It’s slim and easy to fit into the pocket of a rucksack or laptop bag, and it’ll even fit comfortably into smaller camera bags too. What we especially like about the WD Elements is the design and durability of the HDD. It’s a seriously versatile piece of hardware, and you can pick most sizes up for far less than $100, making it one of the best value HDDs out there. The Elements is compatible with PS4 and Xbox One consoles too, so can be used as a primary storage drive for game saves and installs. You can get a PC or Mac version, and it comes in all sizes from 500GB to 5TB, so there’s a size and version to suit every need. WD (Western Digital) is the leading name in portable hard drives, and the Elements is one of its most loved and trusted models. WD Elements 2TB: Best external hard drive overall If you need a huge amount of storage though, SSDs can be quite costly, so in this case you may need to look at a HDD, which are available with larger storage capacities for much lower costs.ġ.

They’re also way faster than HDDs, which means file transfers between devices will go much quicker. The lack of moving parts means that there is just less that can go wrong with them.

If you buy a cheap hard drive and it fails, you’re going to lose all your important files.įrom a reliability standpoint, SSDs really are the way to go. Reliability is probably the most important thing to look for though, as you’re going to be storing huge amounts of data on these devices. We’ve looked at the best external hard drives out there, considering a variety of factors including reliability, available storage, cost, and overall value for money. External hard drives also have the added benefit of being portable, so you can use them to transfer files between devices. You can plug them into devices like the best home computers, laptops, and even video games consoles to expand their available storage. Regardless of which type of external hard drive you choose, they’ll both serve the same role.

That’s the technical difference covered, but how does that actually affect you? In short, HDDs are cheaper while SSDs are faster. HDDs contain spinning disks which store data magnetically, while SSDs use flash memory and contain no moving parts. Both of these different types of hard drives do the same thing - they store data - but they do it in vastly different ways. The best external hard drives help you to store more photos, music, movies, and more in a convenient and portable way.Įxternal hard drives come in two types: Hard disc drives (HDDs) and Solid state drives (SSDs).

Best external hard drives mac