1. The list in brief ↴
2. Best overall
3. Best for minimalists
4. Best for heaps of media
5. Best for mounting
6. Best lightweight option
7. Best desktop hard drive
8. Best for use in the field
9. Best shockproof hard drive
10. Best tiny SSD
11. Best no-frills hard drive
12. External hard drives FAQ
13. What to look for
14. How we test
The best external hard drives are an essential for amateur and professional photographers and videographers who need to safely store their work. They can give you extra peace of mind that all your files, work and memories are stored elsewhere should anything happen to your device.
While cloud storage has come a long way over the last few years, external hard drives are a secure backup that gives you more control over your files. An external hard drive also doesn't need an internet connection to work, which makes them a reliable choice for storage, especially if you frequently go off-grid to shoot.
As well as your budget and how much memory you want your external hard drive to have, you'll want to consider whether you need a waterproof or shock-resistant model. These can come in handy for photographers who travel far and wide and shoot outdoors in remote areas, for example. Others might favor smaller external hard drives that can fit into their camera bag. Newer solid-state hard drives are not only less bulky than their predecessors, they also don't have to rely on mains power to operate.
We've included options with different features and at a range of price points in this guide. If you need to upgrade the rest of your set up, take a look at our guides to the best cameras, best telescopes, best drones and best tripods.
The quick list
Tantse Walter is a photographer and adventurer who has spent seven years facilitating global adventurous expeditions. She loves getting into the nitty-gritty of sourcing and planning trips. Whether that be for astrophotography location scouting, or just for the love of exploration. Tantse enjoys taking creative, bright and bold photos of people, places, animals and the night sky.
Best external hard drives we recommend in 2024
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The perfect choice for users looking for a small, high-performance SSD. It has an IP55 water and dust rating, a shock-absorbing rugged exterior and crucially has fast read and write speeds. What's not to like?
Tiny, light and robust. The Seagate One Touch is a professional-looking, but still durable device. It's compatible with Windows and Mac and scheduled backups are easy to configure.
Despite the name, the FireCuda Gaming Hub is an excellent storage solution for those with huge media libraries, whether that be games, photos or videos.
The SanDisk Professional G-Drive has anchor points for attaching to a DIT cart/mounting plate. It's a conventional HDD that's a great choice for creative professionals who need a high-performance, durable hard drive.
A credit-card sized (length and width) ultra-light and portable SSD offering high protection security for your media files.
Best for expanding your desktop storage at home rather than taking it out and about. You can password-protect it, and it comes with Western Digital utilities such as backup scheduling and data encryption.
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Easily recognizable in their orange silicone 'suits' the LaCie Rugged range of hard drives and SSDs all have an IP67 rating — they are built to be taken out into the field.
Capable of lightning-fast transfers, this palm-sized device is shockproof to military testing standards. It features a one-touch auto-backup button and the included software offers encryption and disk-locking.
A tiny SSD that you could even turn into a key ring if you wish, It has an IP55 ingress rating for protection against water and dust and it has drop protection up to 7.5 feet for added peace of mind.
A quality HDD from a respected brand. It's affordable with plug-and-play functionality and is fast enough for everything you'd need it for. It's fuss-free and easily portable.
Best external hard drives we recommend in 2024
Best overall
✅ You want something pocketable: This thing is tiny, it is almost small enough to use on a key ring.
❌ We can't think of a reason to not buy this SSD: We've been using this ourselves for as long as we can remember and they have never let us down.
🔎 SanDisk Extreme is one of the best portable SSDs on the market, and it looks the part too. ★★★★★
The SanDisk Extreme is the perfect choice for anyone who needs a small, high-performance portable SSD with a rugged exterior, capable of absorbing shocks and vibrations and one that's protected with an IP55 water and dust rating. No need to worry if you're caught in inclement weather and it would be perfectly happy being used out in the field. It's smaller than most smartphones and, therefore, small enough to slip into your back pocket. You can attach a lanyard to it too.
Crucially, it has fast write speeds and is reliable, making it the perfect companion for demanding applications such as editing high-resolution photos or 4K footage. The speed will enhance your workflow as there will be little lag when editing or transferring data.
It's available in four capacities; 500GB, 1TB, 2TB and 4TB, and in three colors: Black, Sky Blue and Monterey. It's backed by a three-year warranty too. What more could you ask for?
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| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Design | Rugged, tiny |
| Functionality | IP55 rated, fast read and write speeds |
| Performance | We can't fault it |
Best for minimalists
✅ You want scheduled backups: The Seagate Toolkit software can provide on-demand and scheduled backup options
❌ It's likely to get wet: There is no waterproof rating unlike many models on this list.
🔎 Seagate One Touch is a practical portable hard-drive, with fast write speeds that is ready to go straight out of the box. ★★★★½
The Seagate One Touch is a minimalist's ideal design, it's tiny and light, but it is still robust, shockproof storage that you can throw in your bag and not be too precious about, though it doesn't have a waterproof rating like some models.
The Seagate Toolkit software helps make on-demand and scheduled backups a breeze, and it is compatible with both Windows and Mac. You can leave it plugged in and set it to back up your computer at the end of every working day, for example.
Included in the purchase of the Seagate One Touch is a 6-month Dropbox Backup plan, which lets you back up the external hard drive onto Dropbox for added protection. You also get a six-month subscription to Mylio Photos+. A USB-C and USB-C to A cable are also provided.
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| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Design | Minimalist, professional |
| Functionality | Robust and durable, not waterproof |
| Performance | Fast transfer times, automated backups |
Best for heaps of media
✅ You have a mega library of media: The huge capacity of this hard drive means you won't have to sacrifice any of your photos, videos or games.
❌ You want something that doesn't needs external power: If you're looking for something to keep plugged into your laptop while you're on the move, this isn't for you.
🔎 Seagate FireCuda Gaming Hub: Despite the name, this is a hard-drive for anyone who has copious amounts of data. Whether that be photos, movies or games. ★★★★
The FireCuda is a simplistic desktop hard drive built with gamers in mind. It features customizable RGB LED lighting to complement unique gaming or workstation setups. With four little rubber feet, it can be positioned vertically or horizontally in any orientation to protect your surfaces.
The high spin speed means you can load games quickly. It also makes transferring and working on large files fast and more efficient for creatives such as photographers and video editors, speeding up workflow.
The main downside of the FireCuda is that it isn't at all portable: it requires a power source to run and weighs over a kilo, making it unsuitable to carry around with you on photography expeditions. However, if you're looking for a powerful external hard drive that can live next to your desktop computer, this drive is difficult to beat.
Although the Seagate FireCuda Gaming Hub is fast for a spinning external hard drive, it doesn't compete with most external SSDs, but the huge capacity makes up for that sacrifice.
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| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Design | Desktop style, mains powered |
| Functionality | Huge capacity for heaps of media |
| Performance | Fast, but not as fast as an external SSD |
Best for mounting
✅ You want mounting options: There are two anchor points on each side to attach to a DIT cart or mounting plate to customize your workstation.
❌ You want something that doesn't need external power: This needs to be plugged into power as well as your computer.
🔎 SanDisk Professional G-Drive: An excellent storage solution for creative professionals who need a high-performance, durable hard-drive. ★★★★
The SanDisk Professional G-Drive is a fantastic option for creative professionals who handle large media files such as movies, RAW and edited photos to expand the storage capacity of your existing laptop or desktop.
The SanDisk Professional G-Drive is a well-engineered conventional HDD with excellent build quality. We love that it is stackable and mountable to suit your individual workstation. There aren't any software facilities, but in our experience, many portable hard drive users often don't utilize this anyway.
As with the FireCuda Gaming Hub, the G-drive (both being Desktop Drives) is relatively slow compared to a typical SSD drive and could be considered as one of the more expensive ways to expand your storage. Though this hard drive comes pre-formatted for Mac, it can easily be reformatted for Windows.
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| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Design | Angular aesthetic, high quality construction |
| Functionality | Stackable and mountable |
| Performance | Easily handles demanding workloads |
Best lightweight option
✅ You want high security: The SSD T7 features 256-bit AES hardware encryption, though there is a 'touch' version that offers biometric security.
❌ You'd prefer the peace of mind of a longer warranty: The SanDisk Extreme offers two extra years of warranty and also has a waterproof IP rating.
🔎 Samsung SSD T7 is a popular, lightweight and small external hard-drive with high security thanks to the 256-bit AES hardware encryption. ★★★★
The Samsung Portable SSD T7 is an extremely lightweight, pocketable external SSD. It offers fast transfer speeds and, thanks to its aluminum unibody construction, a durable shock-resistant design. It comes preformatted in the exFAT file format so it will work with Windows, macOS and Android straight out of the box, without the need for reformatting.
As with all SSDs, it is built with no moving parts, so it's less susceptible to data loss than traditional hard drives, and you are afforded extra peace of mind with the three-year limited warranty. It is drop-resistant at up to 6.5 feet but lacks a formal IP rating, so it hasn't been tested for water or dust ingress.
Your data is password-protected with AES 256-bit hardware encryption — you just need to use a strong password. There is a 'touch' version of this hard drive that offers biometric (fingerprint) security if that's something you'd benefit from.
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| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Design | Tiny, pocketable |
| Functionality | Data encryption, works straight of the box |
| Performance | Fast data transfer |
Best desktop hard drive
✅ You want to expand your computer storage capacity: There is a vast range of capacities available, all the way up to a ginormous 22TB.
❌ You are relying on it as your sole means of long-term back up: A HDD will fail eventually, if you're looking for something that will last longer than five years, consider an SSD instead.
🔎 Western Digital My Book is a convenient and affordable desktop storage solution for storing large files like photos and videos. ★★★★
Western Digital is a well-known name in the world of external hard drives and has been creating reliable devices for years. The Western Digital My Book is an HDD storage solution best used as a desktop drive for scheduled backups at home.
It's bigger and bulkier than its SSD rivals and requires a dedicated power source, so it's not particularly travel-friendly. But the plus side of this older technology is that it provides a cheaper way of backing up large amounts of data, offering capacities as high as a whopping 22TB.
The My Book can be password protected and linked to a particular laptop or desktop computer, meaning it only asks for the password when you connect it to a new device. You can also install Western Digital Utilities, which provides options for scheduling backups and data encryption, keeping your files extra secure.
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| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Design | Desktop HDD |
| Functionality | Requires power supply, password protection |
| Performance | Reliable scheduled backups |
Best for in the field
✅ You'll be using your hard drive out in the field: With IP67 waterproofing and a durable layer of silicone around the outside, this one will be able to withstand all your outdoor adventures.
❌ You want a quick and easy choice: The number of different models on offer can make it difficult to decide.
🔎 LaCie Rugged: The rugged build and waterproofing on this drive makes it a great choice for photographers who are looking to take it on outdoor shoots or camping trips. ★★★★½
As the name would suggest, LaCie has designed its series of Rugged drives to be extremely resilient and durable for use out in the field. They all come encased in a thick layer of silicone (mostly in their signature orange color) and can withstand drops of between three and four feet. They also feature crush resistance of between one and two tonnes (the weight of a car) and come with an IP67 rating, which means they're completely protected against dust and can even be safely submerged in water of up to one meter. This makes them ideal for taking with you on any of your outdoor photography trips since these drives can handle pretty much anything you throw at them.
The LaCie Rugged drives come in various models offering different features such as encryption, embedded SD card slots and even Thunderbolt 3 connections providing transfer speeds of up to 2800 MB/s. Some models are HDD and others are SSD, so be careful about which one you choose to pop in your basket. Amazon UK offers a handy comparison chart to help you decide between the different models.
| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Design | Rugged and waterproof |
| Functionality | Varies per model |
| Performance | Cumbersome setup, depends on model |
Best shockproof hard drive
✅ You want ultimate data control: The Transcend Elite software helps you to carefully manage your data, with options for backup, restore, cloud backup, encryption and disk locking.
❌ You're looking for an SSD: This is a standard hard drive, although it still has impressive transfer rates of up to 5Gbps.
🔎 Transcend StoreJet 25M3C: Featuring extreme shock resistance and multiple ways to manage your data, this is a fantastic hard drive to keep on your desk at home without fear of knocking it off. ★★★★
Transcend StoreJet 25M3C, a hard drive rather than an SSD is a go-to hard drive for when you need more size than speed. That said, this hard drive is capable of lightning-fast transfer rates of up to 5Gbps. The Transcent StoreJet is available in various configurations; here, we're looking at the 25M3C, which means it uses a USB-C for transfers. It comes with a USB-C to type-A cable, too, to accommodate more devices. It is available in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB models.
The palm-sized device is 'supreme shock-resistant', featuring a three-stage shock protection system that Transcend proudly boasts has passed US military transit drop testing. The protection consists of a silicone rubber casing, an internal shock-absorbing suspension damper and a reinforced hard casing. No need to worry if you accidentally drop it or knock it off your desk.
When using Transcend Elite software, you can utilize the 'one-touch auto backup' — a button that, when pressed, instantly backs up your data. The software also allows for advanced data management such as backup and restore, cloud backup, encryption and disk locking.
| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Design | Small, robust |
| Functionality | Shock and drop proof, one touch backup |
| Performance | Quick file transfers and efficient data management |
Best tiny SSD
✅ You want something small to carry around with you: This one is small enough to even attach to your keyring, should you want to, and it's extremely lightweight.
❌ You want the fastest transfer speeds: The upgraded Crucial X10 Pro offers faster transfer rates, but also costs more money.
🔎 Crucial X9 Pro: Ideal for attaching to a keyring or slipping in your pocket, this lightweight SSD is easy to carry around with you and offers basic water and dust protection. ★★★★½
The Crucial X9 Pro is a rectangular, matte-gray portable SSD that measures only 0.3 by 2.6 by 2 inches and weighs a featherweight 1.5 oz, just like a large keyring. It is made from anodized aluminum with a black, rubberized base. The drive's design is simple but aesthetically appealing. One of the beveled corners has a hole to thread a lanyard (or similar) through.
It has an ingress protection rating of IP55 (which means limited protection from dust and low-pressure water jets) and drop protection up to 7.5 feet. No need to worry if you drop it accidentally or inadvertently leave it out in the rain. It's protected with a five-year warranty, too.
This hard drive is the field photographer's best friend, being small and light enough to carry around without adding excess weight to your camera bag. Keeping weight low can be crucial when traveling with tripods, lenses and heavy cameras, so anything that cuts down on the overall gear burden is a win in our books.
The model that has superseded this one is the Crucial X10 Pro, which costs more but offers significantly faster file transfers.
| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Design | Tiny, attractive |
| Functionality | Highly portable, IP55 rated |
| Performance | Excellent performance |
Best no frills hard drive
✅ You're looking for a more affordable option: As an HDD, it's more affordable than SDD for the same amount of storage.
❌ You want speedy transfers: It's not as fast as SSD storage solutions and also uses a slightly outdated Micro-B USB connector.
🔎 Toshiba Canvio Flex: If you want a reliable, no-frills drive that will get the job done at a more affordable price point, then this HDD might be a good option for you. ★★★★½
Though not as fast as a modern SSD, the straightforward Toshiba Canvio Flex HDD is still fast enough for almost everything you would need. Toshiba's reputation in the hard drive industry is well respected. Largely because it's a HDD, it is much cheaper than many SSD solutions, making it an affordable means of purchasing more storage. With it's brushed aluminum faceplate and white polycarbonate casing, it looks the part, but ultimately it's a straightforward, no-frills hard drive.
It has plug-and-play functionality and can connect hassle-free to your tablet or iPad so you can run large applications such as Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom without using up a tonne of the device's limited storage space.
It has a somewhat dated Micro-B USB connector, but it comes with a USB-A and C cable so you won't need to source your own. The interface speed is the same regardless of which cable you use.
The small form factor means it's easily portable, it is fuss-free, and it's backed by Toshiba's three-year warranty. What's not to like?
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| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Design | Traditional, basic, fuss-free |
| Functionality | Plug and play HDD |
| Performance | Fast enough for most photographer's requirements |
Best external hard drives: Frequently Asked Questions
What is an external hard drive?
An external hard drive is any digital storage device that can connect to a computer, smartphone or tablet to transfer and store digital files like photos and videos. The term can refer to hard disk drives, which work thanks to spinning metal disks inside them, or to solid state drives (SSDs), which use chips and have no moving parts.
What is the difference between an HDD and SSD?
An HDD (hard disk drive) stores data magnetically. It works thanks to a reading arm that moves between the spinning metal disks inside it to read, transfer or record data.
An SSD (solid state drive) has no moving parts and uses chips on a circuit board to store data. They're generally considered more robust than HDDs.
Which is better SSD or HDD?
The lack of moving parts in SSDs make them generally more robust and les prone to damage than HDDs, which rely on spinning disks to operate. SSDs also have bigger storage capacities while remaining lighter than their HDD counterparts, and are less prone to skipping data. For these reasons, almost all experts agree that an SSD is better than an HDD except in unique circumstances.
Which is better WD or Seagate?
Both Western Digital and Seagate make great storage drives (both internal and external), so we wouldn't recommend one brand over another. Depending on your requirements and budget, however, an individual model from one of these brands may be better suited for you than another.
Best external hard drives in 2024: What to look for
There are dozens of external hard drive models available to buy with seemingly very similar specs, so choosing the right one can be a tough task if you don't know all the jargon that surrounds them. Below, you'll find some pointers regarding what to look out for when you're choosing the perfect hard drive for you.
There are two main types of external hard drives: Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) and Solid State Drives (SSDs). HDDs store and retrieve data magnetically thanks to one or more metal rotating platters coated with magnetic materials, while SSDs work thank to flash memory.
HDDs tend to be cheaper and can accommodate significant volumes of data, but because of their moving components, they're also more susceptible to breakages if they're dropped or bumped. So if you have a large amount of data you want to store and aren't planning on moving very often, an HDD may be the best choice for you.
If you're often on the go and want a lighter, more reliable external hard drive, the newer Solid-State Drives may be a better option. They're usually faster and more durable than their HDD counterparts, but they're also more expensive and have a more limited storage capacity.
Once you've chosen the right type of external hard drive for you, you'll want to choose the right storage capacity. The more data you want to store, the higher capacity you'll need - it's worth keeping in mind here that HDDs tend to be cheaper per gigabyte of data. Most of the models in this guide are available in a range of storage capacities, but the highest capacity model is the SanDisk Professional G-Drive, which has a ridiculous 22TB of storage.
The next thing to watch out for when choosing an external hard drive is connection types. Firstly, some drives require an external power source while others don't. If you're on the go a lot and need a portable solution, the second type will be most useful to you, but if you're just planning on using your external hard drive as an add-on to your home computer storage, a hard drive that needs an external power source should work just fine.
Secondly, you'll need to make sure you choose an external hard drive with the right type of ports for your intended use. The best way to find this out is to read the specs of the product you're thinking of buying. Most of the hard drives we've featured in this guide either connect to your laptop/computer/tablet with a USB-C or USB-A cable that is supplied with the hard drive. However, there are a couple of models with a Micro USB or other types of connection that you may want to steer clear of if you don't want to carry multiple cables.
Speed might also be a consideration when choosing a hard drive: a device's speed will be listed as 'RPM' for HDDs and megabytes per second (MB/s) for SSDs. RPM is the number of rotations per minute of the spinning platters; the higher the RPM, the faster you can transfer and access your data. Similarly with the SSDs, the higher the MB/s, the quicker the data transfer speeds.
Regardless of the type, capacity or speed of the external hard drive you end up choosing, it's important to store your data in more than one place and to back it up regularly to ensure you don't lose any of it.
How we test the best external hard drives
To guarantee you're getting honest, up-to-date recommendations on the best external hard drives, here at Space.com, we keep our finger on the pulse of emerging technology to aid astronomers and skywatchers. Each hard drive or solid state drive is given merit based on many aspects, from its construction and design, to how well it functions as a hard drive and its performance in the field.
Each product we test is carefully reviewed by either our expert staff or knowledgeable freelance contributors who know their subject areas in depth. This ensures fair reviewing is backed by personal, hands-on experience with each device and is judged based on its price point, class and destined use.
With complete editorial independence, Space.com is here to ensure you get the best buying advice on external hard drives, whether you should purchase a device or not, making our buying guides and reviews reliable and transparent.
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