Best External Hard Drives 2018 Install Some Software

It is a desktop-class storage solution, meaning it requires AC power to operate.

Our top pick for most people, Western Digitals My Passport, is an affordable, compact hard-disk drive (HDD) with up to 5TB of storage space and compatibility with USB 3.0 or 2.0 ports.

It also comes with a three-year warranty to help protect your investment.

As long as youre not dealing with specialized work involving large files you want to transfer quickly, the WD My Passport should make for a great choice.

You can expect read and write speeds somewhere around the 130MBs range, which is enough for casual use.

The fact that its available in 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 5TB sizes also makes it easy to get exactly what you want.

This also means, should the cable be damaged, you wont have to replace the drive.

WD likewise offers a three-year warranty to protect your purchase.

Best External Hard Drives 2018 Install Some Software

All you have to do is install some software on your PC, and it will take care of the rest.

To connect to your PC, the included USB-A 3.2 to Micro USB-B cable will work, as will any USB-C adapter.

In that case, spending more money on a solid-state drive (SSD) without internal moving parts is no doubt a better idea.

And if youd really like to protect your data, get something like CalDigits Tuff nano.

Its built into a compact aluminum chassis that has about the same footprint as a credit card, and it comes with an optional silicone cover that protects against drops.

It can withstand small particles or dust and dirt, and its been drop-tested for about 10 feet (three meters).

It uses the USB-C 3.2 (Gen 2) standard to deliver read speeds around 1,050MBs and write speeds around 950MBs, half that if you connect with the included USB-A cable.

While there is a standard T7, the Touch version really makes things interesting for anyone with security on their mind.

It offers 256-bit AES encryption that can be unlocked with just your fingerprint, as long as you have the proper software installed on your PC.

Thats fast enough to make short work of even large files used with specialized work.

If you want to add that additional layer of security to your data, this should be a solid selection.

Plugables Thunderbolt 3 SSD fits the criteria here, offering read speeds surpassing 2,400MBs and write speeds more than 1,800MBs.

Those are some impressive numbers, and while there might be drives out there with faster performance still, the price here is far more competitive.

Thats a good thing since the non-removable host cable could cause issues if it becomes damaged.

Anyone who needs a high-performance external SSD is going to love this drive, but just make sure your PC has Thunderbolt 3.

Best External Hard Drives For Mac 2018