Storing bulk data is easy today because of external hard drives. They are available in different storage capacities and various brands. You can use this for expanding the space on your laptop or PCs and also carry it anywhere you want. Let us see some of the best external hard drives that can be bought online.
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What is The Difference Between SSD and HDD?
HDD or Hard Drive Disk store data with the use of a spinning magnetic disk. You can hear some spinning sounds when the read or write heads alter the data as needed but Solid State Device(SSD) doesn’t have any spinning parts and they make use of small gate transistors in cells. On the basis of electric pulses, the transistors flip on or off. Among the two types, the SSDs are faster and expensive as well.
Top 10 Best External Hard Drives in India
1. Toshiba Canvio Basics External Hard Drive
This is a compact hard disk with a matte finish and a sleek design. Using it is quite easy as you just need to plug and play.
Features:
- Model: HDTB420AK3AA
- Dimensions: 7.8 x 10.9 x 1.4 cm
- Weight: 149 Grams
- Storage: 2 TB
- Hardware Interface: USB, USB 3.0, USB 2.0
- Hardware Platform: Mac and Windows
- Connector Type: Wired
- Color: Black
- Warranty: 3 Years
Rating: 4.2/5
2. Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch External Hard Drive
This hard drive comes with a stylish design of the tone-on-tone fabric. It lets you manage data like photos, videos, movies, and others with hardware encrypted password protection (256-bit AES hardware encryption). You just need to plug and play it.
Features:
- Model: STHH2000300
- Dimensions: 11.5 x 7.8 x 1.2 cm
- Weight: 151 Grams
- Storage: 2 TB
- Hard Drive Interface: USB 2.0/3.0
- Hardware Platform: Mac and Windows
- Color: Black
- Warranty: 3 Years
Rating: 4.1/5
3. Buffalo Portable Hard Drive
This is a high performance external hard drive that offers the fastest portable storage. It is suitable for individuals in creative fields and for those who are multimedia enthusiasts. It has universal connectivity along with USB 3.0 port also.
Features:
- Model: HD-PA1.0TU3
- Dimensions: 2.31 x 8.05 x 13 cm
- Weight: 263.08 Grams
- Storage: 1 TB
- Color: White
Rating: 4.4/5
4. ADATA Portable External Hard Drive
This external hard disk comes in a unique design and amazing performance. It has distinctly symmetrical sloping edges with RGB strips of light beam shape, imparting a rich and elegant look.
Features:
- Series: External hard drive
- Model Number: AHD770G-2TU32G1-CBK
- Dimensions: 19 x 13.1 x 4.2 cm
- Weight: 340 Grams
- Storage: 1 TB
- Hard Drive Interface: USB 3.0
- Hardware Platform: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 and Mac OS X 10.6 or later, Linux Kernel 2.6 or later.
- Color: Black
- Warranty: 3 Years
Rating: 4.3/5
5. Samsung Portable SSD
This is a lightweight and compact hard disk with a classy look. You can make use of the optional password protection and AES 256 bit hardware encryption for this.
Features:
- Model: MU-PA500B/WW
- Dimensions: 5.73 x 1.05 x 7.4 cm
- Weight: 51 Grams
- Storage: 500 GB
- Hard Drive Interface: USB 1.1
- Connector: Wired
- Color: Blue
- Warranty: 3 Years
Rating: 3.8/8
6. WD My Passport External Hard Drive
This is a stylish hard drive with an innovative style and metallic case. It has been formatted for use with the Windows 10 system.
Features:
- Model: WDBFTM0040BSL-WESN
- Dimensions: 11 x 8.15 x 2.11 cm
- Weight: 231.33 Grams
- Storage: 4 TB
- Hardware Interface: USB-C, USB 3.0
- Color: Silver
Rating: 3.7/ 5
7. LaCie External Hard Drive
It is a simple, portable, and sturdy hard disk that works well with Mac and Windows. There is one-month membership provided with the device for Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps plan.
Features:
- Model: STHY2000800
- Dimension: 1.2 x 7.8 x 11.5 cm
- Weight: 249 Grams
- Hard Drive Interface: USB 2.0 and 3.0
- Hardware Platform: Mac and Windows
- Data Transfer Rate: 130 MB/s
- Storage: 2 TB
- Warranty: 2 Years
- Color: Silver
Rating: 4.3/5
8. Transcend External Hard Drive
This portable hard disk has a durable rubber outer case. The advanced hard drive suspension system is quite advanced. Its slimness makes it easy to carry.
Features:
- Series: StoreJet
- Model Number: TS1TSJ25M3S
- Dimensions: 12.95 x 8.23 x 1.88 cm
- Weight: 226.8 Grams
- Storage: 2 TB
- Hard Drive Interface: USB 3.0
- Color: Grey
Rating: 4.2/5
9. Western Digital Elements Portable External Hard Drive
This is a compact hard drive with superb performance. It has been formatted to run on Windows. You can transfer files to this external hard drive for freeing up space on your PC to make it faster.
Features:
- Model: WDBU6Y0015BBK-WESN
- Dimension: 11.1 x 8.24 x 2.1 cm
- Weight: 130 Grams
- Storage: 6 storage options available (1, 1.5, 2,3,4,5 TB)
- Hardware Interface: USB 2.0 and 3.0
- Hardware Platform: Unix, PC, Mac
- Data Transfer Rate: 2.5 GB/s
- Color: Black
- Warranty: 2 Years
Rating: 4.1/5
10. Adata Portable External Hard Drive
This hard drive has a sturdy and reliable built. It has a smart design in which the USB cable can be easily tucked around the exterior slot for better storage. Along with this, it has faster data transfer rates making it a great device.
Features:
- Series: DashDrive Durable HD710
- Model Number: AHD710-1TU3-CBK
- Dimension: 13.21 x 9.91 x 2.16 cm
- Weight: 222.26 Grams
- Hard Drive Interface: USB 2.0/3.0
- Storage: 1 TB
- Hard Platform: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7,8,8.1,10, and Mac OS X 10.6 or later, Linux Kernel 2.6 or later.
- Color: Black
- Warranty: 3 Years
Rating: 4.4/5
External Hard Drive Buying Guide – How to Choose an External Hard Drive?
Some tips to follow while purchasing an external hard drive are as follows:
1. Storage:
Higher storage is needed when you want to back up your movies, complete OS, music, and other files. It is better to opt for at least 500 GB storage, though there are capacities as much as 8 TB.
2. Speed:
When a hard drive has higher RPM, the rate of data transfer will be more. This speed ranges from 5000 RPM to -15000 RPM. Another factor on which data transfer speed depends is the type of ports. Most were available with USB drives but today these have been upgraded to USB 2.0 which has a data transfer speed of 480 Mbps and USB 3.0 with a maximum speed of 5 GBPS.
3. Network-Attached Storage:
It is also known as cloud storage drives. Such devices are attached to a network router instead of just plugging into the laptop or PC directly. In such hard drives, all the devices that are linked to the network can store data and they are accessible over the internet.
There are certain NAS drives that support DLNA and let you share additional hard drives on the network. DLNA support implies that you can use any device in the network for streaming photos, music, and movies.
4. Hard Drives for Gaming:
Speed is an important factor in this case. Make sure to get one with USB 3.1 or 3.2 if you are a gamer. Some gaming consoles run better even with USB-C. Make sure the device has an auto-backup feature along with universal compatibility. Military-grade protection and inbuilt storage for cables are some other features that you can look for.
5. Other Features:
In some hard drives, utility software is bundled, such as online backup, remote backup, and software for password protection and others. Besides this, you need to see if the product comes with a good warranty period so that in case of any issue, that will be covered without any extra expense from your pocket.
Among the wide range of options available for external hard drives, you can get the best deal by following our buying guide and reviews.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
USB cable is used for powering hard drives but certain models need an additional source of power. There is one power input port in the casing and another port for transferring data.
Some hard drives are portable but the form factor is thicker in some cases and slimmer in some other. So depending on your taste and preference, you can get one.
You can encrypt the data stored in a hard drive by using some encryption software for securing the data. There are strong casing to eliminate the chances of physical tampering. Some devices have a secondary security layer embedded in the printed circuit board as they are dipped in resin which makes it difficult to physically access the chips.
No, a specific OS is used for formatting a hard drive so it may not be compatible with other OS.
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