Greatest Exterior Laborious Drive (2026): SSD to Retailer Information, Video & Extra

In case you’re working out of cupboard space in your laptop computer or that you must again up your information and retailer that backlog of movies you are going to edit in the future (I’m, I swear), an exterior arduous drive can remedy your downside. The difficulty is, there are a whole lot of drive choices starting from dirt-cheap to crazy-expensive—which one is true to your wants? I’ve examined dozens, throughout working methods and with completely different use circumstances in thoughts, to seek out one of the best exterior arduous drives for storage, backups, gaming, video modifying, network-attached storage (NAS) units, and extra.

Try our different guides, together with Tips on how to Again Up and Transfer Your Images Between Providers, Tips on how to Again Up Your Digital Life, and Tips on how to Again Up Your iPhone.

Up to date January 2026: We have added Seagate’s One Contact SSD, swapped out our padding drive decide, and eliminated the Essential X6, which, sadly, has been discontinued. We have additionally added a observe explaining the rebranding of WD_Black and WD Blue drives as SeaGate Optimus GX, and up to date costs and hyperlinks all through.

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 arduous drive. I’ve been utilizing a variation of the Parts desktop arduous drive to make incremental backups of my information for greater than a decade. These drives are massive and require exterior energy, however they’re a number of the most cost-effective, most dependable drives I’ve used.

Switch speeds will not be off the charts—the Parts drive I examined scored 120 megabytes per second (MB/s) for sequential writes on Home windows—however once more, it is best to ideally be working backups in a single day anyway, and even at these speeds the typical PC backup can be completed by morning. These drives use USB-C with help for USB 3, and I’ve had no downside utilizing them with Home windows, macOS, and Linux.

Storage choices go all the way in which as much as 20 terabytes. Simply verify the costs; typically you will 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 Book 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 essential Parts drive is enough for most individuals.

Different Nice Backup Drives

• Seagate Expansion 8-TB External Hard Drive for $159: Seagate is one other dependable drive maker. It by no means hurts to have extra backups, and for those who 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

In case you journey rather a lot, you may need one thing that is simpler to hold than the Parts drives, which are not one of the best in a suitcase. For backups when touring, I really like Western Digital’s My Passport sequence, particularly the brand new “Extremely” model, which makes use of an ordinary USB-C twine, eliminating the necessity to carry a separate cable. It is not the thinnest drive in the marketplace, but it surely’s lower than an inch thick and strong sufficient that I by no means frightened about tossing it in my bag. (Though it needs to be stated that it is a spinning drive, so do not actually toss it.) I additionally like that the corners are properly rounded and there aren’t any screws or the rest that may catch on cloth in your bag.

There are a number of colours out there and you will 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 need to copy images rapidly for a shopper within the area, however quick sufficient to run a each day backup in your lodge room.

Different Transportable Backup Drives

• Western Digital Elements 5-TB Portable HDD for $135: This drive is barely thinner than our high decide, however feels flimsier in my expertise. Speeds are tad slower as nicely, however for those who’re on a funds this may prevent just a little money. Corsair is advertising and marketing this as a great way to backup your iPhone ProRes footage, and whereas it actually works for that, efficiency is restricted by the iPhone’s USB-C interface. For max throughput, join it to a PC with a USB4 or Thunderbolt 4 port.
• Seagate One Touch 4-TB for $125: Seagate’s One Contact drive gives some encryption instruments, however speeds lagged just a little behind our high decide. Nonetheless, it is a strong choice for backups and it is surprisingly small for a spinning drive enclosure. Additionally observe that this drive is usually bought with 4 months of Adobe Artistic Cloud (a roughly $40 worth), however for those who use it, be sure you cancel as a result of after these 4 months you may be charged.

Greatest USB5 Drive: The Thunderbolt 5

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 bizarre 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 forever ago, has been painfully sluggish to trickle onto the market. This made testing a bit difficult, however luckily a pal let me borrow his brand-new MacBook Professional 14 for testing. 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 modifying of 8K and 6K RAW footage. In testing the best speeds, file transfers had been 5,787 MB/s learn and 5,188 MB/s write—which, whereas not fairly matching the declare, continues 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 concerned about real-world efficiency. Since I occurred to even be testing the Nikon Z6III (8/10, WIRED Recommends), which may shoot 6K ProRes RAW, I loaded an excellent 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 recordsdata), it is a very dear drive. It’s, nonetheless, nicely definitely worth the cash if it is pace you are after.

Greatest USB4 Drive

In case you do not but have any units with Thunderbolt 5 help, this Thunderbolt 4 drive can be my suggestion for anybody obsessive about pace. Corsair’s EX400U is a powerful little drive, persistently delivering speeds of round 3,800 MB/s for sequential learn and and three,550 MB/s write. Once more, that is solely going to be potential in case you have a tool that helps USB4/Thunderbolt 4 (together with latest Macbooks, Dell XPS, and others—see our information to one of the best laptops for extra). Technically, simply as I used to be wrapping up this replace, Lacie’s new rugged SSD got here out which beat this drive in my exams by about 10 MB/s, however this drive is smaller, lighter, and cheaper.

I additionally like that Corsair has included a Magsafe connector on the again of the case, which makes nice choice for backing up ProRes video footage out of your iPhone.

Greatest for Photographers

Essential’s X9 Professional hits the candy spot of pace, portability, and worth to be among the finest drives on the market for photographers trying to make backups within the area. These drives are tiny, about half the dimensions 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 MB/s. I really persistently bought larger speeds, as much as 1,110 MB/s for learn and 1,100 MB/s for write. That places the X9 Professional on the high 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 can not but converse to the long-term survival fee, I’ve been testing X6 and X8 drives from Essential for over two years now with out challenge. There’s additionally the X10 Pro drive ($235), which gives even quicker speeds in case you have a PC that helps USB 2X2. (The newest Intel chips help this spec, however Apple doesn’t, so there is no level in shopping for the X10 Professional in case 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 at the least strive it, and the X10 Professional does certainly ship on its promise of two,100 MB/s (I bought it as much as 2,050 MB/s). In case your {hardware} helps it, the X10 Professional is value the additional cash.

Greatest Tiny Drive

Seagate’s new Extremely Compact SSD straddles the road between USB thumb drive and conventional exterior drive. The dimensions, design, and built-in USB-C connector make it a thumb drive, however the drive inside is far quicker, providing 1,000 MB/s throughput through USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps). In my CrystalDiskMark check, it managed 1034 MB/s and a write pace of 1018 MB/s, which, whereas not as quick as a number of the new Thunderbolt 5 drives coming in the marketplace, continues to be method, method quicker than most USB sticks. In some methods, performance-wise, it is a extra compact, down-market model of the X9 drive above (LaCie is Seagate’s high-end, Mac-focused model). You do get barely much less efficiency for the cash, however the compact, no-cable-needed type issue may be value it to some individuals.

My one gripe with this drive is that it is on the broad aspect for a thumb drive, which signifies that in case your laptop computer has USB-C ports shut collectively it would cowl two. You possibly can mitigate this by ditching the rubber housing, however then you definately lose a number of the safety (the drive with housing is rated to face up to 3 meter drops and is IP54 rated for mud and water resistance). It additionally goes out and in of inventory ceaselessly. Seagate’s Extremely Compact SSD is considered one of a number of SSDs adopting the thumb drive type issue. We have additionally examined and just like the SK Hynix Tube 31, which is featured in our information to the Greatest USB Flash Drives.

Different Nice Tiny Drives

• Kingston XS1000 2-TB for $203: This tiny little drive is without doubt one of the smallest on this information. Just like the Essential X6, it has a principally plastic enclosure, but it surely 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 MB/s. I by no means managed that, however I routinely hit round 800 MB/s, with some older laptops nearer to 600 MB/s, which continues to be fairly good. The drive bogs down a bit with giant recordsdata (MP4s, for instance), so it is not one of the best for professional videographers, however for everybody else, it is a strong, barely cheaper choice.

Greatest Go-Anyplace Drive

In case you want a drive that may stand as much as life in a backpack or digital camera bag, get moist, or deal with a drop onto arduous surfaces, OWC drives are your best option. It is robust to choose a winner right here as a result of there are numerous strong choices, however OWC’s Elektron drive narrowly beat others in benchmark exams. I additionally like that you could swap out the drive contained in the aluminum casing (it is simple to unscrew), which suggests two years from now, you’ll be able to decide up a quicker naked SSD and drop it within the hardy Elektron enclosure.

Different Nice Rugged SSDs

• Sabrent Rocket Nano 1-TB SSD for $170: I actually like this one. It is smaller and barely quicker than the OWC, but it surely has two drawbacks. The primary is that it could get sizzling. In case you’re making an attempt to work with it in your lap, it may be downright uncomfortable. The opposite challenge is that typically it is sluggish to be acknowledged by my PC. I may discover no sample to this; typically it appeared straight away, and different occasions it took a few minutes. If these issues do not hassle you, this drive is tiny, cheaper, and features a padded rubber case.

Greatest Padded Drive

Samsung’s T9 has been my go-to moveable drive for a pair years now. Whereas I do just like the LaCie drives (just like the rugged Pro5 above) that often dominate this class, the Samsung is a lot quick. The 20Gbps T9 was in a position to take full benefit of that pace, clocking in at over 1350 MB/s, handily beating the Essential X9. The T9 additionally appears to have a decrease energy draw, or at the least once I plug it into my Android pill it drains the battery far lower than every other drive I take advantage of commonly.

The padding on the T9 is lower than what the LaCie drives provide, but it surely’s additionally significantly cheaper and has assist up nicely to life on the street. The one catch is that its not waterproof or mud proof. The padding stops on the ends so it is not fully sealed. I have never had any points, however for those who get it moist it is going to be an issue. In case you’re frightened about that, take a look at the T7 Protect beneath.

One other Nice Padded Choice

• Samsung T7 Shield 2-TB SSD for $235: That is similar to the above, but it surely provides an IP65 ranking, which suggests it is positive 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 in contrast to the Touch model, the Protect doesn’t have a fingerprint reader.

Greatest Gaming Drive

Take this class with a grain of salt. A lot of the drives right here will work simply positive for gaming (simply stick to the quickest you’ll be able to 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 affect 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 occasions it appeared to bathroom down (at the least in benchmarks). In real-world use, the bottleneck I persistently hit was some lag in transferring big quantities of knowledge. That may be a deal-breaker for some, however for the value, it stays a strong 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 mostly 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. As of late the most typical type issue is M.2 2280, which is the lengthy, skinny drive within the picture above. Extra compact laptops could use the same, however shorter, M.2 2242 design. Once more, verify your PC to substantiate the drive it wants before you purchase. Of the handfuls I’ve tried, Western Digital’s WD Black sequence has stood out for pace, and it would not run very popular.

The SN 990 PRO SSD NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen4 achieved speeds of seven,458 MB/s reads in my testing, roughly matching the claimed 7,450 MBs / 6,900 MBs learn/write speeds. In case you’re doing loads of drive-intensive duties, like modifying video or gaming, this drive is nicely definitely worth the cash. The biggest model you will get is 4 TB, and the value is cheap contemplating the pace. There are quicker drives, however you may pay for them and I discover that at the moment, past this drive there’s a diminishing return within the pace vs worth curve. I have been utilizing this one as my foremost drive for a number of months months now and it really works nice for modifying 5.2K video footage and compiling software program. My favourite half? It generates little or no warmth.

Different Choices

• Western Digital SN850X 1-TB SSD for $245: One other quick one, Western Digital claims as much as 7,300 MB/s learn speeds, and in benchmark exams, this drive’s outcomes got here shut. Just like the Samsung above, to take full benefit of the pace right here, you may want a system that helps the PCIe 4.0 SSD normal, however it is 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 out there as much as 8-TB capacity.
• Samsung 990 Evo Plus 2-TB for $273: The 990 EVO Plus is an improve to the very fashionable 990 EVO. The unique didn’t provide something compelling and by no means made this information, however the brand new model manages to be impressively speedy and never overly sizzling, 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. By way of pace it would not fairly match the SN850X above, topping out at 5,677 MB/s learn, but it surely’s a lot quick for many makes use of and stays fairly cool even when pushed. In case you’re in search of an excellent all-around drive that stays cool, this one makes a sensible choice, although it’s on the dear aspect for what you get.

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