Best Backup Drive For Pc And Software Is Basic
Best Backup Drive For Pc And Upgrade It With
Best Backup Drive For Pc And Install Applications Onto

Thanks to the solid state drive that resides in this external hard drive, its a lot faster than external drives that use traditional spinning hard drives so youre getting great transfer speeds as well as rugged protection.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The best external hard drives are fast, dependable and easy to use.

To be on the safe side, you can also get larger ones at 1TB or greater particularly useful if you need to store lots of video, or large Raw files.

Also consider speed, portability, price and connectivity youll want to ensure your new external hard drive has the right connection port for your device.

The first generation rectangular USB-A ports are slowly being superseded by the newer, smaller reversible USB-C ports.

The best external hard drives SSDs (Image credit: Amazon) 01.

Best Backup Drive For Pc And Software Is Basic

Western Digital My Passport 4TB The overall best external hard drive for Mac or PC Capacity: 4TB Interface: USB 3.0 89.99 View at Amazon Low Stock 99.99 View at John Lewis 99.99 View at very.co.uk See all prices (35 found) 299 Amazon customer reviews Large capacity Good data transfer speeds WD backup software is basic When it comes to the best external hard drives, look no further than the Western Digital My Passport range.

This is the latest model to have launched, coming in sizes from 1TB to 4TB.

It features cloud storage and 256-AES encryption, along with WDs own backup software.

WD My Passport also make an SSD and an Ultra version).

Samsung Portable SSD T5 The best high-speed external storage device Capacity: 250GB - 2TB Interface: USB 3.1 (Gen 2) 84.99 View at Amazon 87.82 View at Ebuyer 106.97 View at Laptops Direct See all prices (24 found) 31 Amazon customer reviews Very good performance Very high capacity Expensive The Samsung T5 SSD is a great performing storage device, reaching speeds up to 550 MBsec, making the most of the USB 3.1 specification.

External SSDs may cost considerably more than hard disks, but the extra money and faster speeds go a long way.

Best Backup Drive For Pc And Install Applications Onto

Youll be able to easily load edit and save 4K video directly on the T5, which can be very slow with a USB hard disk, you can install applications onto it, or even run an entire alternative operating system off it at full speed, if youre so inclined.

SSDs give you less capacity for more money, so we dont recommend the T5 for backup.

Its better to have a bigger hard disk for that and use the T5 in more specialised situations that need all that lovely performance.

G-Technology G-RAID with Thunderbolt 3 The fastest and largest external hard drive for modern desktop Macs Capacity: 8TB - 24TB Interface: Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1 Low Stock 549 View at Wex Photo Video 550.03 View at Amazon 709 View at Apple UK See all prices (5 found) 4 Amazon customer reviews Lashings of fast disk storage Easy removal of disks High price G-Technology has long been a favourite of Mac creative professionals, and no small part of this is the clever use of silver aluminium that perfectly matches Apples iMac casing, keeping desktop areas with a uniform appearance.

The latest incarnation of its G-RAID dual hard disk Thunderbolt product isnt just a smart performer, capable of 440 MBsec transfer rates in RAID 0, which is pretty incredible for hard disks, but it also gives you a few extras.

Theres an HDMI 2.2 port on the back, which routes a video signal for an external display over the G-RAIDs Thunderbolt 3 cable, which has plenty of bandwidth to spare even with the hard disk going at full speed.

It also has a USB-C port to connect to Macs or PCs that lack Thunderbolt.

Best Backup Drive For Pc And Upgrade It With

Expect to pay a small fortune for the largest capacities, but thanks to the easy drive removal system, you could always buy a cheaper, lower capacity G-RAID and upgrade it with off-the-shelf hard disks yourself.

Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt The most affordable Thunderbolt external hard drive Capacity: 1TB, 2TB Interface: Thunderbolt, USB 3.0 168.53 View at Amazon 171.71 View at Ebuyer 182.64 View at BT Shop 225 Amazon customer reviews Comparatively low price Limited hard disk performance If you want to make use of your Thunderbolt port, then this Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt is a great option, as it provides twice the speeds of standard USB 3.0 drives.

Its also not especially expensive compared to other Thunderbolt drives.

This is mainly down to the fact that its a traditional hard drive, not an SSD, which means its not quite as fast as it could be though it will still give you an upgrade to your transfer speeds.

Helpfully, the Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt also comes with a USB 3.0 port for connecting to computers that dont have a Thunderbolt port.

LaCie Porsche Design Mobile Drive 4TB A fast USB-C star Capacity: 4TB Interface: USB-C No price information Check Amazon 237 Amazon customer reviews Fast USB-C connection Great design Expensive You need USB-C ports to take advantage of speed The LaCie Porsche Design is one of the best external hard drives for Macs on sale today, and comes with both USB Type-C to Type-A and USB Type-C to Type-C connectors, making it a versatile way to expand the storage space of your Mac, regardless of what ports it has.

This is also one of the most stylishly-designed external hard drives on this list, and it comes with a large 4TB capacity (with other sizes available as well), and it performs brilliantly.

Adata SD700 External SSD The best cheap external SSD Capacity: 256GB, 512GB or 1TB Interface: USB 3.0 58.62 View at Amazon 405 Amazon customer reviews Great performance IP68 rating No USB Type-C The Adata SD700 will suit those looking for a rugged storage device that can provide ample capacity without costing too much.

It performs superbly well and remains the only SSD weve seen thats IP68 rated, which means it can withstand dust, dirt and sand and are water resistant for up to 30 minutes.

Best Backup Drive For Pc And Mac