6 Best Desktop External Hard Drives - December 2020 Results are Based on. The best external hard drives offer a whole lot of value, making them the perfect backup solutions for both individuals and businesses. The best external hard drives at a glance. No tab over Type-C connector to protect it from dust and water. *Deals are selected by our partner, TechBargains. Larger external drives designed to stay on your desk or in a server closet still almost exclusively use spinning drives, taking advantage of platter drives' much higher capacities and much lower prices compared with SSDs. And let's not even talk about the cost of 4TB and 8TB external SSDs. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up Right now, the fastest mainstream connection type is Thunderbolt 3, which is handy assuming you have a newer laptop or desktop with a Thunderbolt 3 port. That’s where the best external hard drive … The Best External Hard Drives for 2020 Laptop hard drive almost full? Glitchy experiences, even after a WD firmware update. Not only is your data kept protected from knocks and drops with the rugged shell, but it's also got 256-bit AES security features and NFC (Near Field Communication) features as well. Oct 21, 2016. Needs external power. Fast, easy to use, and massively effective, the Sabrent External Hard Drive Lay-Flat Docking Station is our top choice for the best hard drive dock currently available. Thunderbolt 3 vs. USB-C: What's the Difference? Gabe Carey and Matt Hanson also contributed to this article. Hard drives may get you more capacity for your dollar by far, but first you need to consider a major difference in external storage these days: the hard drive versus the SSD. Of course, not everyone needs a wireless hard drive or SD card support, but for those who do, it’s almost essential. Here are some of the best external hard discs for photographers in 2021. Unlike other external hard drives that come with the time-consuming process of setup, this one comes with easy to use setup. After 20 hours of new research and testing, we found that the best external desktop hard drive for most people is Western Digital’s 4 TB My Book. If you need more space, you’ll need to look at desktop drives. They're ever more capacious for the money, too. On top of this storage and speed, you get a decent amount of peace of mind thanks to Seagate's lower than average failure rates, especially in bigger capacity hard drives. Save a whopping 95% for the first year.View Deal. These connection types are ever in flux, but these days, most external hard drives use a flavor of USB, or in rare cases, Thunderbolt. Desktop-size and portable platter-based storage has never been cheaper. Please refresh the page and try again. In addition to their physical shape differences, USB ports on the computer side will variously support USB 3.0, 3.1, or 3.2, depending on the age of the computer and how up to date its marketing materials are. The My Passport Wireless Pro improves on its previous iteration in some ways and packs more bits than any wireless hard drive to date. The best way to gauge relative value among similar portable drives is to calculate the cost per gigabyte, dividing the cost of the drive in dollars by the capacity in gigabytes to see the relative per-gig price. Despite all these goodies, it is still one of the cheapest portable drives of this capacity.View Deal, IDrive 5TB Cloud Backup - $69.50 $3.48 per year, direct The Western Digital My Passport Ultra is among the best external hard drives out there. Need to back up your photos and videos? It’s drop, shock, dust, and rain-resistant, making it ideal for surviving the elements when you’re out in nature. The latest generation of the Western Digital My Passport Ultra range of external hard drives is here, coming in sizes from 1TB to 4TB, and they’re among the best external hard drives out there. Thank you for signing up to TechRadar. (See our explainer Thunderbolt 3 vs. USB-C: What's the Difference?). UK and Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Western Digital My Passport Wireless Pro, This product is only available in the US and UK at the time of this writing. The price is kept down due to its use of a traditional hard drive, rather than an SSD, which limits the potential speeds. 1. Worth noting that the enclosure used is fully serviceable and that WD ships the drive already pre-formatted for Windows users (NTFS). Also know that you can find external drives that do way more than just store your data. He previously covered the consumer tech beat as a news reporter for PCMag in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, where he rode in several self-driving cars and witnessed the rise and fall of many startups. We'd recommend 1TB to start, as that gives you plenty of space to store your files without costing too much money. Even if we had mixed feelings on past versions of the My Passport Wireless, the 2016 “pro” variant of the external HDD restores faith in the Western Digital name. Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer, We've listed the best external hard drives money can buy, The Buffalo's MiniStation Extreme NFC is great for budget consumers. Just how much faster is it to access data stored in flash cells? However, you also don’t want to pay over the odds for storage space you'll never need. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant. Computers, Tablets & Accessories Hard Drives & Storage. Click here to make sure you pick the right hard drive for your needs. Seagate Toolkit provides handy backup/recover functions, as well as mirroring. Some models include plastic bumpers, and some even meet military standards for shock and dust protection. Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the WD MyBook Duo. Shop for external desktop hard drive at Best Buy. Best Desktop External Hard Drive; Best Hard Drive for 2021:WD 10TB Elements. These hard drives, in other words, expand your storage space without burning a hole in your pocket. Best overall: Samsung T5; Best lightweight: SanDisk Extreme Pro; Toughest: Adata SE800; Best budget hard drive: Western Digital My Passport Ultra To get you started in the right direction, below are the best external hard drives (platter-based models) we've tested of late, at a variety of prices and capacities. Photographers have different specs for an external hard drive: portable drives, backup drives, and internal hard drive extensions. The WD My Book Duo is the absolute largest capacity external hard drive. It's also not especially expensive compared to other Thunderbolt drives. Any remotely recent computer will have faster USB ports, though. Essentially it allows you to unlock the drive to get to your files quickly and easily by tapping the supplied NFC card onto the drive's body. Sure, it's still expensive, four times the price of an equivalent 2TB drive, and unlikely to be the most nimble performer. Instead, there’s now a more premium feel to the My Passport Wireless Pro. At the other end of the physical-size spectrum are portable drives. WD 10TB Elements Desktop Review. A collection of spinning drives configured with a RAID level designed for faster data access can approximate the speeds of an SSD, while you should consider a drive with support for RAID levels 1, 5, or 10 if you're storing really important data that you can't afford to lose. It supports both 2.5” and 3.5” SATA drives, and delivers fast, efficient performance you may have only dreamed of previously. Here, in this article, we would like to draw your attention to the high performing external hard drives which have the capacity to store up to 8TB. A desktop drive with a single platter mechanism inside will typically use a 3.5-inch drive inside and comes in capacities up to 12TB, though a few 16TB single drives in external chassis have started to emerge. The storage industry refers to these (as well as smaller-capacity externals as a whole) as DAS—for "direct attached storage"—to distinguish them from NAS, or network attached storage, many of which are also multi-bay devices that can take two or more drives that you supply. Some include SD card readers to offload footage from a camera or drone in the field, while a few specialized models have built-in Wi-Fi and can double as an all-in-one home media server, able to connect to more than one device at a time. This lets the drive be used completely free of wires over 2.4GHz or 5GHz channels. The Seagate Backup Plus Desktop Drive combines speed and capacity. And portable hard drives can be a great value if what you need is raw capacity above all else. Many external hard drives utilize USB 3.0 connections. The Adata SD700 is great for those looking for a rugged storage device. Not only is it faster to read and write data stored in flash cells, but it's also safer. The only case with hard drives where the USB standard matters much is if you connect a drive to an old-style, low-bandwidth USB 2.0 port, which is better reserved for items like keyboards and mice. Most such multi-bay devices are sold without the actual hard drives included, so you can install any drive you want (usually, 3.5-inch drives, but some support laptop-style 2.5-inchers). Endowed with a gamer aesthetic, the WD Black P10 Game Drive can serve as a simple, stylish repository for your massive game library at a reasonable price. You will receive a verification email shortly. Even if the drive fails because of a manufacturing defect, most warranties simply replace the drive and don't cover the cost of recovery services that attempt to rescue your data from the broken drive. If you want a drive for additional storage, our list of best external hard drives should be your next reading assignment. Cables for both USB Type-A and Type-C on the client side. The WD My Book Duo 4TB external hard drive is our pick for the best desktop storage device for photographers who have large amounts of photographs they want to store – while also ensuring that those photographs are completely safe. Dump your poky portable hard drive! If you want to combine speed and capacity, then the Seagate Backup Plus Desktop Drive 5TB is definitely worth considering. Let our deep-dive reviews help you track down the right external hard drive. Only waterproof and dustproof when the USB cover is closed. Sign up to get breaking news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more, plus the hottest tech deals! Get a free wall charger or 10000mAh portable charger when buying this hard drive. LaCie d2 Professional 10TB External Hard Drive Desktop HDD – USB-C USB 3.0 7200 RPM Enterprise Class Drives, 5 Year Warranty and Recovery Service (STHA10000800) 4.3 out of … It is compatible with PC, Mac, Xbox One, and PS4. Stay on budget by opting for one of the best external hard drives. You'll also need to think about how much storage space you need. Their total storage capacities are limited only by their number of available bays and the capacities of the drives you put in them. This one, though, is optimal for a desktop workspace and is … 5TB is peak portable single-drive capacity. The best external drives must also be light enough to carry in your bag, with large capacities so that you can keep your data safe when traveling. https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-external-hard-drives. In the case of these and single-platter-drive products, you're not meant to swap out the drive or drives inside. Shop for external hard drive at Best Buy. And at … If you have terabytes of content and want to keep them safe, using a cloud storage provider like iDrive means that your data will be backed up online and ready if your local backup is lost, stolen or broken. Best for Massive On-Desktop Backup and Storage, Best for Outdoorsy Photographers, Videographers, Best for Photo and Video Pros in the Field, Best for Buyers Seeking General-Use Portable Storage, Best for On-the-Go Users Seeking Sheer Capacity, Best for Videographers and Other Creative Pros. The Best Rugged Hard Drives and SSDs for 2021, The Best External Hard Drives and SSDs for Mac in 2020, Seagate Expects to Start Selling 50TB HAMR Hard Drives in 2026, Seagate Confirms World's Largest Hard Disk Drive on Track for December, How to Save Data From a PC That Won't Boot, The Best 2-in-1 Convertible and Hybrid Laptops for 2021, The Best Laptops for Video Editing in 2021. Buy now on Amazon.com. But modern ones are faster, more stylish, and often more durable than their counterparts from a few years ago. Home » Computers, Tablets & Accessories » Top 10 Best 6 TB External Hard Drives Reviews in 2021. Still, while external SSDs are cheaper than they were a few years ago (see the best we've tested at the link), they're far from a complete replacement for spinning drives. Expect to pay at least two to three times as much as you would for that 2TB hard drive. PCMag, PCMag.com and PC Magazine are among the federally registered trademarks of Ziff Davis, LLC and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. In his spare time, he's written on topics as diverse as Borneo's rain forests, Middle Eastern airlines, and big data's role in presidential elections. A 2TB SSD, though? And if you're a gamer, picking up a great SSD for your games can really make a difference. These features combined make the Toshiba Canvio one of the best external hard drives on the market to consider. It performs incredibly well and remains the only SSD we’ve seen that is IP68 rated. (Look for support for specifications such as IP67 or IP68.). Keep an eye on your inbox! Need to back up your photos and videos? If you're looking for the absolute largest capacity external hard drive, then the WD My Book Duo 4TB is the one to get, offering a sizeable 4TB (you can also get versions with up to 20TB) of storage space over two hard drives. © 1996-2021 Ziff Davis, LLC. And, they’ll do it at a reasonable price. As a rule, portable drives get their power from the computer to which you connect them, through the interface cable, so there's no need for a wall outlet or a power cord/brick. It features cloud storage and 256-AES encryption, along with WD's own software suite. In addition to storing large media collections, these drives can also serve as inexpensive repositories for backups of your computer's hard drive that you schedule, using either software that comes with the drive or a third-party backup utility. Bundled cables for USB Type-A and Type-C on PC side. However, for faster speeds, you'll want USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 USB Type-C connection. Take a look at our dependable external hard drives for backup, storage, and gaming, from desktop to portable use. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. For photographers, this will make the Wireless Pro stand out. We’ve all been there: that moment your laptop or desktop computer tells you it’s running out of hard drive space. In an era when 50GB of iCloud storage is 99 cents per month, and trim, slim external SSDs are getting cheaper, external hard drives might appear less essential than they once were. These are called generically "2.5-inch drives," though they are actually a smidge wider than that. If you work with a large number of files and documents it is essential to buy the best external hard drive for your needs. The best external hard drives will also be quick - either because they use SSD (Solid State Drive) technology, or because they use the latest connectivity technology, such as USB-C. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Read the hands-on review: Adata SD700 External SSD. ), how rugged it is, the interface it uses to connect to your PC, and even what colors it comes in. Designed for videographers and other creative pros who regularly handle tons of data, the LaCie 2big RAID combines two hot-swappable, high-capacity drives with a variety of settings for maximum flexibility and data protection. Read the full review: Western Digital My Passport Ultra. How an external drive connects to your PC or Mac is second only to the type of storage mechanism it uses in determining how fast you'll be able to access data. In addition, the best external hard drives must also be dependable and rugged, so you can safely store your data without worry. Portable SSD drives and secured drives may have the advantage of being more durable, faster, and better at protecting your files, but these traditional drives win when it comes to affordability. The best external hard drives, on the other hand, have a lot more space and are designed for external use, so you can take all your large important files wherever you go and access them anytime, anywhere. Without further ado, read on to see our list of the best SATA hard drives. The biggest deciding factors when it comes to data transfer rates is the connection the drive uses, and whether it is a standard hard drive or a solid state drive (SSD). All late-model Apple MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops have them, and many high-end Windows 10 laptops do, too. AES-256 hardware encryption with password. Choosing an external drive isn't as simple as buying the most expensive one you can afford, however. If the drive only includes a single cable, you may need an adapter, depending on your computer's available USB ports. As a hardware analyst, Tom tests and reviews laptops, peripherals, and much more at PC Labs in New York City. Sign up for What's New Now to get our top stories delivered to your inbox every morning. The drive platters' own speed is the limiter, not the flavor of USB 3. Top 10 Best Desktop External Hard Drives of 2017 – Reviews. However, if you’re dealing with large files – such as high-resolution photos and videos – in your typical workload, you should consider buying one with a bigger storage space. Practically speaking, this means you can move gigabytes of data (say, a 4GB feature-length film, or a year's worth of family photos) to an external SSD in seconds rather than the minutes it would take with an external spinning drive. If you have a device with a Thunderbolt port, then this is a great option, as it provides twice the speeds of standard USB 3.0 drives. The Best External Hard Drive Deals This Week* WD Elements 8TB Desktop External USB 3.0 Hard Drive — $144.99 (List Price $179.99) WD Elements 4TB USB 3.0 Portable Drive — $94.99 (List … All are inter-compatible, and you won't see a speed bump from one versus the other in the hard drive world. It's priced comparable to noticeably slower USB-C … The Adata SD700 will suit those looking for a rugged storage device that can provide ample capacity without costing too much. You might sacrifice some of the ample storage space, if you don’t mind losing some, so you can set the drives up in a RAID array, so you have file backups of your files should one of the drives die. Best external hard drive for a desktop PC Most external drives are small enough to be transported easily. Visit our corporate site. Typically, iStorage hard disks cater best to governments and multinational organizations around the world, for good reason too – they offer tight security like no other drives around. If someone tries to tamper with your iStorage drive, you can configure it to self-desturct. What's more, the data is encrypted by the 256-bit AES protocol, with multiple forms of protection in place to ensure the bad guys don't get in no matter how persistent. This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Here's our pick of the best external hard drive choices for your PC or Mac backups. Seagate Expansion Portable 4TB External Hard Drive Desktop HDD – USB 3.0 for PC Laptop (STEA4000400) Seagate - Game Drive for Xbox 2TB External USB 3.0 Portable Hard Disk Drive - Green Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB External Hard Drive Portable HDD … The next size up for consumer desktop drives is about the same height but twice as wide, to accommodate more than one platter-based hard drive mechanism in the chassis. Desktop-size and portable platter-based storage has never been cheaper. 9,842 reviews scanned Powered by Trending Searches Cat Repellents Soundbars Power Banks Hoverboards Powered by Your subscription has been confirmed. The verdict: External hard drives The SanDisk 500GB extreme portable SSD is a great match of fast performance, durable build and decent value. Almost every recent drive we have reviewed supports USB, and the same goes for laptops and desktops. It's ideal for anyone who works in the field and produces oodles of data. Silicon Power 2TB portable hard drive - $134.99 $62.49 at Amazon Hard drive-based portables make use inside of the same kinds of platter-drive mechanisms used in laptops. Can set to RAID 0 for higher speed and capacity, or to RAID 1 for drive mirroring. Pretty neat! LaCie Rugged USB-C 4TB External Hard Drive, Considering a USB Type-C hard drive? If you carry your drive around frequently, you'll want to pay attention to how rugged the drive is. Other factors include the physical size of the drive (is it designed to be carted around, or to sit on your desk? Typical read and write speeds for consumer drives with spinning platters are in the 100MBps to 200MBps range, depending on platter densities and whether they spin at 5,400rpm (more common) or 7,200rpm (less common). They're a fine starter mix for your research. It also comes with a USB 3.0 port for people without access to Thunderbolt. If you buy a larger desktop drive with two or more spinning platters, you'll almost certainly have the option to configure the drive as a RAID array using included software. External SSDs offer at least twice that speed and sometimes much more, with typical results on our benchmark tests in excess of 400MBps. Useful LaCie Toolkit software handles backup and restore, as well as mirroring. This interface piggybacks on a USB Type-C connector (not all USB Type-C ports support Thunderbolt 3, though) and offers blazing peak throughput of up to 40GBps. In that case, your best option is a desktop-class hard drive. It's geared to macOS users, but it will please anyone with an eye for style in their gadgets. Solid-state drives (SSDs) have fewer moving parts than traditional hard drives, and they offer the speediest access to your data. Hit the link above for an explanation of the traits and strengths of each RAID level. Best All Around External Hard Drive 2021; Best External Hard Drive 2021:Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB ; Best High Performance External Hard Drive; Best ssd for gaming 2021:Samsung T5 Portable SSD; Best High Capacity External HDD 2021; Best external ssd 2021:Seagate Backup Plus Hub 10TB But, you're paying for a product that's virtually uncrackable. Plugable’s TB3 NVMe external SSD is one of the best-priced Thunderbolt 3 externals on the market. In addition, while USB flash drives and microSD memory cards may be more portable, they just won’t give you enough space for long-term use. Samsung has an excellent reputation for external SSDs, thanks to products like the T3, and the T5 builds on its predecessor by adding a fast USB Type-C connection that ekes out every last drop of performance from the solid state drive inside. It is a good performer when it comes to data transfer speeds but doesn't come near the top of the leaderboard. Best External Hard Drive 2020! A graduate of Middlebury College, Tom also has a master's degree in journalism and French Studies from New York University. As a bonus, a desktop drive that supports Thunderbolt 3 might also come with additional DisplayPort and USB connections that allow you to use the drive box as a hub for your keyboard, mouse, monitor, and other peripherals. Unlike our best 1TB external hard drive and best 2TB external hard drive guide, we aren’t focusing on raw speed in this one. You don't want to buy an external hard drive that's too small, end up running out of space and buying another one. The 8TB version of the Western Digital My Book is a deep well of affordable storage for your photos, music, videos, and more. (See our separate roundup of the best NAS drives.). Because it comes with up to 8TB, you can also pick and choose depending on your storage needs. 1995. But if your drive breaks because you dropped it, the warranty likely won't cover that, anyway. The storage space of 8TB allows you to save and create your gaming console. Read the full review: Buffalo MiniStation Extreme. This model of Seagate’s 8TB desktop external hard drive assures effective plug & … Expand your storage space without spending a lot with one of the best external hard drives on our list. Reliability is of the utmost importance here, as you do not want to buy an external hard drive that fails on you - making you lose all your important backups. You'll only see the speed benefits of Thunderbolt 3, however, if you have a drive that's SSD-based, or a multi-drive, platter-based desktop hard drive set up in a RAID array. While the best SSDs may have a bigger advantage when it comes to build and speed, they are also pricier. LaCie’s rugged external hard drives are a favorite among content creators who are always out on the field. Bear in mind that most of them come in a range of capacity options, so know that even if the specific model we tested is too big or small for your needs, the drive maker may well offer it in a more fitting size. Combining on-point performance and strong encryption, Seagate's Backup Plus Ultra Touch portable drive is a great choice for everyday backups and security-first use alike. The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of PCMag. If you'd rather have an external hard drive that takes advantage of solid state drive (SSD) speeds, then there's the Samsung Portable SSD T5. This guide will help you make sense of all these and many more questions that arise while you're shopping for an external hard drive. Choosing the Best 4TB External Hard Drive. Read the full review: Western Digital My Passport Wireless Pro. Its combination of solid performance, hardware encryption, and useful utilities makes the 5TB WD My Passport a strong contender for everyday backup of sensitive data or storing a massive collection of videos, photos, and documents.
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