External hard disk drivers have made it quite easy to store troves of files, photos, videos, documents, and all data. Although cloud storage gives you remote access, having a physical hard drive disk makes accessing terabits of data almost instantly. Plus, everyone considers hard disk drives secured when compared to cloud storage. Amidst all this, you have decided to buy a new external hard disk drive.
The only question is, which one to buy? There are some tremendous hard disk drives out there, but there’s a lot to consider first. Affordability, durability, connectivity, and storage are some of the key points that you will have to decide before zeroing in on the best hard disk drive to buy. Let’s check out this list of the 7 best external hard disk drives that I came across that you must consider whilst choosing one to buy.
1. SanDisk G-Drive Professional External Hard Drive
Available in: 4 TB, 6 TB, 12 TB, and 18 TB
If you ever wanted a beast of HDD storage and are ready to shell out a few extra bucks for all the added features, SanDisk G-Drive Professional External HDD is the way to go. Certainly one of the best, the drive has a maximum storage capacity of 18 TB and offers a speed of 7200 RPM class Ultrastar HDD with speeds of up to 5GBps. There are 5 years of warranty.
It has both Thunderbolt ports and USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 interfaces that allow it to connect to a broader range of devices. It is pre-formatted for Mac, but you can also reformat it for PC. The drive encloses in a durable aluminum case that makes it look stylish.
2. WD Elements Portable
Available in: 3 TB to 18 TB
This is an all-rounder external hard disk drive offering two years of warranty. Its casing prevents it from rough usage for an extended period, and since it is portable, you can carry it wherever you want. WD Elements Portable is available right from 1 TB of storage size to 18 TB, which means you won’t have any storage crunch anytime soon with so much space available. In fact, its pricing makes it best on a per-terabyte basis.
It is from Western Digital (WD), which adds trustworthiness to it as well. Other features include USB 3.0, high speeds writing and read speeds, compatibility with all the devices with proper formatting, and so on. Its read speed is at 1Gbps, which puts it ahead of many other hard disk drives in the market. The drive is slightly heavy, but when you go for higher storage space, it does come with a bit of bulk.
3. Seagate Backup Plus Slim
Available in: 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB, and 5 TB
There are a few well-known brands in the storage sector that you might have heard about, and Seagate is one of them. Seagate Backup Plus Slim weighs 0.58lbs, making it easy to handle and portable. Seagate offers Backup Plus Slim with 2 years of warranty and one year of data recovery warranty, which you will get in other hard disk drives.
The drive supports a 5Gbps USB 3 interface, making it one of the snappiest, so transferring data to and fro is a piece of cake. It is available for both macOS and Windows, covering billions of compatible devices altogether. However, there’s no encryption, so that’s a catch as well. Unless you can find a way around lack of encryption, Seagate Backup Plus Slim is a sure shot drive to pick up from. The auto-backup feature is epic as you can set it to daily, weekly, or other schedules for backups.
4. LaCie Rugged RAID Pro
Available In: 2 TB, 4 TB
It’s another exceptionally rugged portable hard drive. LaCie Rugged RAID Pro supports Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.1 Gen 1 protocols and solid sequential performance. It’s rugged, so dropping it will not be a hassle. However, it belongs to an expensive cadre of hard drives, so that’s something you will have to consider before closing the deal.
There’s up to 4 TB of storage, 3 years of warranty, easy to use, and a data recovery program on-board that makes sure you don’t endanger your data due to technical glitches or any unwanted issues. Of course, you do get a good blend of features at a premium price, so that’s a win-win for you.
5. WD My Passport Ultra Portable Hard Drive
Available in: 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB, and 5 TB
About the size of a smartphone, WD My Passport Ultra is a portable hard drive that offers up to 5 TB of storage, depending upon which version you end up buying. Structurally, the hard drive has a metal chassis with a diagonally half-ridged and half metal matte finish. This gives it a premium look for those who consider aesthetics.
It is compatible with USB 3.1 and USB-C, making it super easy to connect with PC and Mac (w/ format). It enables the drive to transfer tonnes of data faster, even with older machines. Weighing just 0.51lbs, it is undoubtedly one of the bestsellers on Amazon.
It arrives with a 3-year warranty of password protection and abides by AES 256 hardware encryption standards. It also has excellent speeds for HDD and gives you a variety of storage capacities to choose from. This ensures you can buy the storage you want and not a pre-set storage capacity. Western Digital is a trustworthy brand, so I don’t see any reason you would like to consider it.
6. Toshiba Canvio Gaming/Basics
Available in: 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB
I had to include both of these hard disk drives as both are equally powerful, spacious in terms of storage space, almost the same design but made for different purposes. The Toshiba Canvio Gaming comes with up to 4 TB of storage and tuned to allow storing games and more. The Basics gives you a comprehensive solution for storage of up to 4 TB, and both are compatible with USB 3.0.
With almost the same pricing, these drives arrive with subtly fast data transfer speeds, 2 years of warranty, and offer overall better performance than many drives out there. Although these devices may not be the fastest at around 100 to 112 MB/s, they provide solid storage and support profile.
7. Samsung T7 Portable SSD
Available In: Up to 2 TB
I had to put an SSD drive into the mix because, to be honest, SSD triumphs over HDD in many avenues. Samsung T7 Portable SSD is an expensive drive considering the price tags on all other drives mentioned above. However, it brings a lot to the table, such as 1050 MB/s of reading and 1000 MB/s of writes speeds. It is cumulatively 9.5x faster than HDD. There’s USB 3.2 Gen 2 support on-board.
The drive is portable, shock-resistant, and arrives with a thermal guard. It will surely boost the data transfer speeds by a tonne. You can check out other variants of the T7 series or go for slightly cheaper variants in the T5 series and so on.
Store More with These External Hard Drives
With that, we conclude the list on the best external hard disk drives. As always, you should visualize the total storage you need, the connectivity (USB-C or USB 3.0), durability (water-resistant, shock-proof), and other points.
This provides a clear picture of which external hard disk drive you would finally end up buying. All the drives, as mentioned earlier, are among the best, so even if you end up buying one from here, you won’t regret it.
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