Last Updated on January 2, 2021 by Goodnewsek

If you are in search for the best external hard drive, you have come to the right place. External hard drives are almost as important as the internal hard drive, just like a convertible car seat is, in cases were the system crashes, or is being stolen, you have a back up of all you important document to fall back to.

We know how important it is, so we have made this post to address the best External hard drive out there. Read through to discover for yourself the best external hard drive

BUYER’S GUIDE

Storage capacity

Arguably the most important specification to consider when buying an external drive is storage space. It’s no good buying a high-speed device with encryption and remote access if it’s not big enough to actually store the information you need. That said, you also don’t want to pay through the nose for a drive you’ll never even come close to filling, so what size should you be aiming for? It depends what you want to do with it.

If you want a device that’s good for transferring documents, photos, or other media from one device to the other, or just want to expand the storage space of your low-end laptop or tablet, then you might be best off with a mid-range flash drive.

While the largest of those can stretch up to 2TB of storage space, they get very expensive and are unnecessarily big for this sort of usage. Really you’re better off saving yourself a lot of money and buying something in the region of 64GB. Some of those can be had for less than $20 and you can get ones double the size for not much more.

If you’re interested in storing a lot more or keeping files and folders on there long term, you’ll want something bigger. A 1TB drive should suit most needs for the foreseeable future, but if you envision storing hundreds of movies (maybe you ripped your DVD collection?), or just never want to run out of space, there are drives available today that offer multiple terabytes of space.

The Seagate Backup Plus is available in sizes from 1TB all the way up to 5TB and even then it’s not much more than $100.

SSD vs. HDD

One of the most common choices buyers have to make after thinking about storage is SSD or HDD. We talk more in-depth about the differences between the two here in this article and below where it affects specs, but essentially they are two different ways of storing and accessing data.

HDDs (hard drive disk) use a spinning magnetic disk to store data, and read/write heads to change this data when necessary — which is why they are known for their iconic spinning sounds.

SSDs (solid state drives) use tiny gate transistors in cells that can flip on or off based on electric pulses. They have no moving parts, hence the name.

Broadly speaking, SSDs are significantly faster than HDDs, but can grow very expensive. HDDs are cheaper, but also larger, slower, and more easily damaged. For external drives, it’s usually best to choose an SSD except in particular circumstances.

Transfer speed

Size isn’t everything, even when it comes to external drives. Transfer speed is incredibly important too, because if you transfer files back and forth to a huge drive on a regular basis, you don’t want to have to wait an age for them to complete.

the transfer speed should be as fast as sending documents from a computer to a fax machine.

There are two main factors that play a role in how fast your drive can operate at: The storage technology and the connector it uses. Although some drives are faster than others (and if you want bleeding edge speed, make sure to check reviews of your options) in general, solid state drives (SSD) can process data faster than hard drives (HDD).

External SSDs tend to be more expensive than their HDD counterparts and often have less storage capacity. You don’t have to have one or the other, as there are larger SSDs out there, but you will have to pay a premium for it.

Portability and durability

If you want to only use your external drive for backups in your own home, you don’t need to consider portability and could even look to network attached storage solutions, for more permanent backup options. If you want to keep your drive with you when you’re out and about though, portability is of paramount importance. they should be smaller than an Ice-cream maker

You want it to be light and small enough to fit in a bag or pocket so that it can be accessed quickly and easily without weighing you down all day. Ideally, you want one that doesn’t require an external power cable too.

Security

If the data you store on your external drive is sensitive in any way, encrypting the data is a good idea. There are many drives out there that are compatible with software encryption solutions and those are fine for most people, but for those who take their data security more seriously, you want to find a drive with hardware encryption.

If you’re extremely security conscious, you could even opt for a physical security system like the pin-code input on the Apricorn Aegis Padlock drive.

Some drives will also come with strong casings to prevent physical tampering. While Kingston’s Ironkey flash drives don’t offer the same storage capacity as full-scale drives, they have a secondary security layer in that their drive PCBs are dipped in a resin that makes it hard for anyone to access the internal memory chips.

Compatibility

Hard drives are often sold to be compatible with a specific operating system: A hard drive formatted for Windows 10 may have problems working with MacOS, and vice versa. Some hard drives are formatted specifically for Linux too.

This isn’t irreversible — it’s usually possible to reformat a hard drive, or partition a drive so it can have different capabilities. However, if you want to avoid the hassle, make sure your drive matches the operating system that you’ll be using it for. scanned document from a scanner, should able to be sent.

Extra features

While all of the above features and specifications are worth considering before anything else, there are some other neat features you can look out for if you’re still unsure which drive to go for.

Some offer Wi-Fi connectivity for easy file access, and some offer better warranties than others, so if you are at all concerned about reliability, picking one with a long warranty is a good idea.

unlike a laptop cooling pad,  a hard drive stores data, so getting one that will efficiently store all your data should be a priority.

You might also consider the cables that the drive ships with — if your laptop or phone has USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 connections and your drive only comes with a USB-A cable, factor in buying another cable or an adaptor.

Like selfie sticks, they should also be accessed through a smartphone

BEST EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES

1. Buffalo MiniStation Extreme NFC external hard drive
2. Western Digital My Passport Ultra 4TB external hard drive
3. Samsung T5 SSD external hard drive
4. Adata SD700 External SSD
5. WD My Book Duo 4TB external hard drive
6. Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt external hard drive
7. Seagate Backup Plus Desktop Drive 5TB
8. Western Digital My Passport Wireless Pro external hard drive
9. LaCie Porsche Design Mobile Drive 4TB
10. iStorage diskAshur 2TB external hard drive

Buffalo MiniStation Extreme NFC external hard drive

MiniStation™ Extreme NFC is a rugged portable hard drive equipped with a unique wrap-around USB cable and secure hardware encryption. Built-in NFC technology allows users to unlock and access files on their hard drive using the included smartcard without having to remember a password.

Western Digital My Passport Ultra 4TB external hard drive

Equipped with USB-C™ technology, the My Passport™ Ultra portable drive offers an easy way to expand your storage with a modern metal design that complements your PC.

It’s Windows® 10-ready out of the box to seamlessly deliver plug-and-play storage, while password protection with hardware encryption helps enforce the security of your content. And with up to 5TB¹ of storage and a 3-year limited warranty, you get storage to rely on for years to come.

Samsung T5 SSD external hard drive

The Samsung Portable SSD T5 elevates data transfer speeds to the next level and unleashes a new experience in external storage.
With a compact and durable design and password protection, the T5 is truly easy to carry and stores data securely.

Adata SD700 External SSD

Ruggedized external hard drives are often marketed at people filming ski movies, transferring critical files while conducting scientific research in the rainforest, or doing other such activities, and ADATA’s SD700 is no different

The rugged ADATA SD700 is a good choice if you are constantly on the go and need speedy storage, but other SSDs offer even faster speeds at similar per-gigabyte costs.

WD My Book Duo 4TB external hard drive

The My Book™ Duo drive has massive capacity for storing photos, videos, documents and music. RAID-0 mode provides super-fast performance with up to 360MB/s² sequential read speeds (using the USB Type-C™ port).

Switch to RAID-1 configuration for redundancy and to mirror data on the WD Red™ drives inside. A USB Type-C port with all cables included makes it universally compatible (supports USB 3.1 Gen 1/3.0/2.0). Two USB 3.0 Type-A hub ports deliver flexibility for additional accessories.

Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt external hard drive

MiniStation™ Thunderbolt offers easy plug-and-play storage, featuring Thunderbolt 1 interface for unparalleled transfer speeds and a USB port for universal connectivity. With speeds up to 10 Gbps,  MiniStation Thunderbolt offers speeds 2X FASTER than USB 3.0.

Perfect as a PC* or Mac® portable hard drive, the MiniStation Thunderbolt offers one of the fastest connection interfaces available.

Seagate Backup Plus Desktop Drive 5TB

The Seagate Backup Plus Desktop Drive is basic, utilitarian storage designed to fit the widest possible strata of general users. This hard drive has lots of room for downloaded videos, holds multiple generations of historical backups, and is a relatively inexpensive bucket for anyone who needs to transport scads of large files from one PC to another.

The Seagate Backup Plus Desktop Drive (5TB) is incredibly spacious, reasonably fast, and since it has a class-leading 5 terabytes of storage, it costs only pennies per gigabyte.

Western Digital My Passport Wireless Pro external hard drive

Western Digital’s Pro drive is a much better proposition than the vanilla My Passport Wireless. Yes, it is more expensive than its predecessor, but it is a better product on almost all counts.

LaCie Porsche Design Mobile Drive 4TB

LaCie is an unknown brand to most people but the storage company, which was acquired by storage giant Seagate a few years ago, has a cult following amongst Apple aficionados. That explains why the brand has the largest number of DAS (direct-attached storage) devices on Apple’s online store.

Visually, LaCie is also very close to Apple’s minimalist design. The company has used some great designers in the past – including legendary French designer Philippe Starck and Scottish artist Neil Poulton – for its product lines.

iStorage diskAshur 2TB external hard drive

If you’re after a rugged external hard drive that keeps your important files safe from the elements while also incorporating some heavy duty security measures – both physical and via software – then iStorage’s range of external hard drives are well worth considering, and one such drive is the Diskashur 2.

If you’re familiar with iStorage’s products you’ll recognize the physical keypad on the front, which gives you additional security that other external hard drives lack. This new generation of Diskashur also comes with a faster USB 3.1 connection for improved performance, and offers large capacities (the drive we’re reviewing here is 2TB).

Conclusion

We are through with this review, if you read through, it means you have are interested in getting the an external hard drive. Getting a hard drive is important, especially if you have important documents you don’t want to lose, in the event of an system crash, or