Either your work involves moving large amounts of data between devices, or you simply want to back up important files and make sure they are kept safe and sound, an external drive must meet all your requirements.
Along with the numerous benefits they offer, such as reliability and ease of use, high-performance speed rates and decent storage capabilities – all collected together within a nimble and compact device – external drives also remain very affordable, implying that purchasing one should be a good idea for both owners of small businesses, and private computer users. But how to choose the option that would suit your needs the best?
Quick Shopping Tips
As you seek a portable data storage device, you’ll find there’s a myriad of various options offered in today’s global market. So, before we get to the list of the most relevant options, let’s take a quick look at why those are exactly solid-state drives that we’ll be considering in the top list.
External Hard Drive or Portable SSD? Hard disk drives (HDDs) would be perfect for those requiring large storage capacities at a lower price: from less than 50$ for a 1TB model to 4TB portable hard drive being offered for 100$ and under (while multi-terabyte external SSDs will cost several hundred dollars).
However, due to their structure, HDDs are significantly slower and much more fragile; compared to solid-state samples. At the same time, the latter is known for higher performance, reliability, and durability rates, which makes them surely worth paying extra for in case you often travel with your device or don’t need terabytes of storage.
Using a Portable Hard Drive as Your Only Backup. The entire construction of HDDs is similar to that of a gramophone: they are made up of spinning glass or metal platters and read-and-write heads, that are needles, that are reading data from its parts.
However, unlike how it works in gramophones, the needle of a hard drive never actually touches the surface; instead, it hovers above the platter due to a shallow layer of magnetic material that it’s coated with. Now, the most important thing is that contact of the needle with the surface of the platter will most likely result in data loss. So, if you are going to carry your device around, HDD a primary backup of your data would be a poor choice for you.
Get Yourself a Backup Plan. In case of data loss, a downtime could cost one’s business enormous money, which is particularly dangerous in the current difficult crisis time. When designing a disaster recovery plan, make sure to have in mind a reliable data recovery lab that could perform repairs as soon as possible.
And that’s where Salvagedata will be at your service: damaged hard drives or severe system failure, hardware malfunctioning or external drive breakage, troubled memory cards or USB-sticks — whatever is the reason your files are no more accessible, Salvagedata is able to fix the situation in a matter of hours. So, don’t hesitate to contact the lab in case of misfortune — and let the professionals do the rest!
2020’s Best Portable SSD Options
And now to the main thing: our top 3 portable data storage devices that have proven themselves in the best hand!
#1. Samsung T7 Touch
Offered in the range of storage capacities from 500GB to 2TB, this portable SSD is fantastically compact and lightweight (85 x 57 x 8mm, only 58g) and incredibly fast. It is equipped with a super-fast USB Type-C connection, and compatible with USB 3.0/2.0 in case you’ll need a Type-C.
Additionally, Samsung has replaced the SATA-based SSD found on the T5 portable drive for an NVMe SSD to make sure it is able to provide read/write speeds of up to 1050MB/s and 1000MB/s, respectively. Finally, Samsung T7 Touch supports AES 256-bit hardware encryption and features a fingerprint scanner.
#2. WD My Passport (5TB)
The dream of all professional photographers, this buddy allows us to view and transfer files over both Wi-Fi and USB connection. What sets this portable SSD apart from the other options listed here is the inclusion of an SD card slot that was designed for users to back up data from their memory cards on the go.
All in all, with password protection, solid track record, capacities of up to 5TB, and fast read speeds that are up to 390MB/s, WD’s My Passport is an excellent choice.
#3. Thunderbolt 3 External SSD NVMe Drive
Plugable’s TB3 NVMe portable SSD is surely one of the best-priced Thunderbolt 3 samples on the market so far. Its cost can be compared to noticeably slower USB-C type devices, but with an offered performance that is many times higher.
At the same time, Thunderbolt 3 is provided with the least-common external solid-state drive interface that is mainly geared toward Mac users. So, if you’re seeking a speedy and reliable portable drive for your next upgrade, this buddy should be on your very shortlist.