The vast majority of external drives today are USB drives. The worst value for an external hard drive is typically the lowest-capacity drive.

Regardless of the size, all T7 Shields boast USB 3.2 10Gbps implementation allowing for 10Gbps transfer speeds which gives it the edge over many other external drives on the market today. Thankfully, if you don’t need so much storage, you can simply purchase our previous best pick 1TB or 2TB versions for less.

While the 4TB model is capable of handling the largest end-user data sets, it is also a bit pricey. (Mind you, the Shield can still be secured with password protection.) Whereas the T7’s predecessor, the Samsung Touch, distinguished itself with a fingerprint reader for data security, the Shield models lean in to physical protection, with IP65 ratings against particulate matter and water spray, making them good performance drives for out in the field. Now upgraded to a 4TB capacity from the previous 1TB and 2TB versions, Samsung has continued with their excellent track record of speed and durability with their T7 drives. We’re fans of the original Samsung T7 Shield, and now we’re ever bigger fans of the follow-up, larger capacity 4TB version of the T7 Shield. Below our recommendations you’ll find additional helpful information on what you need to know to choose the best external drive for your needs. We’ve provided recommendations for everything from blazing-fast performance to budget options to portability and everything in between. Here at PCWorld we’ve tested numerous external drives and curated a list of the best external drives below. An external drive is one of the best ways to ensure you have enough storage capacity and to cover yourself in case of an emergency.

It can also be a handy way to transport your data or even transfer files between devices.Īs files get larger and you accumulate more of them, you’re all but guaranteed to continually need more storage. It’s an inexpensive and convenient way to back up your important files or store any overflow. If you don’t wish to entrust your data to a cloud service, then the best way to make sure your data isn’t lost is to save a copy onto an external drive. To protect and back up your data you’ll want to either store it on the cloud or copy it to an external drive. Chances are that you have important data that you don’t want to use on your PC.

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