Whether or not you need to again up the information in your PC, switch movies out of your Mac or offload a couple of video games out of your PlayStation 5, a transportable SSD is a fast and simple approach to broaden your storage. These little bricks might price greater than conventional onerous drives, however they’re considerably quicker, lighter and extra dependable. Determining the most effective moveable SSD for you, although, isn’t so simple as simply choosing the one with the bottom worth or essentially the most area. (Effectively, it can be, however that wouldn’t be very environment friendly.) To assist, we’ve weeded by means of the moveable SSD market, examined a bunch of contenders and sorted out which of them supply essentially the most worth. You could find our high picks beneath, plus an outline of what to know before you purchase.
Desk of contents
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Greatest exterior SSDs for 2025
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Different exterior SSDs we examined
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What to contemplate earlier than shopping for an exterior SSD
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How we take a look at exterior SSDs
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Latest updates
Greatest exterior SSDs for 2025
Different exterior SSDs we examined
The pre-built OWC Specific 1M2 is a premium-feeling USB4 SSD that’s roughly as quick because the ADATA SE920, nevertheless it’s bigger and considerably dearer as of this writing.
Should you’re within the comparatively small group with a PC that helps USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 however not Thunderbolt or USB4, the Essential X10 Professional is actually a quicker model of our high choose. The Lexar SL600 is a bigger however barely faster choice, whereas the Lexar SL500, Kingston XS2000 or Samsung T9 might additionally work in the event you see them on low cost. As a reminder, although, drives like these are aimed primarily at content material creators and different professionals, and you need to be sure you received’t improve to a tool with a quicker USB interface anytime quickly.
The Samsung T7 Protect has a conveniently rugged design with a rubberized, IP65-rated shell. It additionally comes with each USB-C and USB-A cables. Nevertheless it was persistently slower than the X9 Professional and XS1000 in our benchmark exams, plus it has a shorter three-year guarantee.
The Silicon Energy PX10 is an particularly inexpensive USB 3.2 Gen 2 mannequin. Its peak speeds weren’t too far off the X9 Professional or XS1000 in artificial benchmarks, however it may get distractingly scorching and its sustained writes are markedly worse. It took 50 seconds longer to maneuver our 70GB customized take a look at folder to this drive in comparison with the X9 Professional, for instance.
The Essential X6 is one other low-cost choice that’s a great bit slower than our high picks. It’s restricted to a three-year guarantee and lacks an IP ranking as properly. It’s not a horrible choice for the fundamentals, however there’s little motive to get it over the XS1000 when their costs are comparable.
The OWC Envoy Professional FX is well-built and helps Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.2 Gen 2, nevertheless it’s a smidge slower than the SE920 and Specific 1M2, and it’s a lot pricier than the previous.
What to contemplate earlier than shopping for an exterior SSD
Capability
The very first thing to determine earlier than shopping for a transportable SSD is simply how a lot space for storing you want. A lot of the drives we thought-about for this information can be found in capacities starting from one to 4 terabytes, although loads of smaller and bigger choices exist.
There’s no hard-and-fast rule for which measurement is “greatest” — that’ll finally rely in your price range and what precisely you’re trying to stash. However usually, it’s higher to overcompensate than underdo it. No person desires to be compelled into shopping for a second drive as a result of they stuffed the primary one up too shortly. Should you’re backing up a PC, a great rule of thumb is to purchase an exterior SSD with twice as a lot area as your pc’s inner storage. This fashion, it can save you a minimum of one full backup whereas additionally having room for added information. If you wish to retailer a bunch of PlayStation or Xbox video games with large set up sizes, you might want extra space. Should you simply need to again up a small assortment of information, you might be higher off saving your money and simply getting a smaller USB flash drive as a substitute, which aren’t fairly the identical because the exterior SSDs we examined for this information.
Worth
Basically, you get a greater price-per-gigabyte ratio the additional you go up the capability ladder. As of this writing, the 1TB Samsung T9 is priced at $130, or $0.13 per gigabyte (GB), whereas the 4TB model is offered for $297 or $0.07 per GB. That technically makes the bigger mannequin a greater “worth,” however not everybody must pay that rather more upfront.
SSDs in the identical velocity class are inclined to not fluctuate too wildly by way of efficiency, so a part of our decision-making for this information got here all the way down to which of them are sometimes the most cost effective. However costs can fluctuate over time; in the event you see that one among our high picks is priced method greater than a comparable honorable point out, be happy to get the latter. At this cut-off date, prices are broadly trending upwards.
Pace and USB interface
Nearly all exterior SSDs are considerably quicker than mechanical onerous disk drives (HDDs), so that you’ll save time ready for information to switch and video games to load it doesn’t matter what. Throughout the market, nevertheless, there are distinct efficiency tiers. These are outlined largely by the USB interface a drive helps. Whereas the entire SSDs we thought-about for this information can join over USB-C, some USB-C connections can provide quicker switch speeds than others. Sorting by means of this may get actual complicated actual quick, so we’ll attempt to put it in easy phrases.
You may basically divide at the moment’s crop of moveable SSDs into completely different segments. On the very high are drives that make the most of the (comparatively) new Thunderbolt 5 normal, which has a theoretical most switch charge of 80 gigabits per second (Gbps). (You might even see it promote speeds as much as 120 Gbps, however that increase doesn’t apply to storage units.) However moveable SSDs that assist this tech solely simply began to trickle out towards the tip of 2024, and the marketplace for units with Thunderbolt 5 ports remains to be pretty restricted, with essentially the most notable exceptions being Apple’s top-end Macs with an M4 Professional or M4 Max chip.
Thunderbolt 5 is constructed on a spec known as USB4, which may technically attain as much as 80 Gbps as properly however is extra usually out there in a taste that tops out at 40 Gbps. Transportable SSDs based mostly on that normal began to roll out towards the tip of 2023 however are nonetheless comparatively rare. The older Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4, which different high-end exterior SSDs proceed to make use of, assist the identical 40 Gbps most.
A third model of USB4, in the meantime, maxes at 20 Gbps, as does an older but extra often used normal known as USB 3.2 Gen 2×2. Beneath that’s USB 3.2 Gen 2, which maxes at 10 Gbps. Then there’s USB 3.2 Gen 1, which is capped at 5 Gbps. Lastly, we’ll bundle collectively SSDs that use older requirements and aren’t price contemplating right here.
To make this simple: For on a regular basis people, a great USB 3.2 Gen 2 drive is the candy spot between fast-enough efficiency, wide-enough compatibility and cheap-enough worth, so these make up our main suggestions above. Should you work in a artistic area or don’t thoughts paying further to shave seconds off your giant file transfers, although, a “higher-tier” mannequin would make sense. Nonetheless, be aware that precise computer systems that make the most of USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 aren’t tremendous widespread — no Mac helps it, for one — and the interface is successfully being changed by USB4.
Basically, your chain is simply as sturdy as its weakest hyperlink: In case your pc solely has USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, for instance, you would nonetheless use a Thunderbolt SSD, however you received’t get past Gen 2 speeds. Be sure you know what you’re working with before you purchase.
As a refresher, storage units are broadly measured by way of learn and write speeds. The previous refers to how lengthy it takes to entry one thing from the drive; the latter, how lengthy it takes to avoid wasting one thing to it. From there, you’ll be able to break these metrics into sequential and random efficiency. Sequential speeds are inclined to matter extra with moveable SSDs, since most individuals use them to avoid wasting or entry lengthy, fixed streams of knowledge akin to a bunch of high-res photographs. Random speeds could be vital if you wish to run video video games off the drive, since that’d contain studying and writing smaller, extra scattered information. Both method, how properly an SSD can maintain its efficiency with prolonged use can be essential.
Different efficiency elements and enclosures
A contemporary moveable SSD’s speeds aren’t nearly its USB interface, although. Its efficiency can even rely on how superior its controller is, whether or not it has a local USB flash controller or a separate bridge chip to speak with a number gadget, the type and high quality of NAND flash reminiscence it makes use of, whether or not it has a DRAM cache or it’s DRAM-less, and extra.
We’re simplifying issues, however listed below are some fast suggestions: Drives with triple-level cell (TLC) reminiscence aren’t as low cost as quad-level cell (QLC) SSDs, however they’re usually extra dependable they usually supply higher write efficiency. Having a devoted DRAM cache helps in the event you plan to hit your drive with extra intense, sustained workloads, however is probably not price the additional price for most individuals. Some fashions with native flash controllers might not carry out in addition to these with a bridging chip, relying on the SSD inside, however they usually draw much less warmth and are bodily smaller. All of that is to say that an exterior SSD’s speeds aren’t fairly as easy as what the producer chooses to promote on the field.
It’s additionally price remembering you could flip an inner SSD into a transportable resolution with a great enclosure. If in case you have a spare drive and don’t thoughts going the DIY route, this generally is a cheaper and extra versatile resolution, although we’ve caught to pre-built fashions for this information for the sake of simplicity.
Dimension, sturdiness, endurance and guarantee
Most moveable SSDs are impressively small and light-weight, in order that they received’t be troublesome to tuck in a bag (or perhaps a pocket) and tackle the go. We be aware above if any drive is bulkier than regular.
Nothing we’re speaking about issues in case your drive can’t final in the long run. It’s onerous to definitively say which exterior SSDs are essentially the most dependable, however we scoured by means of person evaluations and suggestions whereas researching this information to make sure none of our picks present a sample of catastrophic errors. If there was an excessive amount of smoke round a specific mannequin, we steered clear. We dominated out sure drives from SanDisk and Western Digital, for example, after studies from Ars Technica and The Verge famous a problem that led to information loss (and lawsuits) in 2023.
That stated, one of many massive causes you’d purchase an SSD usually is its superior sturdiness. As a result of it has no transferring mechanical components inside, an SSD has far fewer avenues to failure than an exterior onerous drive. You continue to don’t need to be careless with them, however an unintended drop shouldn’t be the tip of the world.
Some moveable SSDs construct on this inherent ruggedness with plastic or rubberized casings and extra strong waterproofing. These aren’t essential for everybody, however in the event you’re a frequent traveler or somebody who usually works outdoor, there are alternatives for you.
Nonetheless, all drives can fail. If in case you have any type of information you’d be distraught to lose, you need to again it up usually, then make a second backup, ideally with a cloud service. Alongside these protecting traces, we additionally took be aware of the guarantee coverage for every drive we examined. Nearly all of them are backed for both three or 5 years; after all, longer is healthier.
Encryption and software program
It’s not unusual to retailer delicate information on a transportable SSD, so some fashions supply further safety features like hardware-based encryption — i.e., direct scrambling of knowledge saved on the drive itself — built-in keypads and fingerprint readers to guard in opposition to unauthorized entry if the drive is misplaced or stolen. Whereas not high necessities, perks like these are actually good to have. Some SSDs additionally include companion software program to additional handle the drive. One of the best of these might be helpful to have round, however we wouldn’t name them important.
How we take a look at exterior SSDs
Sadly, we didn’t have entry to a tool that may make full use of USB 3.2 Gen 2, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 and Thunderbolt/USB4 speeds interchangeably, so we needed to break up our testing throughout a number of units, together with an M1 Professional MacBook Professional and an Alienware gaming PC operating Home windows 11. Due to this, we primarily in contrast the moveable SSDs inside every “class” in opposition to each other. Earlier than switching OSes, we reformatted every drive to every platform’s normal file system format: APFS for macOS and NTFS for Home windows.
After researching which SSDs had sufficient constructive suggestions to be price testing within the first place, we put 13 drives by means of a spread of artificial and “real-world” benchmark exams. On Home windows, these included CrystalDiskMark, PCMark 10’s Information Drive Benchmark and 3DMark’s gaming-focused Storage Benchmark. On macOS, we used AmorphousDiskMark (successfully a Mac model of CrystalDiskMark), BlackMagic Disk Pace Check and ATTO Disk Benchmark.
We additionally timed how lengthy it took for every drive to learn and write a customized 70GB folder crammed with roughly 11,500 completely different information, together with photographs, movies, music information, PDFs and different giant and small information sorts scattered throughout quite a few subfolders. We carried out a number of passes for every take a look at to keep away from irregularities, and we saved monitor of every SSD’s warmth ranges over the course of the entire suite. Our course of wasn’t an ideal science, nevertheless it gave us a common sense of how every drive compares to different fashions in its worth and efficiency vary.
Latest updates
February 2025: We’ve checked to make sure the pricing information and hyperlinks on this information are nonetheless correct. We’ve additionally added particulars on the (comparatively) new Thunderbolt 5 interface, which has been carried out in a pair current moveable SSDs just like the OWC Envoy Extremely and LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5. We’ll look to incorporate testing notes for these for our subsequent replace, as they ought to be quicker than the ADATA SE920, our present premium choose, albeit for a a lot greater worth. For now, although, our high picks stay the identical.
October 2024: We’ve taken a sweep by means of this information to make sure all pricing and availability information remains to be appropriate. Our suggestions are unchanged.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/equipment/best-portable-ssd-120043652.html?src=rss
