The optional two-port USB hub on the front is handy for charging gadgets too. 6. Buffalo MiniStation Extreme NFC The magic of NFC Specifications Capacity: 1TB-2TB Drive: HDD Connector: USB Portable: Yes Reasons to buy Integrated cable Shock protection NFC built-in Todays best Buffalo MiniStation Extreme NFC deals 136.12 View at Amazon 162.99 View at Newegg 179.99 View at Dell See all prices (5 found) 56 Amazon customer reviews The main party trick of this compact, portable, stylish drive from Buffalo is the NFC (Near Field Communication) technology built in, which means you can unlock the contents of the drive with the swipe of the supplied smart card, with no passwords required.

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PS5 pre-orders: Reserve your PlayStation 5 These are the best laptops available today These are awesome gaming laptops And these are fantastic 2-in-1 hybrid laptops The best Black Friday deals How to choose the best external hard drive for you The good news is choosing an external hard drive neednt be particularly time-consuming task its mainly a question of capacity, which boils down to how much room you need for all your stuff, now and in the future.

After capacity, consider if you want a portable drive (powered via USB), or a fixed desktop drive (with its own power socket).

Portable drives are ultra convenient but cost more, whereas the desktop drives are cheaper and often have higher capacities.

As prices fall, SSD (solid-state drives) are becoming more popular: theyre ultra-fast much quicker than conventional mechanical drives but you will pay extra for that speed, and cant usually get as much in terms of capacity.

So, which is the best external hard drive We like all of the drives weve mentioned below, so it really depends on how much storage space you need and how much youre willing to spend to get it.

Seagate Backup Plus 4TB The best external hard drive for most people Specifications Capacity: 1TB-5TB Drive: HDD Connector: USB Portable: Yes Reasons to buy Plenty of choice Standard models not as fast as some Ultra reliable Todays Best Deals 96.69 View at Amazon 114.99 View at Dell 114.99 View at Lenovo USA See all prices (23 found) 50 Amazon customer reviews You can pick up Seagates portable drives in a host of capacities, colours, and dimensions, so head to the Seagate site for a comprehensive breakdown, but across the board youre looking at USB 3.0 speeds, Windows and Mac support, and 120 MBs or higher transfers.

There are some differences: opt for the chunkier, 4TB Fast model and you get 220 MBs transfer rates in return for a little extra bulk on the drive itself.

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If you just want simple, affordable, reliable backups (software is included), then these are great portable options.

WD Black D10 The best premium external hard drive Specifications Capacity: 8TB Drive: HDD Connector: USB Portable: No Reasons to buy Eye-catching, rugged design Lots of space Speedy and quiet in operation If youre happy to leave your drive powered up on the desktop and dont need it to be portable, then the Western Digital Black D10 has the performance and the looks that you need.

Theres only one storage option 8TB but that should be enough for you, whether youre using this with a computer or a video games console.

Its speedy and quiet even under pressure, its designed to be placed either horizontally or vertically, and you can even charge your other gadgets off it.

If youre looking for one of the best external hard drives for a desktop setup, then you cant do much better than this.

Image credit: Western Digital) 3.

WD My Passport The best budget external hard drive Specifications Capacity: 1TB-5TB Drive: HDD Connector: USB 3.2 Portable: Yes Reasons to buy Super speeds Slim design Hardware encryption Todays Best Deals 79.99 View at Lenovo USA 100.48 View at Amazon 109.99 View at Best Buy See all prices (16 found) 347 Amazon customer reviews You can always rely on Western Digital for your external hard drive needs, and the updated My Passport line gives you a pile of additional storage at a good price, and in a compact form factor.

You can even pick from black, blue and red as the outer casing colour.

You can easily connect the drive to your favourite cloud services too simple, effective, reliable hard drive storage.

Image credit: Lacie) 4.

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Lacie Mobile SSD Wireless streaming to multiple devices Specifications Capacity: 500GB-2TB Drive: SSD Connector: USB 3.1 Thunderbolt 3 Portable: Yes Reasons to buy Up to 540 MBs speeds Sleek, tidy design A month of Adobe CC free Todays Best Deals Check Amazon The Lacie Mobile SSD wraps up 500GB, 1TB or 2TB of SSD capacity in an impressively slim design.

Its ready to go on Windows or Mac right out of the box (no formatting needed), and can reach super-fast read speeds of 540 MBs (though your actual rate may be less).

Go for the very top capacity and you can store up to 200,000 high resolution photos and up to 65 hours of video, so this isnt a drive that youre going to need to replace anytime soon.

It comes with a reversible USB-C cable thatll work with USB 3.1 and Thunderbolt 3 devices.

Seagate Backup Plus Desktop A superb all-round choice Specifications Capacity: 3TB-8TB Drive: HDD Connector: USB Portable: No Reasons to buy Fast transfer speeds Plenty of choice Compact case design Todays best Seagate Backup Plus Desktop deals 99.99 View at Amazon 99.99 View at BHPhoto 114.99 View at Lenovo USA See all prices (6 found) 285 Amazon customer reviews Were also big fans of the Seagate Backup Plus models (see below) but these are the higher capacity, non-portable versions: you still get the speed and reliability that Seagates known for, but you have to find an extra power socket to plug into as well.

That extra power means more capacity and faster speeds of course, so its not all bad: transfer rates go up to 160 MBs on Windows or Mac and you can get up to 8TB of capacity here.

The optional two-port USB hub on the front is handy for charging gadgets too.

Buffalo MiniStation Extreme NFC The magic of NFC Specifications Capacity: 1TB-2TB Drive: HDD Connector: USB Portable: Yes Reasons to buy Integrated cable Shock protection NFC built-in Todays best Buffalo MiniStation Extreme NFC deals 136.12 View at Amazon 162.99 View at Newegg 179.99 View at Dell See all prices (5 found) 56 Amazon customer reviews The main party trick of this compact, portable, stylish drive from Buffalo is the NFC (Near Field Communication) technology built in, which means you can unlock the contents of the drive with the swipe of the supplied smart card, with no passwords required.

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