ElectronicsDiskPortable

What are the best 1TB portable hard drives?

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Seagate Backup Plus Slim vs Seagate Backup Plus Portable vs WD My Passport

 vs Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Slim vs Transcend ESD350c

Specs

Weight

5.6 ounces

Size

4.47 x 2.99 x 0.48 inches

Write Speed

-

Read Speed

-

Ports

-

Height

-

Length

-

Width

-

Rotation speed

-

Weight

8.6 ounces

Size

4.51x3.07x0.81 inches

Write Speed

93.5MB/s

Read Speed

100MB/s

Ports

-

Height

-

Length

-

Width

-

Rotation speed

-

Weight

-

Size

-

Write Speed

-

Read Speed

-

Ports

-

Height

-

Length

-

Width

-

Rotation speed

-

Weight

4.3 ounces

Size

-

Write Speed

-

Read Speed

-

Ports

USB 3.0

Height

0.37 inches

Length

4.46 inches

Width

2.99 inches

Rotation speed

5400 rpm

Weight

3 ounces

Size

3.8 x 2.1 x 0.5 inches

Write Speed

-

Read Speed

-

Ports

-

Height

-

Length

-

Width

-

Rotation speed

-

Pros + Cons

Pro
 Comes with a very helpful and useful software dashboard that lets you instantly backup all your data and files

The Backup Plus Slim comes with a very user-friendly software dashboard called the Seagate Dashboard which lets you back up your PC, mobile devices, and social media, or restore an existing backup.
Comment

Pro
 Very reliable

One of the most important things to keep in mind when picking a hard drive, or any kind of storage hardware for that matter is reliability. The Seagate Backup Plus Slim recorded 587 failure reports out of 8,948 user reviews, giving the Slim a 6.5 percent reported failure rate. This is quite good for a portable hard drive since 10 percent failure rate is the threshold for a reliable hard drive.
Comment

Pro
 Very portable

The Seagate Backup Slim, true to its name is one of the slimmest and most portable hard drives on the market. It's less than half an inch thick (0.48inch), it weighs just 5.6 ounces, and it's 4.47 inches long and 2.99 inches wide which makes it easy to just throw into a bag pocket when you are on the go.
Comment

Pro
 Has a mobile app that backs up all your data on your smartphone

Seagate has a mobile app called The Seagate Mobile Backup app available for both iOS and Android that backs up your contacts, messages, photos, and other data from your smartphone to your hard drive via Wi-Fi or your phone’s data connection to a drive that is plugged into a computer running the Dashboard software.
Comment

Pro
 The case can take some physical abuse without being damaged

The Seagate Backup Plus Slim has a hard and sturdy case that does not flex or creak under pressure. It's also durable to scratches from keys or other hard objects.
Comment

Con
 The USB port is prone to breaking if you are not careful

The USB port wobbles up and down when you apply even a little bit of pressure to the USB cable and for this reason you must make sure to leave the hard drive unplugged when transporting it since it's quite easy to break the port accidentally.
Comment

Con
 You need to use an encryption software to encrypt your files

Does not have hardware encryption built-in. You'll have to use an encryption software if you want to encrypt the files you have stored in this hard drive.
Comment

Pro
 Great performance for the price

The Backup Plus Portable has great performance for the price. According to the HD Tune benchmark, it has results of 100.6 MB/s read and 93.5 MB/s write, making it the fastest portable hard drive for this price range, especially for single-file transfers.
Comment

Con
 Can slide off an uneven desk

The hard drive can slide off any surfaces that aren't quite flat because of its smooth surfaces. You might want to make sure your desk is level, or use some felt pads, or put it on a surface that won't slide (for example a mouse pad).
Comment

Pro
 Has a mobile app that backs up all your data on your smartphone

Seagate has a mobile app called The Seagate Mobile Backup app available for both iOS and Android that backs up your contacts, messages, photos, and other data from your smartphone to your hard drive via Wi-Fi or your phone’s data connection to a drive that is plugged into a computer running the Dashboard software.
Comment

Pro
 Comes with a very helpful and useful software dashboard that lets you instantly backup all your data and files

The Backup Plus Portable comes with a very user-friendly software dashboard called the Seagate Dashboard which lets you back up your PC, mobile devices, and social media, or restore an existing backup.
Comment

Con
 Not the most portable hard drive out there

Measuring 4.51 by 3.07 by 0.81 inches and weighing 8.6 ounces, this hard drive is a bit on the bulkier side. It's twice as thick and heavy as the Seagate Backup Plus Slim for example.
Comment

Pro
 Very portable

At 0.54lbs, it's quite portable and easy to just throw into a bag and carry around.
Comment

Con
 Relatively slow for single-file transfers

Even though it has a 201.8MB/s write speed, according to benchmarks it's surprisingly slow with single-file transfers compared to other portable hard drives.
Comment

Pro
 Relatively long warranty

The WD My Passport comes with a 3-year warranty.
Comment

Pro
 Large Capacity options

Models available to up to 4TB.
Comment

Pro
 Supports Mac and PC

Supports both NTFS and HFS+(needs formating).
Comment

Pro
 Has a backup software

Western Digital provides a backup application that can be downloaded from the manufacturer's site. You can use the application to create automated backups or manual on-demand backups.
Comment

Con
 Doesn't have a Thunderbolt port

If you use a Mac or a higher end Windows unit, you may have experienced the speed of Thunderbolt external devices. Thunderbolt drives are more expensive than USB drives. Though, a similar 5400 rpm drive using a Thunderbolt connection can read 1.5x faster than USB 3. But you may not care depending on your usage. It has not hurt some users, some 80% of computer users will not find any benefit to Thunderbolt.
Comment

Pro
 WD is generally more reliable than Seagate Drives

Comment

Con
 Not SSD

SSD offers faster reading and writing speed when you are saving or retrieving files. It is the main reason it is used now on almost all high-end laptops or desktops. If you use applications that require real-time disk access, saving your files to an SSD drive is the best option. If this drive was available with say 128GB ssd and the rest as an ordinary disk, it would have been a better device.
Comment

Pro
 One of the most portable hard drives on the market

As the name implies, this hard drive is extremely thin and lightweight. It weighs just 4.3 ounces and is 0.37 inch thick. This makes it one of the most portable hard drives currently on the market.
Comment

Con
 Becomes less reliable as time goes on

According to benchmarks, during the first year of the lifetime of a Backup Plus Ultra Slim, the failure rate averages at 4.2 percent. After the first year however, the failure rate skyrockets to 14.5 percent and as far as hard drive and other storage devices go, anything above 10 percent is cause for concern especially since it's after just one year of use.
Comment

Pro
 Has a mobile app that backs up all your data on your smartphone

Seagate has a mobile app called The Seagate Mobile Backup app available for both iOS and Android that backs up your contacts, messages, photos, and other data from your smartphone to your hard drive via Wi-Fi or your phone’s data connection to a drive that is plugged into a computer running the Dashboard software.
Comment

Pro
 Comes with a very helpful and useful software dashboard that lets you instantly backup all your data and files

The Backup Plus Ultra Slim comes with a very user-friendly software dashboard called the Seagate Dashboard which lets you back up your PC, mobile devices, and social media, or restore an existing backup.
Comment

Pro
 Nvme-ssd

Comment

Pro
 USB-C and USB-A cables

Comment

Pro
 Backup software

For Windows, Mac and Android.
Comment
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