What is the Most Reliable External Hard Drive?
It’s nice to be able to carry your important files wherever you go. While flash drives are neat to have especially because of how portable they are, nothing beats a handy external hard drive that you can use to carry your important files anywhere. You also have to consider that plenty of laptops nowadays don’t necessarily have high storage capacities, which may require you to go on and purchased an external hard drive. But what is the most reliable external hard drive in the market today?
When it comes to speed, size, and portability, our choice for the most reliable external hard drive is the Western Digital My Passport Ultra External Hard Drive. Not only is it easy to use and quite compact, but it is also actually very refreshing to look at and comes with encryption for maximum security.
The Western Digital My Passport Ultra External Hard Drive might not have sold as many units as the other Western Digital external hard drives or that of other brands but it is as complete and as amazing as any other external hard drive out there on the market for a price that is only a bit more expensive than its peers. So, if you want to know more about this external hard drive, check out what we think about it.
What’s the best and most reliable external hard drive?
The best and most reliable external hard drive on the market today is the Western Digital My Passport Ultra External Hard Drive. The “ultra” in its name is there for a reason as it is a notch above the regular Western Digital products of the same storage capacities. But let’s try to get to more about this external hard drive so that you would understand why it is the most reliable on the market.
Design
The Western Digital My Passport Ultra already stands out on its own when it comes to its design. Unlike the usual WD external hard drives, the My Passport Ultra comes with a more refined and quite stylish metal cover that is far above the regular My Passport or the Elements lines. You’d instantly fall for it the moment you see it. It comes in metallic blue and silver colors that are quite eye-catching.
In terms of its size, the Western Digital My Passport Ultra is the same as other external hard drives in the sense that it differs in size with respect to the storage capacity. The 4GB variant measures at 4.33 x 3.21 x 0.83 inches, which isn’t really that small given that it is 4GB but it still is very portable in the sense that you can carry it inside the pocket of your jeans or your jacket. It is slightly bigger than the regular My Passport and is smaller than the Elements. Of course, you can go for the ones with the smaller capacities if you want to carry a smaller variant of the Western Digital My Passport Ultra.
Performance
Performance-wise, the Western Digital My Passport Ultra performs up to par in terms of its transfer speeds. It can reach about 130 MB/s in terms of its writing speed but usually stays somewhere close to 120 MB/s based on our tests. This means that it actually performs better than most standard external hard drives out there.
But, given the fact that it is a hard drive, its speed understandably pales in comparison to solid-state drives or SDDs. Still, that doesn’t take away the fact that it is a good performer and is right up there at the top when compared to other external hard drives. It might not be as fast as some other external hard drives but its other features more than make up for the fact that it isn’t the fastest.
The My Passport Ultra works with USB 2.0 but keep in mind that, no matter how good of a performer this external hard drive is, you will still see slower transfer speeds when you used it with a USB 2.0. That’s why you will only be able to see it perform as good as it does if you use it on a USB 3.0 or on a type-C.
Other Features, Security, and Software
One of the better forward-thinking features that the Western Digital My Passport Ultra External Hard Drive comes with is the fact that it is USB-C ready and is capable of handling the more advanced computers and laptops we have on the market today. It also comes with a USB 3.0 adapter to make sure that it stays compatible with devices and machine that still uses that older technology.
Meanwhile, when it comes to security, the My Passport Ultra performs quite well. It is often an issue for smaller external hard drives to get stolen or misplaced by the owner. When that happens, the files are compromised and there will be sensitive and personal data that can easily be stolen and used against the owner. As such, the My Passport Ultra comes with security features that are actually great.
My Passport Ultra has AES-256 hardware encryption and password protection that are both considered unbreakable. This external hard drive comes with its own WD Security app, which allows you to enter a password to make it as secure as possible because you will be asked for a password the moment you connect it to a device or a computer. You can still, however, set the option to automatically unlock with devices that you often use such as your personal laptop.
As an added security measure, you have to make sure that you remember your password at all times because there is no way for you to recover it. You’d have to reformat the entire drive and erase its files for you to reset the password.
The My Passport Ultra also comes with added utilities and apps for both Windows and Mac. One such software is the WD Discovery, which lets you download data from the cloud and your social media accounts into the external hard drive itself.
Overall
From an overall perspective, we can truly say that the Western Digital My Passport Ultra External Hard Drive is the most reliable one we have on the market today because it was not only built and designed for the future but was also developed to make sure that you are able to enjoy a secure and safe experience with your external hard drive.
But, for those who might want alternatives, the Seagate Portable External Hard Drive performs similarly. You can also go for the regular My Passport variant that lacks the added features that come with the Ultra. Or, if you want to focus more on speed, the My Passport SSD is a portable SSD that is faster and more advanced than this external hard drive.
Is SSD more reliable than HDD?
Generally speaking, the main difference between the SSD and the HDD is that the former doesn’t come with any moving parts while the latter moves with moving parts. But does that necessarily mean that SSDs are more reliable than HDDs? Not exactly because there are some parameters we need to look at in terms of reliability.
While SSDs don’t have moving parts, they generally are going to degrade in terms of their NAND flash as you use them more and more for writing or transferring files. This means that they don’t last infinitely even when all the conditions are perfect.
In comparison, HDDs are considered to have an infinite lifespan in terms of how many times they can write and read because they rely on moving parts. But the problem is that they can be prone to failure such as when there are mechanical problems within these moving parts. As such, something as simple as shaking the HDD can easily damage the moving parts that do the reading and the writing.
So, with respect to that, we cannot really say which one is the more reliable option for you. While SSDs are supposed to be faster, they don’t have the infinite lifespan that an HDD has as long as the conditions are perfect. Meanwhile, even though HDDs are much slower and bigger than SSDs, they do have the luxury of being able to read and write indefinitely in comparison to SSDs.
Which lasts longer between SSDs and HDDs?
The debate on which between SSDs and HDDs lasts longer is another great topic that can be vague especially when we don’t define the parameters of the battle between the two.
As mentioned, SSDs don’t rely on moving parts for reading and writing. This means that they are more likely to be shockproof. In fact, most external SSDs are marketed as shockproof products that can withstand rough conditions. So, in other words, if you are expecting yourself to experience rough conditions or if you believe that you would accidentally drop your external drive one of these days, then an SSD will surely last longer.
However, if we say that the conditions are perfect in the sense that you aren’t going to drop your external drive or if you are not likely to experience rough conditions, then we can say that an HDD will last longer than an SDD especially when you consider the fact that HDDs can read and write infinitely while SDDs have a limited lifespan in terms of how long they can read and write.
So, all in all, the battle between which lasts longer really depends on how you look at it. If you are often on the go such as when you are traveling, the SSD will be able to survive the bumps and bruises along the way especially because it is shockproof. However, if we simply generalize the statement as to which will last longer, then an HDD will surely be able to last indefinitely.
