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A mechanism, a bridge and a case, and buyers compare the wrong one of the three

The best external hard drives for 2026

An external drive is a mechanism, a bridge chip and a case, and shoppers usually compare the wrong one of the three. What sets the speed of a desktop model is the mechanism inside, since a spinning drive cannot fill even a five-gigabit link; what sets it on a bus-powered solid-state model is the port standard at each end of the lead. Read the USB generation the maker publishes together with its rate in gigabits per second, and read the connector as a separate line, because a Type-C socket says nothing at all about the speed behind it and the cable in the box is part of what you are buying. The second division is portable against desktop. A 2.5-inch portable drive takes its power from the lead and fits a coat pocket; a 3.5-inch desktop drive wants a mains adapter, holds a great deal more, and stays where it is put. Capacity is quoted in terabytes of a thousand billion bytes, and the same drive shows a smaller figure on a machine displaying in units of 1024; this site publishes the maker's number in the maker's unit rather than recalculating it into another. Then the things that decide whether it survives a bag: the case material, any stated drop or ingress rating, and the length and type of the cable supplied. Software for scheduling copies is published by most makers, and some models describe a hardware encryption feature in their own terms. We compare capacity, portable or desktop format, USB generation and stated link rate, connector type, power source, stated dimensions and weight, cable supplied and warranty length.

The ones worth installing

  1. UnionSine HD2510 500 GB, the smallest capacity here, with read and write figures published

    500 GB · 2.5-inch portable · USB 3.0, also working on USB 2.0 · up to 120 MB/s read and 103 MB/s write · one cable in the box · three-year warranty

    A five-hundred-gigabyte portable drive that publishes read and write figures and calls them theoretical, lists what is in the box, and names neither its connector nor its measurements.

    Best for: A small pocket drive for carrying documents and photographs between machines, where the modest capacity is the point and the price reflects it.

    ≈ £28 / 36 €

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  2. Seagate 4 TB portable drive, with two of five bullets about where to buy it

    4 TB · portable · USB 3.0, backwards compatible with USB 2.0 · compatible with computers and two console families · sold exclusively through one marketplace

    A four-terabyte portable drive whose page names a generation, a compatibility list and a marketplace exclusivity twice, and that never states a connector, a measurement or a warranty.

    Best for: A console or laptop that has run out of room, where four terabytes at a low price per terabyte is the requirement and the interface details can be confirmed with the seller.

    ≈ $190 / £120 / 139 €

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  3. Intenso 1 TB portable drive, refurbished into a new case

    1 TB · 2.5-inch portable · USB 3.2 Gen 1×1 · certified refurbished, reconditioned in Germany · no cable, no connector, no measurement published

    A one-terabyte portable drive that names its USB generation precisely and states that the mechanism inside it has been reconditioned and fitted into a new case.

    Best for: A modest second copy of documents and photographs at the lowest price on the shelf, where the reconditioned mechanism is understood and accepted in advance.

    ≈ $91 / £58 / 71 €

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  4. TOSHIBA Canvio Partner 4 TB, whose generation is printed two ways

    4 TB · 2.5-inch portable · USB 3.2 in the title and USB 3.0 in the bullets · up to 5 Gbps · shock sensors named · no cable, no connector, no warranty

    A four-terabyte portable drive that publishes a link rate of five gigabits per second and gives its USB generation as 3.2 in the title and 3.0 in the bullets.

    Best for: A laptop that travels and needs four terabytes beside it, where a stated transfer ceiling matters and the socket question can be settled with the seller.

    ≈ $233 / £137 / 161 €

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  5. Verbatim Store ’n’ Go 2 TB, sold on a title and three words

    2 TB · portable · USB 3.0 · black · one bullet, which says the connection is wired · nothing else published

    A two-terabyte portable drive whose title carries the capacity, the generation and the colour, and whose only bullet states that the connection technology is wired.

    Best for: A buyer who knows this range already and wants two terabytes at a known price, rather than anyone comparing specifications across a shelf.

    ≈ £105 / 106 €

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  6. Western Digital My Passport 5 TB, the largest portable here, on a name instead of a generation

    5 TB · portable · SuperSpeed USB named without a generation · cables supplied, in the plural · password protection and scheduled copies · no rate, no measurement

    A five-terabyte portable drive that publishes password protection, scheduled copying and a Chromebook certification, and that names its interface only as SuperSpeed USB.

    Best for: A laptop whose working files need a second copy on separate hardware, made on a schedule and locked with a password, where five terabytes is the requirement.

    ≈ $285 / £166 / 167 €

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  7. XLOAZKH 2 TB portable drive whose own page explains the capacity gap

    2 TB · 2.5-inch portable · USB 3.0 · no external power needed · one cable and two adapters · metal case · capacity note printed by the maker

    A two-terabyte portable drive that states outright it needs no external power, ships with a cable and two unnamed adapters, and prints its own note about why a machine shows a different capacity.

    Best for: A second copy of a photograph library or a working archive kept away from the machine that made it, where two terabytes at a low price is the whole requirement.

    ≈ 46 €

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  8. LaCie Rugged 4 TB, USB-C, with the cable that is not in the box named too

    4 TB · portable · USB-C · USB 3.2 Gen 1 and Gen 2 and Thunderbolt 3 listed · shock, water and pressure resistance claimed · three-year warranty · one cable in, one out

    A four-terabyte portable drive that lists five interface standards it works with, names the cable in the box and the cable that is not, and publishes a three-year warranty.

    Best for: A drive that leaves the desk and goes into a bag on a site or a shoot, where the protective claims and the published warranty are the reason to pay more.

    ≈ $219 / £222 / 220 €

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Every price named in a summary was read on the date that review carries. What a shop asks today is shown beside the product, and it moves.