3 Best External Hard Drives Reviewed by Consumer Reports

A fantastic buy! It’s compact enough to carry in my hand and doesn’t get in the way! I like that I can purchase as many Games as I want, and it won’t be long until the space is filled!

 Ratings: 4.9 

I am once again astounded by how far technology has come. My previous hard drive is four times the size and potentially eight times the weight, with just half the storage… Purchased for a Mac, and it works flawlessly.

 Ratings: 4.7 

I wanted extra storage capacity because I’m a composer and my old 1TB USB 3.0 external hdd was running out of space.

So far, this drive has performed admirably on both my Windows and Mac devices. There are no problems of any type. Let’s hope it continues that way.

My two grounds of dispute are as follows:

1. When it’s operating, it’s a little noisy. I’ve had drives that were noticeably quieter when in operation.
2. The case appears to be OK, however I wish it was far more sturdy.

That being said, at the price, I’d purchase it again, and I’m thinking about getting another to second my backup since you can never be too careful!

 Ratings: 4.1 

purchased this to keep all of my PS4 games on my PlayStation 5. I’ve owned it for a few weeks and have had no problems. The PS4 games work properly, and I can reserve the inbuilt SSD storage for PS5 games.

No external power is required. I just connected it into the PS5, which immediately identified the drive, performed the Ps format, and it was good to use.

 Ratings: 4.8 

Are you an artist? Video editing? Do you require a backup or an extra working drive? Don’t fall for this.

For instance, 65 GB on a USB 3.0 Seagate Hdd takes 13 minutes. On this disk? 1 to 2 hours.

 Ratings: 1.2 

Purchased for my husband. The 4TB external hard drive worked perfectly for his PS4. He said that some of the RAM was needed for conversion, but he now has 7x the space he had before. He is really pleased with this device.

 Ratings: 4.7 

SO. SO. I’M SO EXCITED I finally bought this item. I’ve been hunting for it for my PS4 because the 500GB wasn’t cutting it any more. I had to go through the process of removing games I had already played in order to play new ones. Now that I have the room, I may choose to leave it there for a while.

The PS4 setup was SUPER EASY because it already had the formatting settings. Not only that, but the formatting procedure was speedy. It’s a huge comfort in knowing that I now have so much additional space. From 500GB to 2TB? I’d think that’s a decent jump.

Finally, the pricing is just in line with what I was hoping for. I didn’t want to spend too much money, but I also thought I wanted something excellent.

Overall, I strongly suggest it!

 Ratings: 4.7 

I got the 4TB model… I calculate I can store 35+ 4K HDR titles between the external storage device and the 1TB on the system, which will give me several months of game acquisition capabilities, plus I’ll have another USB connection if I need extra extension in the future.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR MAC USERS!! After receiving two “failed” discs, I phoned customer service to see why I couldn’t troubleshoot using any online techniques and make this to work on my Mac! Apparently, the solution was very simple, but I never saw it in any of the websites I visited. The problem with erasing/formatting on a Mac is simply due to the view you have visible in Disk Utility. Make sure you click to View > Display All Devices before “erasing” the top level drive. The issue was resolved.

 Ratings: 4.2 

This drive is good for saving files, although it has a major problem that nearly caused me to return the two that I had purchased: the USB cables that came with it.

Without being repositioned, both drives would become sluggish and lose connectivity while transferring data. I almost threw out both drives because I believed they were faulty. But before returning, I decided to check out some new cables, and I’m pleased I did. Both drives now function properly.

So, if you plan to buy this disk, you should not depend on the cable that comes with it. I recommend that you get a nice wire to go along with it.

 Ratings: 3.2 

I purchased this 2TB external drive for my PlayStation 4. My 500 GB PS4 had run out of storage space, and this gadget worked well! When I plugged in the USB drive, the system asked whether I wanted to format it to be used on the PS4. When I hit YES, it was ready for using. I was able to begin transferring stored data from the PlayStation 4 to the external drive right away.

 Ratings: 4.9 

I bought this to back up my MacBook. Despite the fact that the description did not imply anything about its use as a backup for Macs, I ended up buying it nevertheless. When I plugged it in, the MacBook formatted it and began the backup procedure. I was blown away by how quickly it backed up my PC. It’s also rather small.

 Ratings: 4.8 

I got this to backup years’ worth of images and video to a separate location in case my computer died, and for those huge video files which are too large to transfer. I am really pleased with the 1 tb model I purchased for $53. Please remember that it lacks a power source and relies only on the USB connection. When I use USB 3 on my computer, it transfers data at a rate of roughly 25 mb per second. It comes with the unique USB connector used for the Galaxy S5, but I discovered that it can also be used with a conventional micro USB cable, although at a reduced transmission rate.

 Ratings: 4.8 

So, while this isn’t the best external hard drive, it does what it claims it does: it has 2TB of storage capacity, writes at a reasonable speed, and is capable of loading game files. I did a few benchmark tests and it consistently came back in the 54th percentile, which isn’t as horrible as it sounds. I haven’t had any problems so far, but I purchased this since my laptop only has 500gb of storage and with a few games installed, I was at 85 percent memory capacity, so this was a pretty affordable repair to reduce my SSD usage to 45 percent. This option is enough if you want simple and inexpensive storage space or just require anything to retain your Steam library data without having to download and remove regularly.

 Ratings: 4.6 

The drive died after less than two months of usage, as appears to have occurred to others. The system no longer recognizes it, and it runs indefinitely without doing anything.

This drive has no redeeming qualities. It’s crudely built and seems like it came from a dollar shop. The USB cable falls out of the disk, ruining the backup.

The software is substandard and does not provide the impression that data is secure. It is basic and does not provide continuous backup.

After being unsatisfied with another brand, I tried this one, only to discover that it is much worse. Of course, the drive failed two weeks after the replacement warranty had ended.

 Ratings: 1.3