2017 Hard Drive Review

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• 2017 Hard Drive Review

Tower PCs however can still leverage hard drives for bulk storage. 3.5' HDDs will soldier on, but the days of small form factor 2.5' hard drives. By Adam Armstrong July 31. HGST Ultrastar He10 10TB Enterprise Hard Drive Review. The Plextor M7V is a budget solid-state drive that's designed to last and will give any computer that still uses a traditional hard drive a big performance boost. $337.06 MSRP Toshiba OCZ VX500 SSD.

Dozens of 2.5-inch drive enclosures can be found online for between $10-$25 (£15-25) that will let you drop in an old drive easily, and turn it into an external hard drive or SSD. The latest generation of the Western Digital My Passport Ultra range of external hard drives is here, coming in sizes from 1TB to 4TB, and they're among the best external hard drives out there.

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It's a Great Time to Go for a Drive

Storage has never been more plentiful or less expensive. For as little as $50, you can add a terabyte (TB) to your laptop or desktop via an external drive. That's enough to house hundreds of movie files or hundreds of thousands of MP3s or photos. Every computer you can buy, from huge desktop towers to budget-price Windows tablets, can connect to at least one hard drive, with no complex installation required. And if you're lucky enough to have multiple I/O ports, you can hook up many more. But which to choose? Here's everything you need to consider when shopping for an external hard drive.

Hard Drive Types

There are two types of external drives. Desktop-class drives, with 3.5-inch mechanisms inside, require a power adapter. They are designed to stay in one place, typically on your desk at home or at the office. If you're buying a desktop-class drive for video or lots of file transfers, look for one with a built-in fan, as the extra cooling will extend the drive's life expectancy. Notebook-class (aka pocket or portable) hard drives are usually 2.5-inch mechanisms powered through the connector cable. You can slip a 2.5-inch model into a coat and even some pants pockets.

Desktop-class models currently top out at 8TB per mechanism, but some drive manufacturers put two or more mechanisms into a chassis for more storage (for example, two 4TB drives for a total of 8TB of storage). Notebook-class drives come in capacities up to 4TB, but capacities from 500GB to 2TB are most common.

A word about multiple drives: You can increase capacity, speed, or data protection by buying an external RAID array, but multiple drives add expense and (some) complexity. Once you connect a single-volume external RAID array to your PC or Mac, it will show up and act as any other external drive. After that, it can become more complex. You should consider a drive with support for RAID levels 1, 5, or 10 if you're storing really important data that you can't afford to lose. There are other RAID levels for speed and capacity, and both software and hardware RAID implementations. Read our primer, RAID Levels Explained, for a more in-depth explanation.

Another type of external storage is the solid-state drive (or SSD), which uses a type of flash memory to store data rather than spinning platters. These drives are faster, and in most cases cost quite a bit more than external hard drives. Check out The Best SSDs for our recommendations. Want to know more about how hard drives and SSDs compare? Check out SSD vs. HDD: What's the Difference?

Input, Need Input

External drives connect to PCs and Macs via external cables. USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports are almost always present, though there are also newer connectors like USB-C. USB 3.0 provides fast transfer speeds (up to 5Gbps theoretical throughput) and a minimum of fuss, since it's backward-compatible and almost all desktop and laptop PCs come with USB ports. The newer USB-C standard is faster still (10Gbps, or twice the speed of USB 3.0) and supported using the smaller and more convenient USB-C connector, but right now it is still somewhat uncommon to find on drives.

You may find older external SATA (eSATA) or FireWire ports on some drives, though they can't reach the speeds that USB 3.0 or USB-C can. Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2 use the Mini DisplayPort connector and promise even faster speeds (up to 20Gbps), but have largely been supplanted by USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3, which boast blazing throughput of 40Gbps (assuming your computer supports the technology). Although Thunderbolt, which was originally developed by Intel and championed by Apple, has been something of a niche player, the inclusion of only USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports on Apple's new MacBook Pro laptops could easily spur wider-spread adoption this year.

The external drives we've reviewed all have USB connectivity of one sort or another, but it's important to check that the drive you're considering is compatible with your computer. A handful of USB memory sticks and hard drives are currently available with both USB 3.0 and USB-C support via two separate connectors. Optional adapters will let you use older USB drives with PCs with newer USB-C ports.

How Important Is Drive Speed?

While a 7,200rpm drive is inherently faster than a 5,400rpm drive, the real answer would be 'it depends.' If you are transferring lots of files over a speedy interface like USB 3.0/USB-C or Thunderbolt, then by all means go for the 7,200rpm drive. But if you're limited to USB 2.0 or FireWire, then I would trade speed for capacity and get the largest 5,400rpm drive your budget allows. USB 2.0 and FireWire 800 are older interfaces that work fine with a 5,400rpm drive. If all-out speed is your goal, running multiple drives over Thunderbolt 3 is the fastest (and costliest) way, with a single SSD connected via Thunderbolt 1/2 or USB 3.0/3.1 as next fastest, and so on.

Other Factors

Do you care what your drive looks like? You can buy different colored drives for each family member, for example. Included software is a factor if you don't already have a local or online backup plan. If you're simply using the drive as an extra storage container, or if you're using the backup software built into Windows or macOS, the software bundled with the drive isn't as important. Warranty length is also a big factor in our ratings: Drives can and will fail. That cheap drive you found on a deal site may only come with a one-year warranty. Look for a three- or five-year warranty if you're hard on your drives.

To get you started toward the right add-on backup/storage solution, below are 10 of the best drives we've tested recently at a variety of prices and capacities. For more options, take a look at our lists of the best network-attached storage (NAS) devices and cloud storage services.

Featured External Hard Drive Reviews

• CalDigit Tuff Review

  
  $179.99 MSRP
  %displayPrice% at %seller% Not only is the CalDigit Tuff a rugged hard drive designed to survive extreme conditions, it's also a terrific value. Read the full review

• LaCie 5big Thunderbolt 2 Review

  
  $3999.00 MSRP
  %displayPrice% at %seller% The LaCie 5big Thunderbolt 2 is a powerful external hard drive system capable of holding up to 40TB of data individually, and more than a petabyte when connected together. But it doesn't come cheap, and it lacks USB ports. Read the full review

• Seagate Backup Plus Portable Drive Review

  
  $149.99 MSRP
  %displayPrice% at %seller% The Seagate Backup Plus Portable Drive gives you 4 terabytes of speedy storage you can take with you, as well as a personal cloud, all for a very reasonable price. Read the full review

• Buffalo MiniStation Extreme NFC Review

  
  $129.99 MSRP
  %displayPrice% at %seller% The 1-terabyte Buffalo MiniStation Extreme NFC has a built-in cable you can't lose, a rugged chassis that will survive a rough daily commute, and an NFC card and reader add some security to this portable hard drive. Read the full review

• CalDigit T4 RAID Review

  
  $1199.00 MSRP
  %displayPrice% at %seller% Boasting throughput rates of higher than 500MBps and a 6TB formatted capacity, the CalDigit T4 RAID is a speedy, spacious drive that's well equipped for quickly tackling multitrack audio and 4K video projects. Read the full review

• LaCie Porsche Design Mobile Drive Review

  
  $149.95 MSRP
  %displayPrice% at %seller% The 2TB LaCie Porsche Design Mobile Drive is a thin and super-fast portable hard drive that is not only attractive, but also USB-C compatible. Read the full review

• Promise Pegasus2 R2+ Review

  
  $749.00 MSRP
  %displayPrice% at %seller% The 6TB Promise Pegasus2 R2+ is a versatile external drive for Thunderbolt 2-equipped Macs and PCs. It uses a two-drive RAID array for speed and capacity, but it can be supplemented with removable hard-drive pods or its included media card reader. Read the full review

• Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Slim Review

  
  $99.99 MSRP
  %displayPrice% at %seller% The Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Slim is an external hard drive that provides 2TB of storage space, quick data transfer speeds, and a sharp, super-slim design for just $100. Read the full review

• Seagate Innov8 Review

  
  $349.99 MSRP
  %displayPrice% at %seller% Aimed at power users and those with big media collections, the Seagate Innov8 is an external hard drive that packs 8TB of storage and connects via fast USB-C. Read the full review

• Western Digital My Passport (2016, 4TB) Review

  
  $159.99 MSRP
  %displayPrice% at %seller% The 4TB Western Digital My Passport is a solid portable hard drive that combines capacity and value with funky design and good performance. Read the full review

• G-Technology G-Drive ev ATC With Thunderbolt Review

  
  $229.95 MSRP
  %displayPrice% at %seller% The G-Technology G-Drive ev ATC is a rugged external hard drive with a removable enclosure that's made for traveling users who regularly find themselves at the mercy of the elements. Read the full review

• Transcend Storejet 300 for Mac Review

  
  $188.99 MSRP
  %displayPrice% at %seller% The 2-terabyte Transcend Storejet 300 for Mac has both Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 interfaces, which can be convenient if all of your USB ports are occupied. But you'll pay for that flexibility. Read the full review

Ever since the current generation launched in 2013, Microsoft had at least one feature over its direct competition: external hard drive support. For whatever reason, it took Sony a couple of years to implement this feature into their PlayStation 4, but I suppose it's better that the Japanese company was late over the alternative of never releasing support at all. This has opened up opportunities not only for gamers to extend their storage space without having to crack open the system, but for hard drive manufacturers to step up and offer official support. That is exactly what Seagate has done as they have brought the first ever PlayStation 4 branded external hard drive to the market.

Seagate has already released Xbox One external drives over the last few years, and most of them have come in a bevy of different shades. It initially started with green, then Crimson Red, and now even white to go alongside the Xbox One S. For the PlayStation 4 owners, they get arguably the best as the color scheme is pure black on the top and bottom with a dark blue outlining riding the sides. This is also a much smaller device than most of Seagate's external hard drives, which is about 50% less depth making it even more portable. It also comes with a slightly heightened and textured logo in the corner, making it even more visually pleasing. It features a 3.0 USB cable, but the downside, like most of Seagate's external hard drives, the cable is incredibly short, coming in under two feet long. With that said, you shouldn't need too much length if you're running it from your PS4, and some may consider it less cluttered with such a short length.

As for the PlayStation 4's external hard drive support, the only downside is that you can only have one drive going at once. So while we tried to hook up multiple devices, we were forced to turn one off to access the other. It also takes a little bit of menu searching to actually format the drive to be used on the PlayStation 4, but once it's done, it's very easy to move data between hard drives. Of course speed is an important factor to any hard drive, and for the most part, the Seagate PS4 drive does fine. It definitely won't break any records as we tested it transferring back and forth from the internal drive with multiple games, and it averaged out at around 66.46MBps. On the bright side, the external drive runs surprisingly quiet and doesn't vibrate too much.

Now for what everyone is waiting for: load time tests. Unfortunately, while we would have loved to test this against the stock PlayStation 4 hard drive, we had removed it long ago in favor for a 2TB Seagate 2.5' drive. So at this point, this is more of a USB vs SATA comparison. All values are in seconds.

Hitman starts off strong but slowly goes downhill. Booting into the game and loading into a pre-existing save file shave off a good amount of time. Loading into a new mission has a second or two different in favor of the internal drive, but it's the leaving a mission that makes a HUGE difference, with almost double the load time required on the external drive.

While it's not a huge difference, Final Fantasy XV actually improves from running off an external drive. Loading the save file does shave off a few seconds, with fast travel and booting into the game itself being marginally better.

This one is entirely up to debate as to whether or not the load times are determinate on the sever load. Getting into the game and loading the save file go in favor of the internal drive by a few seconds, but the biggest gap is the fast travelling to Kugane which saw a 33% increase for the external drive.

This comparison came out more or less the same, with a matter of a second (if that) between load times. Because there are no battle load screens, whether you play it on the Game Drive or on the internal Seagate, you won't see a difference.

The boot time and load from a save file are essentially the same, but the load between areas via train was actually improved by nearly 4 seconds on the Game Drive. Being an open world to explore with minimal load times, this really won't have that big of a difference, though.

Unfortunately, of all the games we tested, Bloodborne came out the worse for the Game Drive. It lagged behind the internal drive on almost every test, with only the travel to Hunter's Dream being the only small difference.

Similar to Bloodborne, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection didn't fare in the Game Drive's favor, but to a much lesser degree. Of all the tests we have run (be it on PS4 and Xbox One), not only did the boot time remain exactly the same, but loading into Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was exactly the same. Regardless, there's only a couple seconds difference.

If there's one thing to take away from Persona 5, it's amazing how fast the game loads. Unfortunately, boot time is increased on the game drive by about 50%, but the rest of the game loads perfectly fine. In fact, loading a save file took us the same amount of time on both drives on the dot.

Warframe

The free-to-play Warframe held up well on both drives, although the internal Seagate came ahead by a couple of seconds in the end. It's a small difference but it gave the internal drive the win in the end.

Dark Cloud 2

This comparison was more fun than anything else being big Dark Cloud fans. We wanted to see how the PS2 classic would hold up on both drives and… well they're exactly the same, plus or minus a few milliseconds.

Closing Comments:

2017 Hard Drive Review

Whether you have the standard 500GB PlayStation 4 model or 1TB, having more space is important if you play a lot of games, especially considering most releases are becoming increasingly larger. Fortunately, Seagate offers something for everyone. While we weren't able to test this against the stock PlayStation 4 hard drive, the external HDD was able to hold its own against an internal drive, with some load times being in its favor, while other differences being generally marginal. It helps this is a quiet, compact drive. If you don't already have a third-party 2.5' internal hard drive stuffed in your PlayStation 4, something to have on the go is helpful, especially considering how easy it is to convert into a standard storage device if you want to use it on PC. If you're looking to extend your PlayStation 4's space, Seagate has just what you're looking for.