External SSD, External Solid State Drives

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External SSDs

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Solid state drives (SSD) are a relatively new technology, which makes SSDs more expensive than traditional mechanical hard drives. However, the prices for SSDs are continually falling year over year, almost reaching parity with their mechanical counterparts in some cases. Just a few years ago, internal SSD hard drives were so expensive that external SSD hard drives were out of the question. But today they are a reality.

External SSD vs External HDD

When it comes to the main purposes of an external drive, whether it be a mechanical drive or a solid state drive, both categories satisfy similarly. Both offer more storage space than USB flash drives. Both are portable. Both can easily back up the data from a PC or laptop.

There are two main differences between an external SSD and an external HDD. The first is performance. Just as an internal SSD outperforms an internal HDD due to how each type of drive is constructed, the same logic follows for their external counterparts. An external SSD has no moving parts, unlike the mechanical HDD, which has to wait for platters to spin up and down when reading and writing data. The second difference is reliability. Once again, because the external solid state drive has no moving parts, there is less wear and tear and fewer internal components to fail. In general, SSDs have a much higher mean time between failures (MTBF) than mechanical HDDs. Finally, since the external drive will most likely travel with the owner, there is less chance of data loss or corruption with SSDs because there are no moving parts that can be jostled during transit.

Who Should Buy an External SSD?

Anyone working with mission-critical data that needs to be transported should definitely invest in an external SSD. This doesn’t necessarily limit use cases to top-secret government operations. Influential business people who have to travel with important documents or presentations will definitely benefit from an external SSD. Even students who have to turn in an important project may want to consider one of these drives.

Additionally, people who need to work on large files in the field will appreciate the speed and performance of external SSDs. This includes video editors, production artists, music engineers, and more. Time is the only resource that cannot be replenished, and an external SSD saves professionals plenty of time when working on large files that have to be transferred back and forth from a laptop or PC.

Bestselling External SSDs Reviews:

Frederik P.

2/19/2025 10:36:54 AM

Fantastic little (big) drive.

“ I'm very happy with this drive and would recommend it. ”

Crucial X9 Pro 4TB Portable SSD - Up to 1050MB/s read and write - water and dust resistant, PC and Mac - USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive - CT4000X9PROSSD9

Jim K

2/3/2025 8:37:33 AM

Great for video files

“ This is a very compact solid state drive; fits in a shirt pocket. ”

Gigastone 500GB External SSD USB 3.2 Type C, Read Speed up to 500MB/s, 3D NAND, Ultra Slim Metal Portable Solid State Drive, for PC Laptop Mac Windows Linux Android PS4 Xbox One Smart TV

Anonymous

8/11/2024 11:10:07 PM

Amazing and impressed.

“ Especially for a high performing external SSD that I run games off. ”

Crucial X10 Pro 4TB Portable SSD - Up to 2100MB/s read, 2000MB/s write - water and dust resistant, PC and Mac - USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive - CT4000X10PROSSD9

JAMIE K.

7/18/2024 7:26:22 AM

Crucial portable x9 2TB = Portable and Speedy storage

“ Testing the Crucial 2TB drive started out fine because I tested it with the stock cable, and it did in fact reach the read speeds as advertised, easily besting most other external media. ”

Crucial X9 2TB Portable SSD - Up to 1050MB/s Read - PC and Mac, Lightweight and small - USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive - CT2000X9SSD9

Ari A.

6/29/2024 7:36:39 PM

Perfect drive for adding lots of external storage

“ This drive is less expensive than its closest competitor, is overall a good value for 2TB of storage (especially given that internal 2TB SATA drives, which you might also consider if you have a desktop, are not that much cheaper and limited to 550MB/s). ”

Crucial X9 2TB Portable SSD - Up to 1050MB/s Read - PC and Mac, Lightweight and small - USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive - CT2000X9SSD9

Robert B.

6/19/2024 1:13:02 PM

Fast Portable Storage with Unique Design

“ My 1TB portable solid state drive was running out of space, so I picked this drive up. ”

KingSpec 2TB External SSD with RGB 20Gbps Up to 2000 MB/S Portable Solid State Drive Type-C to USB 3.2

Gentry B.

6/15/2024 2:27:54 PM

Crucial X9 2TB Portable SSD

“ Many AAA games that require 100+GB installs for storage can benefit from and sometimes demand the speeds of SSDs. ”

Crucial X9 2TB Portable SSD - Up to 1050MB/s Read - PC and Mac, Lightweight and small - USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive - CT2000X9SSD9

Brian M.

6/11/2024 9:44:10 PM

Insanely fast, compact size

“ I have two other external SSD's that are still slightly larger than the Crucial X9, and my portable HDD's are not only much larger, but also weigh significantly more. ”

Crucial X9 2TB Portable SSD - Up to 1050MB/s Read - PC and Mac, Lightweight and small - USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive - CT2000X9SSD9

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External SSD vs External HDD

Who Should Buy an External SSD?

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