Solid State Drives, or SSDs as they’re more commonly known, can be pretty significant game-changers if you’re not used to them. It’s one thing if you can fit one to your computer or laptop internally, but they’re just as useful as external drives.
They effectively wave goodbye to the sad old days of sitting around waiting for backups and file transfers that might take hours and hours at the best of times, speeding up transfers massively and also generally shrinking down the drive’s size by a good margin, too. There’s some variation in the size of external SSD on the market, of course, but we feel that 1 Terabyte is often a safe place for people to land.
That amount gives you loads of room for data, videos and photos, but is also an amount that people might actually use, rather than a yawning chasm of space that’s never actually going to be filled. That’s why we’ve gathered together the very best 1TB SSDs on the market for you, right here.
Our pick of the best 1TB drives to buy today
Samsung T7 Touch
Samsung’s latest external drives are something special, with really impressive transfer speeds that can top out at more than 1GB/s, but what we love most about it is that new fingerprint reader. Biometric security is something we’re all used to with our phones, but it makes perfect sense to use it as a buffer around potentially precious data.
That it also has a nice, small size to make it super portable, and connectivity and compatibility with Macs and PCs makes it as useful as you’d hope, and a sure thing as our favoured 1TB SSD of choice, with other sizes also available.
ADATA SE800 External Solid State Drive
ADATA’s drive is nice and small, with a clean brushed-metal look, which instantly scores it points in our books, but also packs really impressive durability given that it undercuts Samsung’s T7 by a good margin on the price front. It’s rated with weatherproofing that means you’re not in any danger if it falls into a puddle or gets left out in the rain – peace of mind that means a lot for stored data.
Like the Samsung, it’s got USB 3.2 ports to ensure it can hit speeds of up to 1GB/s, so you’ll not find it lacking on the transferring side of things, so if you’re looking for a slightly less expensive option it’s absolutely worth picking up.
Sandisk Extreme Portable SSD
While the nature of an external SSD means it’s unlikely to be hugely heavy and bulky, especially at the 1TB size, there’s still something to be said for a drive that’s expressly designed around portability. That’s where Sandisk’s drive excels – it’s got water and dust resistance, though not to a high degree, and is extremely light and has a useful hook for fastening or carrying.
On top of that, you get the requisite excellent read and write speeds, meaning that transfers can hit up to 550MB/s, which is a little slow for this list, although still easily fast enough to have most people satisfied – in fact, it’s a level that was industry-leading until the most recent generation of SSDs arrived.
Gtech G-Drive Mobile SSD
With transfer speeds of up to 560MB/s, this Gtech drive is another that’s no longer going to win prizes for its speed, but we’re still pretty convinced it’ll exceed most people’s expectations, especially if they’re moving from the world of HDDs.
However, it’s probably the most rugged drive we’ve got on the list, with shock-absorbing rubber buffers around its body to make sure that it’s safe from drops and bumps. That makes it slightly on the bulky side, too, but if you’re looking for a drive that can take some wear and tear while still working perfectly out in the wild, this could be the one for you.
Samsung X5 Thunderbolt3
Now, it might be frankly off-putting when it comes to price, but we wanted to include another option from Samsung to ensure that if you’re looking for the best speed, at whatever cost, you’ve got something to aspire to. With an astonishing maximum transfer speed of 2.8GB/s, this is as fast as fast gets, and will have you reading and writing so quickly you’ll blink and it’ll be done.
That translates to a premium cost, and it’s also a fairly heavy and chunky drive, but if you’re looking for raw speed and have money to spend, look no further.