If you would like the perfect exterior arduous drive, I’ve obtained the highest picks proper right here. Every of those fashions affords you high-speed file transfers and high-capacity storage for each price range.
My crew and I examined the perfect exterior arduous drives for Mac, the perfect transportable SSDs, and even the perfect USB flash drives. So, we all know what to be careful for when selecting your subsequent exterior HDD.
In my opinion, the perfect exterior arduous drive is the WD Components transportable HDD. Appropriate for nearly everybody, it boasts nice speeds and nice storage capability at an excellent value. Nevertheless it’s not the one alternative on the town, and we have assessed a variety of exterior arduous drives, measuring speeds, design, and connectivity. We examined each exterior arduous drive with our inner benchmarking suite earlier than recommending them.
One of the best exterior arduous drive: fast record
Greatest general
The WD Components exterior arduous drive is extremely really useful regardless of not being the quickest, largest, or least expensive, as a result of it ranks constantly within the high three throughout all classes, making it a flexible alternative. Whereas it would not excel in any single side, its balanced efficiency, first rate capability, and portability with out vital drawbacks make it the perfect general choice for many customers, providing a well-rounded bundle at an affordable value.
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Greatest price range
The UnionSine Extremely Slim exterior HDD slim design, glorious learn speeds, and engaging price-to-performance ratio makes it a stellar alternative for these on a price range. Nonetheless, its restricted capability choices, with a most of 2TB, and a excessive value per terabyte are vital drawbacks. Regardless of these limitations, its quick learn speeds, three-year guarantee, and portability make it a superb alternative for these requiring not more than 2TB.
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Greatest for Mac
The WD My Passport Extremely for Mac is a dependable choice for macOS customers, providing a USB-C interface best for Time Machine backups and cellular storage. Although not the quickest, its comfort for Mac customers—requiring no extra connectors—partially offsets its decrease general efficiency and better value amongst examined drives. With efficiency similar to the WD Components, it is a appropriate alternative for these prioritizing ease of use with Mac out of the field, regardless of its satisfactory switch speeds.
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Greatest gaming
4. Seagate FireCuda Gaming
The FireCuda exterior sport drive stays related for avid gamers with giant libraries, providing as much as 5TB capability, excessive sequential learn speeds, and fast copy-to-drive occasions, enhanced by RGB lighting with Razer Chroma help. Regardless of its greater value per terabyte, restricted capability choices, and a 1-year guarantee, its efficiency loading and transferring video games make it a compelling alternative, notably the 5TB model which regularly goes on sale, providing an excellent higher worth.
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Greatest high-capacity
The Seagate Enlargement desktop exterior arduous drive outperforms different HDDs considerably, providing distinctive learn and write speeds near an exterior SSD, making it best for intensive system backups and storing giant media recordsdata, because of its huge capability choices and low price-per-terabyte. Nonetheless, its lack of portability, as a result of want for an exterior energy supply, and a excessive buy value are drawbacks. Nonetheless, as a desktop backup answer, it is in a category of its personal.
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Greatest rugged
The LaCie Rugged Mini’s largest promoting level is its sturdiness, providing drop and crush resistance fitted to the tough dealing with typical in out of doors artistic work. Whereas its efficiency is stable, surpassing many non-SSD rivals in learn and duplicate speeds, it comes at a excessive value per terabyte. Regardless of this, its three-year guarantee provides worth, making it an interesting alternative for these prioritizing robustness and reliability in difficult environments, albeit at a premium value.
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Greatest for college kids
With loads of storage capability at an affordable value, the WD My Passport is our best choice exterior arduous drive for college kids. We discovered switch speeds to be comparatively fast, the design to be sturdy, and with storage starting from 1TB to 6TB, it is nice for paperwork, video and picture recordsdata, and information back-up.
John Loeffler
John (He/Him) is TechRadar’s Parts Editor and has been reviewing pc {hardware} with TechRadar for a number of years. As our element lead, he’s liable for testing any and all parts that hit the market, together with GPUs, CPUs, storage drives, and extra. He has extensively examined all the exterior arduous drives on this record, and selected every primarily based on these check outcomes as the perfect of their class.
One of the best exterior arduous drive of 2024 in full:
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Beneath you may discover full write-ups for every of the perfect exterior arduous drive picks on our record. We have examined each extensively, so you may make certain that our suggestions might be trusted.
One of the best exterior arduous drive general
The WD Components exterior arduous drive is not the quickest or probably the most spacious in the marketplace. Neither does it have the bottom value per terabyte, the biggest number of capacities obtainable, or the perfect guarantee of all of the drives I’ve examined. However that is my high choose for the perfect exterior arduous drive general as a result of in each class, it’s constantly within the high three.
Whereas one drive might need the bottom value per terabyte (Seagate Enlargement) or the perfect guarantee (just like the LaCie Rugged Mini), they often have steeper shortcomings that offset these benefits, like being dearer, or being a worse general worth.
The WD Components then could be very a lot a jack-of-all-trades type of drive, doing all issues moderately properly, whereas not outperforming in a single class or the opposite. For most individuals although, that is precisely the type of drive you may need: one thing that gives you a superb little bit of the whole lot with out having to make too many sacrifices within the course of.
So far as efficiency goes, once more, this is not the quickest drive I examined. Removed from it in reality, however its learn speeds had been shut sufficient to a lot of the drives that this may not be noticeable, and its random write speeds, which is important for a frequently used exterior HDD, are a superb bit greater than its competitors.
In the long run, it got here in with the third greatest general rating and the second greatest worth rating, whereas providing greater capacities than the UnionSine DataPocket and a portability that the Seagate Enlargement cannot supply, all whereas coming in at a suitable value level for an exterior HDD with a better capability.
One of the best price range exterior arduous drive
There are solely a few issues that maintain again the UnionSine Extremely Slim exterior HDD from being the perfect exterior arduous drive general, and it is a disgrace, as a result of this can be a nice drive.
Its general scores are second solely to the top-scoring Seagate Enlargement, and its slim profile makes this a very simple drive to hold round, although it is barely larger than the WD Components and WD My Passport Extremely.
Its decrease capability choices in comparison with the opposite exterior HDD picks on this record minimize towards it, however when you do not want greater than 2TB of exterior HDD storage, then that is undoubtedly one of many drives you must get, because of its quick learn speeds, three-year restricted guarantee, and excellent value.
Regardless of its low value level, It has a moderately excessive value per terabyte owing to its restricted capability choices, with its max capability topping out at simply 2TB. Whereas it does have a number of a lot smaller capacities beginning at 250GB, the utility of such small capacities on an exterior HDD makes them more durable to suggest, particularly when you may get a quicker transportable SSD with the identical or better capability for not an entire lot more cash.
Efficiency-wise, the UnionSine Extremely Slim manages to outperform all the drives on this record when it comes to general learn speeds save for the Seagate Enlargement, although it does have a for much longer copy time in my 25GB file copy check, and its common write speeds are a lot decrease than different drives.
These latter two factors actually damage since file writing and copying speeds are the 2 largest elements on the subject of an exterior HDD’s efficiency since you might be way more more likely to be writing information to the drive than studying from it frequently.
Nonetheless, on steadiness, its efficiency is excellent, and its price-to-performance worth is the perfect on this record, and it isn’t even shut.
One of the best exterior arduous drive for Mac
There aren’t a whole lot of exterior arduous drives on the market with a USB-C interface, so Mac customers have needed to make a whole lot of compromises over the previous couple of years however with the WD My Passport Extremely for Mac, macOS customers have a stable choice for Time Machine backups and different long-term storage on the go.
Just like the WD Components, this is not the quickest drive on the record, regardless of it is USB-C port, and it is speeds are largely the identical as what you may get with the WD Components, although you may should spend a bit more cash to get the My Passport Extremely for Mac.
This is perhaps a more durable tablet to swallow for some, since this drive’s general rating is the bottom of the drives we examined, and discovering a USB-C to Micro B connector is not all that tough, so any of the opposite drives on this web page will serve simply as properly in your Mac, although none will work as properly along with your Mac out of the field.
By way of efficiency, you are primarily getting the identical speeds and scores because the WD Components, with a noteable exception. Copying recordsdata internally is extremely quick on this drive, second solely to the Seagate Enlargement, however copying to this drive is considerably slower in my testing.
I might argue that the latter is extra essential, however your mileage could range. Finally, when you’re a Mac person and also you simply desire a drive that you would be able to pull out of the field, plug in, and get going, this drive is an efficient wager, regardless of its shortcomings.
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Learn our full WD My Passport Extremely evaluation
One of the best exterior arduous drive for gaming
Fashionable sport consoles and the perfect gaming PCs have all largely moved on to quicker SSD storage, making gaming arduous drives a lot much less related than they as soon as had been, however they are not out of date simply but, particularly when you’re coping with a completely huge sport library that’s an excessive amount of of a trouble to obtain and uninstall frequently.
The FireCuda exterior sport drive is strictly the type of factor you want in a case like this. With as much as a 5TB capability, moderately quick sequential learn pace, and a really quick copy-to-drive pace, the RGB accent lighting with Razer Chroma help is actually simply an added bonus.
On the draw back, this drive has a fairly excessive value per terabyte, just a few capability choices, and only a 1-year guarantee, however it’s not the tip of the world for a drive like this.
On the efficiency finish, this drive is close to the highest when it comes to sequential learn speeds, which is important for sport loading or copy operations to a quicker SSD, and copy-to-drive operations, which you may want if you wish to transfer video games on and off the drive along with your console or PC’s essential storage.
Finally, it is not the perfect worth of all of the drives examined, however it’s higher than most, particularly when you go for the 5TB drive, which you’ll be able to often discover on sale.
One of the best high-capacity exterior arduous drive
The Seagate Enlargement desktop exterior arduous drive is the best-performing HDD I examined, and it isn’t shut.
With scores that just about double the closest competitors and browse and write speeds second solely to an exterior SSD, the Enlargement in a severely strong exterior drive, good for normal system backups because of its enormous capability choices.
These capacities additionally come at a really low price-per-terabyte, making this best for housing huge video and different media recordsdata along with system picture recordsdata. The draw back is that this is not a really transportable drive, owing to it needing to be plugged into an exterior energy supply like a wall outlet or a conveyable battery.
Should you’re trying strictly for a desktop backup answer although, you will not discover higher except you improve to an SSD. Learn, write, and duplicate speeds are dozens of MB/s forward of the opposite HDDs on this record, and understandably, this drive finally ends up scoring the perfect general. Sadly, its excessive value does tank its worth rating, regardless of its low value per terabyte.
One of the best rugged exterior arduous drive
The LaCie Rugged Mini exterior HDD is a stable sufficient performer for a non-SSD, however what you are right here for is the added safety that comes with its vivid orange shock absorber.
Based on LaCie, the Rugged Mini contains a drop resistance of 4 ft (1.2m) and a crush resistance that may survive being run over by a 1-ton automotive, so it can virtually actually survive the type of beating that photographers and creatives out within the discipline may topic it to, together with cramming it into baggage, dropping it on trails, and different real-world situations.
That mentioned, the Rugged Mini does are available fairly costly in comparison with many different 5TB drives, and its value per terabyte could be very excessive general. It does include a three-year guarantee to assist soften that blow, nonetheless.
Total, the drive’s efficiency is on the upper finish, beating out the WD Components and UnionSine Extremely Slim when it comes to learn speeds, and falling simply behind the UnionSine Extremely Slim when it comes to common write speeds. Its copy information fee can also be second solely to the Seagate Enlargement, so transferring recordsdata onto and across the drive can be pretty fast, on steadiness.
Greatest exterior arduous drive for college kids
One of the best exterior arduous drive for college kids wants to mix loads of storage – particularly when you’re creating content material – at a superb value. For us, the WD My Passport delivers.
The system is offered in a variety of storage capacities, from 1TB to 6TB, which needs to be sufficient for many college students. We reviewed the 6TB mannequin and located switch speeds had been quick sufficient for an exterior HDD, though not as fast as an SSD. Set-up was easy sufficient, simply plug and play on Home windows – nonetheless, Mac customers might want to correctly arrange the additional Acronis True Picture software program with new drivers and reformatting. That is easy sufficient, however might not be best for everybody. In any case, as soon as we tried this ourselves, the arduous drive labored seamlessly.
The WD My Passport is good for backing up or sending giant quantities of knowledge. Picture and video recordsdata are tailored for this system. Easy to make use of, bundled with additional software program, and loads of options that set this other than different exterior arduous drives – all at a really cheap value.
Learn our full WD My Passport 6TB evaluation
One of the best exterior arduous drive: FAQs
Which exterior arduous drive is greatest for backup?
By way of exterior HDDs, the Seagate Enlargement is my high choose because of its enormous capability choices and extremely quick learn, write, and duplicate speeds for a tough disk drive. Solely an SSD will get you quicker speeds, and you will not discover any that supply the Enlargement’s capability for an affordable value.
Are exterior arduous drives nonetheless value it?
Should you’re searching for long-term storage and again up drives, than exterior arduous drives are undoubtedly value it, since you may get a whole lot of additional space for storing for giant backup recordsdata at an affordable value. They don’t seem to be the perfect for day-to-day file storage, particularly if you might want to entry these recordsdata frequently, since a HDD cannot match the speeds of an SSD.
How to decide on the perfect exterior arduous drive
When deciding on the perfect exterior arduous drive, prioritizing a mannequin that gives safe and dependable storage in your important recordsdata is important. Pace is one other key consideration, with the perfect fashions that includes superior connectivity choices like USB-C for fast information transfers.
The drive’s connection sort, together with its expertise—both a conventional arduous drive or a solid-state drive (SSD)—considerably influences switch speeds. Search for drives with USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 USB Sort-C or Thunderbolt 3 or 4 for the quickest transfers, guaranteeing your pc helps these connections.
Moreover, in case your work includes giant recordsdata like high-definition media, go for a drive providing ample storage, with a number of terabytes obtainable at an affordable value.
How we check the perfect exterior arduous drives
I examined all the drives on this record utilizing a number of industry-standard benchmarking instruments like CrystalDiskMark, PCMark 10, and BlackMagic Pace Check.
I additionally used a customized script that repeatedly copies a 25GB folder with hundreds of recordsdata and a deep listing construction to the drive from a PCIe 4.0 SSD to the drive, recording the occasions it took to finish the copy operations and utilizing the typical of these occasions as its closing outcome. The script then repeatedly copies the identical folder from one location on the drive being examined to a different inner location and measures that point, taking the typical time to finish as its outcome.
I then use the geometric imply of the varied scores and switch charges because the drive’s closing rating, which I then divide by the value of the drive to provide you with its worth rating.
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