In today’s digital age, the best external hard drives are indispensable tools for anyone looking to back up valuable data or expand their device’s storage. Whether you’re safeguarding treasured memories, vital documents, or large media collections, external hard drives provide a secure, portable, and reliable storage solution.
Best Overall | Bang for Your Buck | Best on a Budget | Best Portable Hard Drive | Best for Apple Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Western Digital My Book | Seagate Expansion | Western Digital My Passport | Crucial X9 | LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt USB-C |
 |  |  |  |  |
The Western Digital My Book is a desktop external hard drive offering massive storage capacity, robust security features, and cross-platform compatibility, making it the best overall choice for both personal and professional use. | The Seagate Expansion offers an excellent balance of large capacity and affordability, making it the best value choice for those needing ample storage at a budget-friendly price. | The Western Digital My Passport is a compact and affordable SSD, delivering fast performance and solid security, making it the best budget option for users seeking speed and reliability in a smaller form factor. | The Crucial X9 is a lightweight, portable SSD with impressive speed and durability, making it the best choice for on-the-go storage. | The LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt USB-C is designed for Apple users, offering high-speed transfers, rugged durability, and Thunderbolt compatibility, making it the perfect external hard drive for Mac and iOS users. |
What Is an External Hard Drive?
An external hard drive is a portable storage device that connects to a computer or other device via a USB or similar interface. It offers additional space for storing files, backing up data, or transferring files between devices. Available in various capacities, external hard drives can store anything from essential documents to vast libraries of photos, videos, or software. Their portability and easy connectivity make them a popular choice for professionals and personal users alike.
Why Buy External Hard Drives?
The primary reason people invest in external hard drives is the growing need for data storage. As digital files like photos, videos, and software applications increase in size, built-in storage on laptops and desktops often falls short. External drives provide a quick and cost-effective way to expand storage, preventing users from having to delete files to free up space.
Additionally, external hard drives are essential for data backup. Computers are vulnerable to crashes, viruses, or hardware failure, which can lead to the loss of important files. An external drive offers a layer of protection by serving as a backup repository for your data. With many modern drives offering hardware encryption, external hard drives also provide security for sensitive files, protecting them from unauthorized access.
External Hard Drives: What to Look For
When selecting an external hard drive, consider the following key criteria:
Best Overall: Western Digital My Book
Image credit: Western Digital
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The Western Digital My Book external hard drive stands out for its incredible storage options, going up to 24TB, making it ideal for users with extensive collections of media files, documents, or backups. Its SuperSpeed USB 3.0 connectivity ensures fast file transfers, while its compatibility with both Mac and Windows systems makes it versatile right out of the box. Whether you are a business professional safeguarding critical documents or a personal user storing years of photos and videos, this drive offers the space and speed you need.
Another significant feature is its security. The My Book comes with 256-bit AES hardware encryption, providing excellent protection for sensitive data. Western Digital’s included software allows for automatic backups and password protection, so you can rest easy knowing your files are secure. Overall, the Western Digital My Book is a powerhouse external hard drive that offers ample storage, security, and ease of use, making it the top pick for most users.
Best Bang for Your Buck: Seagate Expansion
Image credit: Seagate
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The Seagate Expansion external hard drive is perfect for users seeking a large amount of storage without breaking the bank. Offering 8TB of space, it’s great for those who need to store massive amounts of data, such as extensive photo libraries, videos, or large game collections. With simple drag-and-drop functionality, the drive is incredibly easy to use. Just connect it via USB 3.0, and it’s recognized instantly on Windows computers, no software required.
In addition to its ease of use and large capacity, the Seagate Expansion is one of the most cost-effective drives on the market for the amount of space it offers. It’s a solid choice for users who need extensive storage for basic files and media without the need for advanced features like encryption or rugged durability.
Best on a Budget: Western Digital My Passport
Image credit: Western Digital
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For those on a tight budget, the Western Digital My Passport SSD offers tremendous value without sacrificing performance. Its compact design makes it highly portable, perfect for users who need a reliable drive to take on the go. With blazing-fast NVMe technology, this drive offers speeds up to 1050MB/s, allowing you to quickly transfer large files, stream media, or back up your data in record time.
Despite its smaller 500GB storage capacity, the My Passport SSD includes premium features like hardware encryption and shock resistance. This drive is ideal for users who prioritize speed, portability, and data security, all at an affordable price.
Best Portable External Hard Drive: Crucial X9
Image credit: Crucial
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The Crucial X9 stands out as the best portable external hard drive for its impressive balance of speed, size, and durability. Its compact design, weighing just over 1 ounce, fits easily in your pocket, making it an excellent choice for photographers, videographers, or anyone who needs quick access to data while traveling. With read speeds of up to 1050MB/s, you can transfer files, edit videos, or back up data effortlessly, whether you’re on the road or at home.
This drive is also built to last, with shock resistance and the ability to withstand drops of up to 7.5 feet. Whether you’re storing photos, games, or important documents, the Crucial X9 offers reliable performance in a durable and portable package.
Best for Apple Users: LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt USB-C
Image credit: LaCie
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For Mac users, the LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt USB-C external hard drive offers exceptional performance and durability. Its integrated Thunderbolt cable provides fast transfer speeds, perfect for handling large files, video editing, or running applications directly from the drive. It’s also backward compatible with USB-C, making it a versatile choice for both older and newer Mac devices.
The LaCie Rugged is not only fast but also incredibly durable, featuring water resistance and drop protection, making it ideal for users who need to take their drive on the go. Whether you’re a photographer working in harsh conditions or simply need a reliable drive for your Mac, the LaCie Rugged is built to withstand the elements while keeping your files secure.
