The best external hard drives and solid-state drives are a tried and tested means of keeping your data safe. With more and more of our lives and work needing to be digitally stored, having data backup and protection is more important than ever. We’ve put together this guide to help find the right hard drive for you.
Unlike cloud storage, hard drives are a form of data protection over which you have complete control. We regularly review hard drives as we know how important they are for creatives, and this list represents the ones that have impressed us most in terms of transfer speeds, capacity and storage options.
Best external hard drives and best external SSDs
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HDD or SSD: HDD
Capacity: 3TB-18TB
With zippy transfer speeds, a huge capacity (up to a massive 18TB) and an affordable price, we highly recommend this storage card. It's compatible with the latest USB 3.0 devices, with data transfer rates of up to 6GBps, as well as being backward compatible with USB 2.0 devices.
HDD or SSD: SSD
Capacity: 1TB-2TB
Remember USB flash drives? You probably don't use those devices much anymore, but the Seagate Ultra Compact SSD (STMX1000400) may just get you back on the train, given that it can store up to 2TB of data. It's also highly durable and well-built with an integrated plug, further cementing it as perfect for travel.
HDD or SSD: SDD
Capacity: 500GB-2TB
The Samsung T7 Touch is a great value option, with the added bonus of fingerprint or password security. You can load, edit and save 4K video directly to the T7, install applications, even run an entire alternative OS off it, if you wish. Plus the T7 is fast, with read/write speeds up to 1,050MB/s and 1,000MB/s.
HDD or SSD: SSD
Capacity: 2TB or 5TB
While it comes in licensed versions for Playstation and Xbox, the Seagate Game Drive is a capable little SSD that will suit anyone who wants fast data transfer and decent storage capacity. It works especially seamlessly with consoles, and its USB 3.2 interface scored well in our speed tests.
HDD or SSD: HDD
Capacity: 3TB-18TB
My Book offers value for money with its high transfer speeds (up to 5GBps), wide range of capacities of up to 18TB, password protection, with 256-bit AES hardware encryption, and in-built backup software. So, if security and regular backups are top priorities for you, this is the drive to opt for.
HDD or SSD: SSD
Capacity: 1TB-2TB
Dinky, cheap and available in red as well as black (that’s what the ‘R’ stands for), the Kingston XS1000R is a pretty standard external SSD that’ll suit budget-conscious users who don’t need more than 2TB of storage. It’s a no-frills offering, with no included backup software or anything like that, but it'll get the job done without taking up too much room, and its transfer speeds are consistently decent.
HDD or SSD: HDD
Capacity: 1TB-5TB
Want a device that'll withstand hostile conditions? The ADATA HD710 Pro offers three layers of anti-shock technology and can take drops of up to 1.5m. Rated to IP68 standards, it protects against dust and sand, and is waterproof. It's fast too, with speeds of up to 5GBps. While the camouflage look might not suit everyone, when it comes to ruggedness, you won't find finer.
HDD or SSD: HDD
Capacity: 4TB, 6TB, 12TB, 18TB, 20TB
Aimed at pros who create a large amount of digital work in creative software, this is one of the best external hard drives for Mac users, with huge amounts of storage available. You can also daisy-chain up to six other units to it, and the Thunderbolt ports enable you to power up via mains plug or your Mac/PC, which allows for a bit of portability.
HDD or SSD: HDD
Capacity: 1TB-5TB
For a backup solution that you can set up and forget about, the Seagate Backup Plus is just the ticket. With its own backup software you can easily set up to safely store data from all your devices. It will move files from your computer, and you can set it to grab data from your phone, cloud storage and social media accounts, if you want it to. Storage options go up to 5TB, giving you plenty of space for data should you need it.
HDD or SSD: SSD
Capacity: 250GB-2TB
The Samsung T5 is an older model to the T7 Touch, and offers transfer speeds around half as fast; it also lacks the fingerprint scanner. But for a great price, you do get the same high-quality build and reliability, AES 256-bit encryption, and password protection as the T7 Touch. Plus, the T5 is even smaller and lighter (at 5.7 x 1 x 7.4 cm and 51g), so if space is valuable to you, this device may be worth considering, and as it's an old model you may be able to pick one up quite cheaply.
HDD or SSD: SSD
Capacity: 256GB, 512GB or 1TB
In general, SSDs can take more punishment than hard drives because they lack the moving parts that are usually the weak spots in HDDs: But the Adata SD700 goes further: it's water-resistant for up to 30 minutes, and is IP68 rated, meaning it can withstand dust, dirt and sand. The starting capacity isn't huge, and the write speeds aren't as fast as the Samsung SSDs on our list, but overall, this is a great option.
HDD or SSD: HDD
Capacity: 4TB-36TB
If you work with 4K/8K video or 3D scenes, you may like the WD My Book Duo, with storage options of up to 36TB! The drive works by duplicating your data across two drives, so if one fails, everything's still safe. There are two additional USB ports, plus 256-bit AES hardware encryption and automatic backup software.
The best external hard drives: frequently asked questions
Is SSD better than HDD?
SSDs are better than HDDs in many respects – though not all. SSDs (solid-state drives) are smaller, faster and more advanced than HDDs (hard disk drives), which rely on old spinning disks. However, this means that HDDs are generally cheaper, giving you more storage on the dollar than SSDs.
Generally, the rule of thumb is that SSDs are best for operating systems, apps, and anything you want to run directly off the drive (e.g. video files you want to edit from the drive rather than transferring to and from your computer). For data that you just want to store, HDDs can be a more cost-effective choice.
What’s the best hard drive brand?
The most relied-upon and trusted hard drive brands among experts are generally agreed to be Western Digital and Seagate. We could argue all day about which of them is best – people do – but it doesn't really matter. You will not go wrong with a drive made by either of those companies. Others worth considering include Kingston, ADATA and Crucial – and it can also be worth looking at well-established tech giants like Samsung, especially if you already use their smartphones and tablets.
