Here's our top three picks...
- WD My Passport 4TB
- WD My Passport SSD
- WD Passport Ultra
WD My Passport are some of Western Digital's best known external hard drives, especially amongst creatives, and for good reason. Not only do they look beautiful, are compact and portable, but they're truly mighty when it comes to storing digital files – whether that's massive RAW photo files, your library of music and film, or your precious work files.
In this guide, you'll find a selection of Western Digital's best external hard drives – from the smaller, lower-priced WD My Passport SSD, to the larger WD My Passport 4TB hard drive.
One thing that all of the external hard drives below have in common is that they are very good, and quick, at data transfer, and they're easy to use. Not sure which one is right for you? Jump to the what model should you buy section. And if you can't find what you're looking for here, don't miss our guide to the best external hard drives available right now. Or just go to our list of the best Black Friday external hard drive deals.
The best WD My Passport deals
The 4TB iteration of the Western Digital My Passport is a top choice. In fact, we rate it so highly, it takes the top spot in our round up of the best external hard drives (mentioned above). You can also get it in 1TB, 2TB and 5TB iterations, but for value for money, this is our choice. It's got a huge capacity to store all your favourite media – perfect for creatives that deal in massive digital files.
With the 4TB version, you'll get cloud storage and 256-AES encryption, plus Western Digital's own backup software. Best of all is its great data transfer speeds and, though this hard disc drive (HDD) doesn't offer the speed of a solid state drive (SSD) device (see WD My Passport SSD below), the Western Digital My Passport offers a great balance of quick transfer speeds and massive storage without a huge price tag.
The best WD My Passport SSD
As detailed below on this page, there are some key differences between a solid state drive (SSD) like this one, and a hard disc drive (HHD). In short, the SSD version of WD's My Passport is far faster at transferring data, and it comes in a smaller shell. You'll have to pay a little more to get the storage up to 1TB or 2TBs, but if you value speed and portability over all else, it'll be worth it.
Built for both PC and Mac, the My Passport SSD is compatible with a range of ports – both the USB Type-A and Type-C ports, with the latter able to reach speeds of up to 540MB a second. It's also a sturdy model, made to stand a drop of up to two metres. And it's as compact and portable as they come, proving that great things really can come in small packages.
The best WD My Passport with warranty
The WD My Passport Ultra 4TB stands out from the My Passport crowd by offering a three-year warranty – a nice addition if you aim to get a lot of use out of it and want peace of mind – and also having a Mac-specific version of the hard drive available (all the models on this page can be reformatted to work with Macs, but this version is ready out of the box).
Ever so slightly wider than the WD My Passport 4TB, but a little shallower, the Ultra comes with a metal cover and WD Discovery software for WD Backup, WD Security and WD Drive Utilities. It is USB-C ready, and USB 3.0 compatible with an adapter provided, and there are a range of storage sizes, including the huge 5TB option.
Can't find a portable storage device to suit above? Here are some more great WD My Passport deals available now.
This is a cracking addition to the best WD My Passport external hard drives. It's got its own look, square and compact, and will work seamlessly with most mobile devices. It's also got an SD card reader built-in, so you don't have to reply on wireless, but that really is the selling point for this My Passport.
Built with 802.11ac technology, it's super-fast in transferring data, and is smooth wether streaming, image transferring, or editing while wired up to a tablet or laptop. And you can do this with no risk of loosing data due to a weak battery – the Western Digital My Passport Wireless Pro's battery life will last you all day!
WD My Passport: Which model should you buy?
When choosing the right one for you, foremost on your mind should be its storage capability. Even though many come in massive multi-terabyte iterations, 500GB is plenty to get you started. But if you want to store lots of large video and/or RAW files, or you want to use your external hard drive for housing games, investing in few more terabytes is a good idea.
Other important information to consider before making a purchase is the hard drive's connectivity. The rectangular USB-A ports are slowly being replaced by the newer, smaller reversible USB-C ports, found in all newer generation Macs and PCs.
The difference between HDD and SSD
There are two types of external hard drive: hard disk drives (HDD, also known as mechanical or traditional hard drives) or solid state drives (SSD). An SSD is faster, lighter and less power-hungry, whereas an HDD drive will be cheaper and slower than an SSD. HDDs are also good for storing lots of data as they often have a high capacity.
So, if you want to store huge amounts of data while keeping prices low, a HDD is the way to go. But if speed is your top priority – for example, if you move a lot of large files, or want to run programs off the drive – then choose an SSD. Or, you can always use a smaller SSD for files that you need to access or move around often, and then store the other data that you use less often on a higher capacity HDD.
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