about three to 5 years. However, that is extremely dependent upon the make and mannequin and the situations of utilization and storage. The extra you utilize an exterior hard-drive, the much less dependable it turns into.
One approach to guesstimate the lifespan of your hard-drive is to take a look at the producer’s guarantee and the TBW (complete terabytes written) quantity. You can decide the estimated every day quantity of storage you write after which extrapolate from there to see how lengthy you may proceed to make use of it on a regular basis till you attain the TBW. These numbers should not fully dependable, and drives can final for much longer than these two values, however they offer an thought as to when you may start to come across points.
How do exterior exhausting drives fail?
There are quite a few ways in which an exterior exhausting drive might fail. They are particularly vulnerable to failure on account of frequent mishandling, outdated drivers, connecting and disconnecting, and unsafe or pressured ejections. To make sure that you retain your hard-drive working correctly, hold it saved in a protected place, attempt to not drop it, replace your drivers, and just be sure you join and disconnect from gadgets correctly.
Can I go away my exterior exhausting drive plugged in on a regular basis?
For essentially the most half it’s effective to depart your exterior drive plugged in the entire time. However, there may be some minor drawbacks to this in case you aren’t cautious. Hard drives will proceed to emit warmth whereas they’re working and if they’re left plugged in repeatedly there’s a probability this warmth can construct up and injury your information. A great way to mitigate that is to buy a drive that has an enclosure with good warmth dissipation equivalent to these which are metallic.
Keeping your drive plugged in the entire time can even have some advantages. If you might have your information set to mechanically replace then conserving it plugged in will enable extra frequent backups. Additionally, conserving the exterior drive plugged in will enable for extra handy entry to all your information.