Best External Drive Drives 2026
Portable external drives are perfect for on-the-go backups, file transfers, and extra storage.
Samsung
External Drive
Samsung T7 Shield 1TB
1TB
USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps)
|
Portable
Read 1,050 MB/s
Write 1,000 MB/s
Premium
Samsung
External Drive
Samsung T7 Shield 2TB
2TB
USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps)
|
Portable
Read 1,050 MB/s
Write 1,000 MB/s
Premium
Samsung
External Drive
Samsung T7 Shield 4TB
4TB
USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps)
|
Portable
Read 1,050 MB/s
Write 1,000 MB/s
Premium
Western Digital
External Drive
WD My Passport 4TB
8TB+
USB 3.2 Gen1 (5Gbps)
|
Portable
Read N/A
Write N/A
Budget
Western Digital
External Drive
WD My Passport 6TB
256GB
USB 3.2 Gen1 (5Gbps)
|
Portable
Read N/A
Write N/A
Budget
Seagate
External Drive
Seagate One Touch 2TB
2TB
USB 3.2 Gen1 (5Gbps)
|
Portable
Read N/A
Write N/A
Budget
Seagate
External Drive
Seagate One Touch 5TB
256GB
USB 3.2 Gen1 (5Gbps)
|
Portable
Read N/A
Write N/A
Budget
Seagate
External Drive
Seagate Expansion 6TB
512GB
USB 3.2 Gen1 (5Gbps)
|
Desktop
Read N/A
Write N/A
Budget
Seagate
External Drive
Seagate Expansion 10TB
1TB
USB 3.2 Gen1 (5Gbps)
|
Desktop
Read N/A
Write N/A
Mid-range
Seagate
External Drive
Seagate Expansion 18TB
2TB
USB 3.2 Gen1 (5Gbps)
|
Desktop
Read N/A
Write N/A
Premium
Kingston
External Drive
Kingston XS1000 1TB
1TB
USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps)
|
Portable
Read 1,050 MB/s
Write 1,000 MB/s
Mid-range
Kingston
External Drive
Kingston XS1000 2TB
2TB
USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps)
|
Portable
Read 1,050 MB/s
Write 1,000 MB/s
Mid-range
Crucial
External Drive
Crucial X10 Pro 1TB
1TB
USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20Gbps)
|
Portable
Read 2,100 MB/s
Write 2,000 MB/s
Premium
Crucial
External Drive
Crucial X10 Pro 2TB
2TB
USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20Gbps)
|
Portable
Read 2,100 MB/s
Write 2,000 MB/s
Premium
SanDisk
External Drive
SanDisk Extreme Pro 1TB
1TB
USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20Gbps)
|
Portable
Read 2,000 MB/s
Write 2,000 MB/s
Premium
SanDisk
External Drive
SanDisk Extreme Pro 2TB
2TB
USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20Gbps)
|
Portable
Read 2,000 MB/s
Write 2,000 MB/s
Premium
SanDisk
External Drive
SanDisk Extreme Pro 4TB
4TB
USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20Gbps)
|
Portable
Read 2,000 MB/s
Write 2,000 MB/s
Premium
SanDisk
External Drive
SanDisk Extreme 1TB
1TB
USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps)
|
Portable
Read 1,050 MB/s
Write 1,000 MB/s
Mid-range
SanDisk
External Drive
SanDisk Extreme 2TB
2TB
USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps)
|
Portable
Read 1,050 MB/s
Write 1,000 MB/s
Mid-range
SanDisk
External Drive
SanDisk Extreme 4TB
4TB
USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps)
|
Portable
Read 1,050 MB/s
Write 1,000 MB/s
Premium
SanDisk
External Drive
SanDisk Desk Drive 4TB
4TB
USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps)
|
Desktop SSD
Read 1,000 MB/s
Write 950 MB/s
Mid-range
SanDisk
External Drive
SanDisk Desk Drive 8TB
1TB
USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps)
|
Desktop SSD
Read 1,000 MB/s
Write 950 MB/s
Premium