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In the world of storage, you want your hard drive to last as long as you do, and maybe longer. There are two options: solid-state drives (SSD) and hard-disk drives (HDD).
Although it won’t matter much if an SSD sits on your desk all the time, you may appreciate that it’s a featherweight compared to most traditional hard drives—especially if you have to lug it around town or to remote parts of the world. Simply put, solid state drives can withstand the rigors of travel and outdoor work. So for a variety of reasons, SSDs are superior, although also more expensive than traditional HDD storage options—but even that is changing.
If you are looking to build a computer system (including external hard drives for backup purposes), the additional cost of solid state drives is worth considering if you have your eye on the long term.
Here are the best SSD external drives of 2019:
Corsair 1TB Flash Voyager GTX 1TB USB 3.1
This little gem is fast and tough—and while most people don’t consider a “thumb drive” a full hard drive, this device has what is essentially in most larger drives. With 1TB, it can handle the bulk of your storage needs. Plus, it has a rugged zinc-alloy housing, giving it an edge over many of the plastic flash drive options you have probably held in your hand.
ADATA SD700 3D NAND 1 TB Ruggedized Water/Dust/Shock Proof External SSD
I just love the toughness of this bad boy hard drive—especially the fact that it’s square. Small thing, it might seem, but the way it fits in my hand gives me the feeling that I won’t drop it. However, as a solid state drive (SSD) it can withstand some serious shocks. At $130 and 1TB, it’s a solid value for a solid performer.
Seagate Fast SSD 500GB External Solid State Drive Portable USB-C USB 3.0
Seagate recently sent me a new gaming-specific solid state drive to test, but this one is a tried-and-true hard drive. As I have written before, I have purchased numerous Seagate hard drives and love them. They work well and I have had good luck with them on both Mac and PC. Mine are not solid state drives, however, so this one is for the crowd that needs a drive that’s fast and affordable—this 500GB model is only $88. (If that’s too small, you can jump up to the 1TB model for $162.)
LaCie Portable SSD High Performance External SSD USB-C USB 3.0 1TB
I have not mentioned specific speeds for every drive on this list, but speeds up to 540MB per second makes for fast file transfers and the ability to edit from an external hard drive directly. That can be quite useful. The LaCie exceeds expectations in this regard and its 1TB capacity will let you store hours of 4K videos and thousands of high resolution photographs.
PNY Elite 480GB USB 3.0 Portable Solid State Drive (SSD)
While this PNY Elite drive is only 480GB, it is also one of the smallest solid state drives I have found. As you can tell from the photo, it is not much bigger than two fingers, and at $126, this little gem is ideal for those who move big files into a small package. And it’s compatible with Windows and Mac.
WD 1TB My Passport SSD Portable Storage USB 3.1
I’ve mentioned Western Digital (WD) drives in other posts, but I can’t say enough good things about these drives. WD is one of the most trusted names in hard drives and although it is a bit pricier than others on this list, it comes backed by a major brand. Plus, many reviewers in the gaming and photography worlds love it.
Samsung T5 Portable SSD 1TB USB 3.1
This elegant, slim SSD from Samsung is lightning fast and comes with a three-year warranty. At $164 for the 1TB version of this drive, it is one of the most beloved external hard drives on the market.
HP P600 500GB Portable USB 3.1 External SSD
At $96 for 500GB (versus some of the other drives here with 1TB or 2TB at the same price), this high-performance drive from HP reaches up to 560MB read speeds. That’s faster than most here, plus you get the world-famous HP brand.
