Although more expensive, Solid State Drives offer faster, more reliable storage than traditional hard drives. They also provide more portability and durability over HDDs which are prone to damage easily. Because SSDs are expensive to make, most laptops you buy now a days don’t offer much in terms of storage capacity. So users with lots of data have to rely on external drives.
Thanks to their super fast performance, potability and reliability, SSDs make great companions for such users. If you too are looking for an external Solid State Drive, this list will help you choose one that’s fast, affordable, reliable and provides value for money.
Samsung T7
The South Korean technology giant became the first manufacturer to ship the world’s largest-capacity SSD with 16TB storage in 2016. It’s a reputed brand not only when it comes to smartphones but storage, too.
Samsung’s T7 range of portable SSDs offer blazing-fast data transfer speeds. With USB 3.2 Gen2 interface, the new T7 models provide read speed of 1050 MB/s and write speed of 1000 MB/s. This high data transfer speed comes in a sleek and portable build – roughly the size of a credit card – and weighs mere 58 grams.
Its shock-resistant solid aluminum unibody build withstands drops up to 6ft. Thanks to Dynamic Thermal Guard technology, Samsung S7 SSD drives are protected from overheating. If the drive becomes too hot, DTG automatically slows down transfer speed.
Extremely portable and durable build, lightweight and superfast data transfer speeds – Samsung T7 SSDs have everything you would look for in external storage. It’s also reasonably priced – costing $79.99 for 500GB, $159.00 for 1TB and $249.99 for 2TB variants.
Checkout Samsung T7 portable SSDs
Seagate BarraCuda
At GizmoGIGA, we trust Seagate when it comes to reliability. The company might not be offering cheapest storage always but it’s certainly the name comes first in mind when we talk reliability.
Seagate’s BarraCuda portable SSDs run on USB 3.0 interface to provide transfer speed of 540MB/s. Its minimalist and portable design is shock-resistant. To take BarraCuda’s sleek looks a step further, Seagate has equipped it with gorgeous green LED accent light that will surely attract a few stares.
Thanks to its attractive looks and excellent performance, gamers will love BarraCuda SSD to use it as external storage for their console. That being said, it’s worth mentioning that it will work with all other devices, too.
Seagate BarraCuda SSD is priced $109.99, $149.99 and $279.99 for 500GB, 1TB and 2TB models, respectively. It’s backed by Seagate’s 3-year warranty – a company we like for its wonderful customer support.
View Seagate BarraCuda SSDs on Amazon
SanDisk Extreme V2
From a well-reputed brand comes second version of Extreme SSDs. SanDisk’s Extreme is a portable SSD that’s not only small in size, it’s tough, too. Its solid build allows Extreme SSDs to take a drop from up to two meters. With IP55 water and dust resistance, Extreme goes a step further to offer a durable build.
With data read speed of 1050MB/s and write speed of 1000MB/s, SanDisk’s Extreme offers blazing-fast storage in a portable form factor. Thanks to a 5-year warranty, you can rest assured for long if your SSD decides not to work anymore.
With its sleek and portable build, users always on the move will love Extreme. Its durable build – and the carabiner loop that will let you ‘loop’ the drive to your belt, bag, key chain etc. – will be appreciated by users often working in challenging conditions.
The 500GB model of SanDisk Extreme V2 costs $94.99, followed by $159.99 for 1TB. At its price, Extreme offers great value for money combined with speed, portability and durability.
Buy SanDisk Extreme V2 on Amazon
Western Digital My Passport
A list of best storage would be incomplete without mentioning a Western Digital product. Western Digital, which bought SanDisk in 2016 is probably the toughest competitor to Seagate. The company – known in short as WD – is know for affordable and reliable storage and its My Passport brand of portable SSDs serves as an example of that.
Powered by NVMe technology, WD My Passport SSDs feature blazing-fast read speed of 1050MB/s and write speed of 1000MB/s. Its metal build offers shock and vibration resistance and can resist a drop up to 1.9 meters.
Along with fast data transfer and durable build, WD My Passport offers great portability, too. Measuring just 3.94-inch tall and 2.17-inch wide, this WD SSD weighs 1.68 ounce (47.62 grams). It can be easily slipped in a pocket or carried in a side bag making it an ideal storage companion for users on the move.
Backed by a 5-year Western Digital warranty, My Passport makes a great SSD for those looking for speed and reliability at a reasonable price tag. It costs $89.99 for 500GB, $159.99 for 1TB and $289.99 for 2TB storage.
RAVPower Pro
Let us end this list with probably the sexiest external SSD you would find. RAVPower’s Pro SSD takes SSD design to another level with its stylish zinc-aluminum alloy casing with piano-baked finish. Not only it looks gorgeous, it’s also very small, barely bigger than a pen drive.
Of course, an SSD that ‘looks’ gorgeous is not enough. It has to perform and RAVPower Pro doesn’t disappoint. It’s an M.2 SATA SSD featuring data trasnfer speeds of 540MB/s. For a palm-sized SSD, that’s a great speed you can achieve. It’s metal finish makes it more resistance to occasional drops and it deals with heat well.
RAVPower Pro is for everyone looking for an extremely portable and durable SSD that looks stylish and provides fast data transfers. We love it for its gorgeous looks, small size and speed that comes at a reasonable price tag. RAVPower Pro 1TB SSD costs $149.99 that’s in line with other options mentioned here.
Buy RAVPower Pro SSD from Amazon
Best External SSDs: Summing Up
With sleek looks, super fast data transfer speeds, great portability, reliability and durability, these are some of the best external SSDs you can find. All Solid State Drives mentioned here perform extremely well and offer great value for money.
These SSDs will help you expand storage for your laptop or desktop computer. You can also use them to load your console games or to boot operating systems.
Remember that data transfer speeds depend on different factors including cables, devices they are connected to, operating conditions etc. You shouldn’t always expect the speeds mentioned in tech specs.
There are plenty of other external SSDs available. So make sure to check them out if none of the SSDs mentioned here caught your attention.
