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The best external hard drives are essential devices for all computer users. This is especially true if you have multiple laptops but a slow local internet connection. This is because an external hard drive allows you to easily and quickly move massive data across your machines. This not only saves you time, but it may also save you money. It happens no matter how hard we try to avoid it.
Our computers fail, and we lose all of our data. Of course, things have changed significantly since a few years ago. There are now external hard drives that can protect all of your files and material in another location, ensuring that you do not lose your most crucial files. Storage spaces have become the pinnacle of operating a laptop or PC device, and it is impossible to do so without an external hard disc.
In recent years, there has been a huge increase in the development of both HDDs and SSDs, and the industry is thriving. Having the greatest external hard disc allows you to store files away from your PC. This will clear up space on your PC, allowing it to run better. You can use an external hard disc to store files, but you can also connect it to your gaming console and start playing your favourite games.
Best External Hard Drives
Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch
In a market dominated by similarly bland, plastic-encased storage devices, Seagate’s Backup Plus Ultra Touch external hard drives add a touch of luxury. This portable drive has a unique feature in mobile technology: texture. It’s woven fabric and feels like a familiar, pleasant object in your palm. You also gain some additional piece of mind: The Ultra Touch is simple to password-protect, and your data is protected by 256-bit AES hardware encryption.
Overall, for Windows or Mac users, this drive is well worth the money, standing out in a category that has long achieved commodity status. First, the sentimental. The Ultra Touch’s woven textile enclosure, available in black or white, wraps around the face and one end of the drive’s plastic case, adding style and grip to would otherwise be a boring plastic drive enclosure.
WD 5TB My Passport External Hard
The manufacturer’s extra effort to make a plain plastic box look appealing is one of the differences between a generic external hard drive and a top competitor like the WD My Passport. The My Passport drive has the look and feel of a consumer product, with slightly rounded corners and ripples across part of the surface. The ripples also prevent the drive from quickly slipping out of your grasp.
With a variety of colours, a small enough size to fit in a shirt pocket, capacities ranging from 1TB to 5TB, and easy-to-find savings off the advertised price, the WD My Passport is a clear standout and our new among high-capacity portable hard drives. The My Passport arguably merits WD’s classification as “stylish.” The drive I’m using for testing is black, but you can also acquire versions formatted for Windows in red or blue cases, or for Mac in a darker blue case exclusively.
LaCie Rugged 1TB Thunderbolt
The LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt is the greatest rugged external hard drive for its durable build, but it’s also speedy. The integrated Rugged Thunderbolt USB-C provides lightning-fast rates of up to 130MB/s, allowing for rapid file transfers. The best feature of this external hard drive is, of course, its durability. The sturdy, rugged design is meant to withstand everyday wear and tear on the road. This unit is drop-, dust-, and water-resistant, giving you peace of mind on any excursion.
The USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt ports provide lightning-fast transmission speeds on Mac and Windows laptops. The LaCie Rugged SSD produces up to 387 MB/s, making it one of the fastest bus-powered solutions available. The hard drive version can achieve up to 122 MB/s, which is a 35% boost over FireWire 800. Mountains of data may be backed up and sent in a fraction of the time. Enjoy considerably faster photo library browsing.
WD 16 TB My Book Duo External Hard Drive
The WD My Book Duo has an abundance of storage options. Its storage capacity extends from 4TB to 36TB, making it the greatest external hard disc in terms of capacity. However, you must pay a larger fee for all of that storage. It has USB connectivity and a 3.5-inch hard drive size factor, which is larger than earlier variants. This machine is also suitable for gaming on a desktop.
The My Book Duo drive has a capacity of up to 20 TB with a single cable; free up valuable space on all your devices; and store and back up your photo, video, and music collections, as well as vital documents, in one safe location. With the bundled WD drive utility software, the drive is ready to perform at maximum speed and capacity in RAID-0 mode; switch the drive to RAID-1 for redundancy (data mirroring), or utilise it as two separate drives (JBOD).
G-Technology ArmorATD 1TB External Hard Drive
The G-Technology ArmorATD portable hard drive (HDD, not SSD) is built to last, with three levels of shock resistance, internal shock mounts, an aluminium shell, and a removable rubber bumper for extra drop protection; it’s also resistant to rain, dust, and crushing (up to 1,000 pounds). The 2TB and 4TB variants are both portable and include with a USB Type-A adaptor for use with their USB Type-C interface, so they should work with almost any computer.
The 2TB and 4TB capacities were tested; neither was very fast (though the 2TB is rated for significantly faster speeds), and the drive came with no file management software. However, when you consider the price, one of these drives could be viable if you and your data are venturing into uncharted terrain.
SanDisk 1TB Extreme PRO Portable SSD
The SanDisk Extreme Pro Portable SSD meets all of your expectations for the greatest external hard drive. Design that is easy to use? It’s small and light enough to fit in your palm while still not getting lost in your pocket or backpack. Suave appearance? Its rounded corners, black-and-red colouring, gently pockmarked front, and soft-touch back give it a fully modern and refreshingly classic appearance and feel.
The USB 3.1 version of the Extreme Pro Portable SSD is rated for sequential readings of 1,050MBps and consistently ranks at the top of our performance testing. The SanDisk Secure Access application also uses general encryption. The drive is a little pricey, and the incorporated carrying loop is too large to fit on a typical keychain. Otherwise, this is a fantastic storage device suited for heavy daily use.
Silicon Power Armor A66
The Silicon Power A66 is a Heptathlon specialist at the Olympic level. It’s a portable hard disc that combines three crucial features for everyone looking for external storage nirvana: It is large in absolute capacity, it is inexpensive in comparison to competitors (such as the Sandisk Professional G-Drive ArmorATD), and your data will be better protected as long as you do not intend to immerse it in water (it is only IPX4 rated).
The A66 does not include any software, and the cable it provides is unique (Type-A both ways which makes replacing it problematic). In real-world tests, it performs similarly to the rest of the HDD-based competitors; expect to pay significantly more for a robust SSD if you want something faster, more resilient, smaller, and compatible with mobile devices.
ADATA HD710 Pro 2TB External Hard Drive
A simple mishap can render all of your data unavailable in a matter of seconds. Most failures are due to damaged disc surfaces caused by physical shocks such as being hit, tumbling over, or dropped. Sudden shocks, especially when the head is in use, can cause it to crash or damage the platter. Simply exposing it to the elements can destroy your data and ruin your day. As a result, if utilise external drives while outdoors, a standard external hard disc becomes a dangerous proposition.
An IP68-rated gadget can tolerate dust, grime, and sand and can be immersed for 30 minutes up to 1.5m underwater. Does that sound right? That is the kind of certification grade the ADATA HD 710 Pro carries. The company went above and above to secure HDD internals by using a silicone case, triple-layered structure, and vibration detection technology to resist 1.5m drops.
Final Words
Here are some of the best external hard drives on the market. The benefits of an external hard disc extend far beyond data storage. We can better secure our data using these gadgets. Losing data can be frightening these days; we may lose not only childhood photos or vital documents, but also information that cannot be restored. Additionally, it frees up space on our computers, keeping them speedy and light.