The best external drives are compact solid-state drives (SSDs for short) that use flash memory and don’t have any moving parts like larger traditional hard drives, which are equipped with mechanical platters and a moving read-write head to access data.
Most of the options on CNET’s list of the best external hard drive models will work across platforms — whether you have a Windows PC, Mac computer, PlayStation or Xbox — so long as the drives are correctly formatted for the right platform. Many of them include cables or adapters to accommodate USB-C and USB-A ports. But if they don’t happen to be included, you can easily buy dongles for about $12. See the full list at CNET.com.
SanDisk Extreme Portable 1TB SSD
CNET TAKE: Western Digital, which owns SanDisk, sells its WD My Passport SSD as well this SanDisk External Portable SSD for basically the same price. We like the design of this model a little better and it’s technically ruggedized with an IP65 rating, meaning it can withstand a sustained spray of water. Also, it’s dust- and shock-resistant and has a USB-C interface.
The latest version offers speeds up to 1,050MB/s (just over 1GB per second) and is right around $100 for the 1TB version. Your speed will vary if you’re moving a mishmash of files to or from the USB drive, but when copying a single large file you should be able to get close to those fast transfer speeds.
CNET.com
