6 Best External Hard Drives in terms of speed of 2023
Speed is considered the most critical factor in external hard drives. Although you should consider the build quality, capacity, and other features, the central part is speed. In this guide, we will you the fastest external hard drives we have tested in the reviews we did, and we selected five external hard drives that were the most immediate. Of course, speed was not the only factor we considered, but it was the most important.
Before the introduction, we want to talk a little about how to test external hard drives and how results. By checking our analysis, choose the best external hard drive according to your needs.
How do we test the external hard drive?
We consider four criteria for external complex drive testing, two focusing on speed. When we transfer a 2.3 GB test folder full of movies, music, and photos, we use the CrystalDiskMark software and do a hands-on test.
Of course, before testing, we must purchase an external hard drive.
CrystalDiskMark ran the test on a 4 GB test file and ran all the tests in the program. In total, there are four tests, each of which is examined in two aspects; One is reading, and the other is writing. These tests are as follows:
- Seq Q32T1: The first test is for sequential reading and writing. As the name suggests, sequential reading and writing occur sequentially, meaning that the hard drive reads and writes information in contiguous blocks. Sequential performance usually does not represent what happens but what is often advertised for external hard drives. The “Q32T1” field refers to a queue depth of 32 with one sequence. We will talk more about it in the next test.
- 4KiB Q8T8: Other random read and write tests are based on 4KiB block size with different queue depths and sequences. In this case, the queue depth is 8, meaning eight requests are ready anytime. There are also eight sequences, suggesting that eight processes can co-occur. The results of this test are what we use to compare random reads and writes.
- 4KiB Q32T1: This is another random test, except this time CrystalDiskMark uses a queue depth of 32 with a sequence, very similar to the sequential test. This result is usually slightly slower than the Q8T8 test because fewer threads exist.
- 4KiB Q1T1: Finally, a queue depth of 1 with a sequence is used in this random test. The results of this test are worst because the drive has only one request queued and can only process one request at a time.
The different queue sizes and depths are used to get a good idea of how the hard drive performs under other conditions. The greater the depth of the queue and the number of sequences, the more the hard disk needs itself and CPU resources. For this reason, it is essential to consider the computer and hard drive when analyzing the results.
For example, a solid-state drive like the ADATA SD600 can read and write data much faster than a spinning drive like the Seagate Portable. Because of this, it can handle a more significant number of sequences during random reads and writes, as well as greater queue depth.
Comparing the two drives, we see that the Q32T1 test for the Seagate Portable was faster than the Q8T8 test, while the opposite was true for the ADATA SD600.
In this case, an SSD can handle more threads simultaneously, while a spinning drive will slow down when trying to handle multiple requests simultaneously.
However, all of the drives we tested slowed down during the Q1T1 test, and on any individual hard drive, there was only a slight difference between the Q8T8 and Q32T1 results. For this reason, we use the first random read-and-write results to compare hard drives directly.
The Fastest External hard drives in the whole world
As mentioned, SSDs are faster than spinning hard drives and claim most of the hard drives on this list. We also have several HDDs. We deliberately chose them not because they are faster than SSDs but shorter than most other hard drives.
1-Samsung T5 model external hard drive
The Samsung T5 is the fastest external hard drive we’ve tested. CrystalDiskMark surprised us with incredible results of 562.4 MB/s sequential read, 520 MB/s sequential write, 160.1 MB/s random read, and 195.7 MB/s random write.
The impressive random read and write speed shows that this drive can store data quickly.
As you can see in the table above, the Q8T8 test was better than the Q32T1 test by an acceptable margin. Based on our results, we can see that the Samsung T5 is very good at handling multiple requests simultaneously. This makes it ideal for various tasks, including video and photo editing.
Our 2.3GB test folder was transferred in just 16.08 seconds, with a transfer speed of around 145MB/s during testing. The Samsung T5 is the fastest hard drive we’ve seen in the folder transfer test, though the rest of the options on this list aren’t far behind.
There are several reasons for T5’s excellent performance. In addition to being an SSD, this drive uses USB 3.1 type C connection for data transfer.
USB 3.1 can handle twice the speed of USB 3.0, up to 10 GB/s, which gives the Samsung T5 more transfer capability.
When you first connect this external hard drive, you will see some files loaded. Double-clicking the executable file will prompt you to name and specify a password for the hard drive to enter whenever you connect the drive to a new device. Hub Drive also allows you to search for updates and turn off password protection.
Two other things set the Samsung T5 apart. First, it supports Android. And the other thing is that you can easily connect the cable that comes with it, which is USB-C on both sides, to your smartphone or tablet and access the memory.
In addition, the T5 comes in capacities up to 2TB, which is rare for external SSDs
2- SanDisk Extreme model external hard drive
The SanDisk Extreme SSD is portable and expensive but can compete with the smaller Samsung T5. The sequential reading speed of this hard drive is 564.8 MB/s, and the sequential writing speed is 503.2 MB/s.
SanDisk Extreme lags a bit in terms of random reads and writes, which is normal and reflects the performance of a hard drive in real-world conditions. The SanDisk Extreme delivered impressive results with a random read speed of 159MB/s and a random write speed of 157.2MB/s during the Q8T8 test.
Transferring the 2.3 GB folder went smoothly, and the Extreme Portable SSD copied everything in 16.61 seconds. But its transmission speed was slightly lower than Samsung T5 in the whole period; It was something like 143 MB/s. Considering that this hard drive uses USB 3.1 and SATA connection interface like Samsung T5, it can be said that the performance of both is the same.
Like the T5, this hard drive has up to 2 TB of storage space, leading to a slightly higher price. If the 2TB model isn’t for you, SanDisk also offers a portable aluminum version with a capacity of 500GB. Its aluminum version, in addition to its stylish cover, uses an NVMe connection with a maximum read speed of 1050 MB/s.
SanDisk Extreme can claim first place for its transfer speed and build quality. However, its overall features are not very impressive compared to the T5.
3- Seagate One Touch model
Now that SSD drives have become more affordable, buying an external hard drive means having maximum capacity at the lowest price without sacrificing performance.
Seagate One Touch has balanced this field well, especially in its 4 to 5-TB versions.
Like most Seagate drives, the One Touch has a good reputation, and while read and write speeds of 145MB/s and 136MB/s aren’t very acceptable by our standards, they do the job. Seagate storage and backup, Mylio Create photo management software, and a four-month membership in the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan make purchasing this hard drive even sweeter.
This hard drive has a first-generation HDD type and a USB 3.2 connection. The maximum rotation speed of the spindle is 5400 rpm.
4-Western Digital WD My Passport Ultra model
Although this external hard drive is more expensive than the old Seagate Backup Plus and WD MyPassport, the Ultra version is improved and has a few features. Measuring 82 x 110mm, this model is a very compact device and, like the cheaper My Passport, it’s noise-free (although if you buy the 4TB or 5TB drives of this model, they’re a little bigger).
There is a compelling reason to use this hard drive: USB Type C support. The industry comes with a cable and a USB-C to USB-A adapter for laptops and computers that don’t have the newer, smaller socket. The read and write times are 134 MB/s and 126 MB/s, respectively, which is enough for regular users.
My WD Passport Ultra has both HDD and first-generation USB 3.2 connectivity. Its spindle speed is 5400 rpm.
5-Toshiba model Toshiba Canvio Basics
Honestly, Toshiba Canvio Basics have nothing to do with anything on this list. But considering the build quality, price, and features, this model can be introduced as a cheap external HDD.
Of course, Canvio Basics are fast compared to other HDDs. CrystalDiskMark recorded this hard drive’s sequential read speeds of 147.3 MB/s, sequential writes of 154.1 MB/s, random reads of 0.51 MB/s, and random writes of 4.73 MB/s.
Although these results are nothing compared to the above SSDs, they are significant compared to portable spinning disks. The development of the transfer test of the 2.3 GB folder of this hard drive was also impressive. Canvio Basics did not lack SSDs during the trial; its transfer time was 16.6 seconds.
Toshiba’s Canvio Basics are like Seagate’s Backup Plus Portable SSD. However, Toshiba’s Canvio Basics is better. Although this hard drive is cheap, compared to other disks in this list, the speed of random and sequential reading and writing is not wrong.
Maybe the transfer speed of this model is much lower than its SSD counterparts, but considering that you can get a 2 TB drive similar to Samsung T5 or SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD for about a quarter of the price, this problem can be ignored.
Although this external hard drive is generally not cheaper than Seagate Backup Plus Portable or Seagate Portable, of course, depending on the capacity you buy, Canvio Basics can be more or less expensive than its Seagate-branded competitors, which charge per gigabyte.
Conclusion
Regarding speed, features, build quality, and support, Samsung T5 is ahead of other hard drives in this list. But if we want to measure only speed, this model should give way to SSD SanDisk Extreme Portable and G-Technology G-Drive Mobile SSD.
Although there are minor differences between these five external hard drives, their performance is so close that we can consider them as one. However, if you’re looking for an affordable option, the Western Digital My Book and Toshiba Canvio Basics are good drives.
