Many external hard drives use USB 2. You'll also need to think about how much storage space you need. The best external hard drives offer a range of capacities. We'd recommend GB to start with, as that gives you plenty of space to store your files without costing too much money. However, if you deal in large files, such as high resolution photos and videos, then you may want to consider buying a bigger drive, with external hard drives offering terabytes TB of storage space. Buying the best external hard drive for your needs involves figuring out how much space you need.
The best external hard drives you can buy in 12222
You don't want to buy an external hard drive that's too small, and end up running out of space, but neither do you really want to pay over the odds for storage space you'll never need. So, we've listed the best external hard drives money can buy in Each external drive or backup hard drive on this page has been carefully picked to make sure it offers fast data transfer speeds — essential if you move lots of big files regularly — while also offering sturdy build quality so you don't have to worry about them breaking and losing your files.
When buying the best external hard drive for your needs, there are certain things you need to take into account. For example, you'll want to make sure you have a drive that offers fast data transfer speeds.
In this guide we list the best external hard drives with both traditional hard drives and faster and more expensive solid state drives. Still, the best external hard drives are also dependable and rugged, so you can safely store your data without worry. The best external drives will also be light enough to carry in your bag, with large capacities so that you can keep your data safe when travelling. There's a huge range of external hard drives on offer, so we've put together this list of the best external hard drives to help you find the perfect one for your needs.
Not only is your data kept protected from knocks and drops with the rugged shell, but it's also got bit AES security features and NFC Near Field Communication features as well. 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. Pretty neat! It is a good performer when it comes to data transfer speeds but doesn't come near the top of the leaderboard. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't reach the top speeds of solid state external drives, but for external hard drives based on traditional HDDs, this is the drive to consider.
If you'd rather have an external hard drive that took advantage of solid state drive SSD speeds, then the Samsung Portable SSD T5 is definitely the best external hard drive for you. Samsung has a brilliant 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.
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Of course, it's also backwards compatible with USB 3. It's expensive, but it's well worth the cash. The Adata SD will suit those looking for a rugged storage device that can provide ample capacity without costing too much. Thanks to the solid state drive that resides in this external hard drive, it's a lot faster than external drives that use traditional spinning hard drives - so you're getting great transfer speeds as well as rugged protection.
It also comes in capacities up to 1TB, so you don't have to worry about missing out on storage space just because it uses an SSD - this drive really does hit all the right notes. 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 huge 4TB you can also get versions with up to 20TB of storage space over two hard drives.
If you don't mind sacrificing some of the ample storage space you can set the drives up in a RAID array, so you have file backups of your files should one of the drives die. In the past, the connector was the main limiting factor in how fast a drive could transfer files: USB 2. These days, the newer USB 3. As mentioned, HDDs have a spinning disk inside of them, and the rate at which drives can access data depends on how quickly that disk spins.
While the type of hard drive and performance of the hard drive are perhaps the most important factors to consider, there are a few other features to keep in mind. That can be pretty helpful for those who have multiple computers set up and simply want to use an external hard drive to back up files and transfer files between computers.
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You can actually give any external hard drive network features by simply plugging it into your router — providing your router has a compatible port on it — but it will require a little more tweaking to get set up properly. Still, special network-connected drives have some advantages. The kind of port or ports that your hard drive uses to connect to a computer is very much linked to transfer speed.
Most hard drives connect to a computer through a form of USB. That could mean the now-outdated USB 2.
Other ports, which are increasingly less common, include FireWire and FireWire , though fewer and fewer computers support those ports, so you should be wary of that when purchasing. We recommend looking for a hard drive with USB 3.
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It might mean having to buy an adapter to use with your current computer that may not have USB-C, but it means that when you upgrade to a new computer, your external hard drive will stay usable. Check out our guide to the best USB-C adapters available.
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NTFS is the most common format for new external hard drives and can be used with Windows computers. Most hard drives come in NTFS, though, so you may need to buy one and then reformat it. The physical size of an external hard drive doesn't necessarily translate to the amount of storage space, particularly with the advent of flash storage. You really only have a say in the physical size of a hard drive when it comes to solid-state drives, as there are standard sizes for hard disk drives. A standard size for a portable hard disk drive, for example, is the Western Digital Elements 2TB hard drive, which comes in at 4.
Smaller desktop hard drives come in at around 7 x 5 inches and range up from there. Solid-state hard drives can be much smaller, making them much more portable. External hard drives can come with features designed to keep files more secure, which might be important if you plan on using yours to store sensitive information. For example, some hard drives offer password-protection by default, meaning you can easily set a password to keep all your files safe. A hard drive buffer is essentially storage that exists between the computer and the actual storage in a hard drive.
Files stored by the hard drive in the buffer can be accessed far quicker than those stored in the main storage of a hard drive, and the bigger the hard drive buffer — sometimes called the cache — the better the overall performance the drive is likely to have. Generally speaking, you really only need to care about the size of the buffer if you plan on running software from your hard drive. If you do feel as though you need a hard drive with a larger buffer, then we recommend getting one with at least a 64MB cache, though those with MB and even MB are pretty common, too.
Depending on the type of hard drive and the amount of storage you opt for, the price can vary drastically. Hard disk drives, as mentioned, are much cheaper than solid-state drives, so if you need a lot of storage at a reasonable price, a HDD might be the way to go. On the other hand, it's not uncommon to see a solid-state drive that runs into 25 cents per GB. Of course, that still makes for a drive that costs hundreds of dollars. While there's a lot to keep in mind when buying an external hard drive, hopefully, this will help you narrow down your selection.
Our overall recommendations? There are a few brands that have built a reputation for quality external hard drives, including Western Digital, SanDisk, and Seagate. Share Pin Email.
Find the best external hard drive for your PC or Mac backups
Buy on Amazon Buy on Walmart. What We Don't Like Limited color options. Buy on Amazon Buy on Best Buy. Buy on Amazon Buy on Newegg. What We Don't Like A little bulky. FAQs Why would I need an external hard drive? How are external hard drives powered?
Best external backup drive
Hard Drive HDD. Transfer Speed. Network Connectivity.