Best External hard drives 2026: 7 Compared (19 Sources)

What are the best external hard drives in 2026?

Summary

The guides we read agree on two drive lines more than on any single model. For a drive that travels, the WD My Passport is the hard drive pick at Tom's Hardware (October 2026), PCWorld (October 2026) and PC Gamer (January 2026) [src4, src1, src5]. Wirecutter picks its USB-C sibling, the WD My Passport Ultra (5TB), and ZDNET calls the Ultra its best Windows hard drive [src2, src15]. TechRadar's overall pick is the WD Elements Portable, and it names the My Passport its pick for students [src3]. For a drive that stays on a desk, PCWorld, TechRadar and PC Gamer all pick the Seagate Expansion Desktop, while Wirecutter and ZDNET pick the WD Elements desktop drive [src1, src3, src5, src2, src15].

Neither the top pick nor the value pick could be bought through our links in our latest checks: the Amazon listings we link for the WD My Passport (5TB) and the Seagate Expansion Desktop (16TB) returned no purchasable offer in our daily checks for three runs through 2026-10-13. The My Passport is still sold by its maker: WD's US store listed the 5TB in stock at $349.99 when we checked on 2026-10-14 [src18]. We could not confirm the Seagate's stock at Seagate's own store from here, so the card points to the WD Elements Desktop (8TB), Wirecutter's desktop pick at the capacity it tested [src2], as the desktop drive you can buy today: Amazon listed it new and in stock when we checked on 2026-10-14.

Prices are far above what the reviewers saw. Tom's Hardware's June 2024 review quoted $127 for the 5TB My Passport and $180 for the 6TB; WD's own US store asked $349.99 and $404.99 for them on 2026-10-14 [src6, src18]. WD's CEO told investors the company was "pretty much sold out for calendar 2026", WinBuzzer reported in February 2026 [src8]. SSDs have climbed too: PCWorld says the NAND shortage has sent SSD prices skyrocketing, and its September 2026 review puts Seagate's One Touch Portable, a 2.5-inch hard drive, at about half the current SSD price per terabyte [src1, src17]. PCWorld's verdict is that hard drives are "by far the more affordable option at the moment" for capacity [src17].

This refresh adds the WD My Passport Ultra (5TB) and the WD Elements Desktop (8TB), the capacity Wirecutter tested, as the labelled desktop you can buy today, and retires the budget pick: no current guide we read tests the Seagate Portable (2TB) or names it a budget pick, so it has left the card. Six drives left the card in all; they are listed under Important Caveats.

Top 7 Models Compared

Prices are for the capacity named in the Model column. Each is the last price our daily check observed on the linked listing, from whichever seller offered it; a dash means our latest check returned no price. The table at the top of this page shows today's price, stock and seller. Speeds are each tester's own measurement at the capacity it tested; the testers used different tools.

Best for Each Use Case

Top Pick: WD My Passport (5TB) — Check price

Tom's Hardware's current guide names the WD My Passport "The Best External Hard Drive", for its competitive price, AES 256-bit hardware encryption with password protection, solid software suite and three-year warranty; its complaints are the dated Micro-B port and that the drive slides around on a desk [src4]. Tom's Hardware reviewed this 5TB model, a 0.75-inch-thick, 210g drive, and found a shingled (SMR) hard drive inside [src13]; its 6TB review gives the 5TB's results as 109 MB/s reads and 85 MB/s writes [src6]. PCWorld's best portable hard drive is the same drive line, sold as the "WD My Passport, Works with USB-C": PCWorld says it "has the best combination of price, capacity, and performance in its class" and performs on par with the best 2.5-inch drives it has tested [src1, src12]. PC Gamer's best overall external HDD is the 4TB My Passport, for cheap bulk storage, automated backups and no need for external power [src5], and TechRadar names the My Passport its pick for students [src3]. WD's US store listed the 5TB in stock at $349.99 when we checked on 2026-10-14 [src18]; the Amazon listing we link returned no purchasable offer in our daily checks for three runs through 2026-10-13.

Best Value: Seagate Expansion Desktop (16TB) — Check price

PCWorld's best desktop hard drive: "Users looking for the most capacity for the least amount of cash, should definitely be checking out the 3.5-inch Seagate Expansion Desktop" [src1]. Its 16TB test unit read and wrote at close to 280MBps, twice the sustained rate of an average 2.5-inch external drive, and PCWorld's review found the 12TB and 16TB capacities the sweet spot for price per terabyte in June 2024 [src1, src7]. TechRadar's best high-capacity drive is the same Expansion desktop line: "the best-performing HDD I tested, and it's not close", at 242.0 MB/s read and 237.0 MB/s write, with the lowest price per terabyte of the drives it tested — though its high price pulls down TechRadar's value score [src3]. PC Gamer's large-capacity pick is the 8TB, for which it lists 146 MB/s read and 168 MB/s write [src5]. The drive has a Micro-B port and needs its AC adapter [src7]. Wirecutter dissents: its Seagate Expansion had the slowest small-file speeds of the desktop drives it tested and disconnected itself mid-test without reconnecting, and it picks the WD Elements instead [src2]. The Amazon listing we link returned no purchasable offer in our daily checks for three runs through 2026-10-13, and we could not confirm stock at Seagate's own store from here; if you need a desktop drive today, see the WD Elements Desktop (8TB) below.

Best with a USB-C Port: WD My Passport Ultra (5TB) — Check price

Wirecutter's best portable hard drive: "This 5 TB drive gives most people the best balance of price, speed, capacity, portability, and usability." It has a USB-C port on the drive, which Wirecutter says is more durable and easier to plug in than Micro-B, ships with a USB-C cable and a USB-A adapter, and carries a three-year warranty. It comes formatted for Windows; Mac users reformat it or buy the Mac version. Wirecutter's caveat is that it is slower than competing hard drives at transferring files [src2]. TechRadar picks the Mac version as its best external hard drive for Mac, measured 114.0 MB/s read and 109.0 MB/s write — about the same as the WD Elements — and notes its overall score was the lowest of the drives it tested [src3]. ZDNET calls it its best Windows hard drive overall [src15]. PCWorld says the Ultra is no faster than the My Passport, Works with USB-C, and costs a bit more [src1]. WD's US store showed the 5TB in blue out of stock at $359.99 when we checked on 2026-10-14 [src19].

Best Desktop You Can Buy Today (Checked 2026-10-14): WD Elements Desktop (8TB) — Check price

Wirecutter's best desktop hard drive. It tested this 8TB model, which read and wrote sequential files at about 240 MB/s in CrystalDiskMark, "about twice the speed of the WD My Passport and other portable drives"; the line runs from 4TB to 26TB. It has a Micro-B port, needs a power outlet and has a two-year warranty, a year shorter than the My Passport's [src2]. ZDNET also lists the Elements desktop as its pick for data hogs, but did not test it [src15]. Amazon listed the 8TB new and in stock when we checked on 2026-10-14. It is here as the labelled desktop pick you can buy today, not a re-ranking: the Seagate Expansion Desktop (16TB) stays the value pick.

Largest Portable: WD My Passport, Works with USB-C (6TB) — Check price

A 6TB My Passport sold as the "Works with USB-C" bundle, the version PCWorld tested. Despite the name, the drive has a Micro-B port: "Works with USB-C" means a USB-C adapter for the bundled Micro-B to USB-A cable [src12]. PCWorld's guide says 2.5-inch hard drives top out at 6TB [src1]. Tom's Hardware's 6TB My Passport is 0.81 inches thick against the 5TB's 0.75, read at 123 MB/s and wrote at 114 MB/s in its synthetic test, and averaged 112.5 MB/s over a 30-minute write [src6]. TechRadar's 6TB review measured 113.94MB/s read and 111.71MB/s write in CrystalDiskMark and notes the bundled Acronis True Image and 256-bit AES encryption [src14]. ZDNET lists the WD 6TB My Passport as its best portable alternative [src15]. Tom's Hardware's advice is to ask whether you really need the extra terabyte before paying for it [src4].

Rugged Portable: LaCie Rugged Mini (5TB) — Check price

TechRadar's best rugged external hard drive: LaCie rates it for a four-foot (1.2m) drop and to survive being run over by a 1-ton car, it has a three-year warranty, and TechRadar measured 138.0 MB/s read and 93.0 MB/s write. TechRadar's complaint is the price: it is "pretty expensive compared to many other 5TB drives" [src3]. No other guide we read picks the Rugged Mini.

TechRadar's Overall Pick: WD Elements Portable (2TB) — Check price

TechRadar calls the WD Elements portable "easily the best external hard drive for most people": never the best in any one category, but consistently in its top three, with a fantastic price per terabyte. It measured 114.0 MB/s read and 109.0 MB/s write, and it has only a two-year warranty [src3]. No other guide we read picks it.

Key Market Trends (2026)

• Prices are far above review-time prices: Tom's Hardware's June 2024 review quoted $127 for the 5TB WD My Passport and $180 for the 6TB; WD's own US store asked $349.99 and $404.99 for them on 2026-10-14 [src6, src18].
• Hard drive supply is committed to cloud customers: WD's CEO told investors the company was "pretty much sold out for calendar 2026", and WD has long-term agreements with large customers for 2027 and 2028 [src8, src10]. WinBuzzer reports that 89% of WD's revenue now comes from cloud customers and 5% from consumer retail [src8]. HDD contract prices rose about 4% quarter on quarter in Q4 2025, the sharpest rise in eight quarters, and TrendForce data has the makers running at full utilization [src9].
• The 28TB Expansion left the shelves: TechRadar found the Seagate Expansion 28TB sold out without a backorder option at Seagate, B&H Photo, Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, Micro Center and Newegg in June 2026, against a $570 retail price and about $1,000 from resellers [src10]. ServeTheHome found a 28TB Barracuda HAMR drive inside, a drive Seagate did not sell on its own, and noted the $330 external cost less than Seagate's $569 internal 28TB HAMR drive [src11].
• SSDs are no cheaper alternative: PCWorld says the global NAND shortage has sent SSD prices skyrocketing, and its 2026-09-25 review puts Seagate's One Touch Portable hard drive at about half the current SSD price per terabyte [src1, src17].
• USB-C on hard drives is a convenience: the WD My Passport "Works with USB-C" is a Micro-B drive with an adapter, the WD My Passport Ultra has a real USB-C port, and PCWorld says even 5Gbps USB carries more than the roughly 300MBps a modern hard drive can deliver [src12, src2, src1].
• Capacity ceilings: PCWorld puts the largest 2.5-inch hard drives at 6TB, desktop 3.5-inch drives at 36TB and single SSDs at 8TB [src1].

Important Caveats

• Prices are per capacity. Price per terabyte differs between capacities of the same drive — PCWorld found the 12TB and 16TB Expansion Desktop the best value per terabyte in June 2024 — so a price for one capacity says nothing about its siblings [src7].
• Speeds are the testers' results at the capacity they tested. PCWorld cautions that a hard drive's performance can vary by capacity with the number of platters [src7], and the testers used different tools, so compare speeds within a review, not across them.
• The large My Passport drives use shingled (SMR) recording: Tom's Hardware found an SMR drive in the 5TB My Passport [src13]. Its 6TB My Passport, which it judged almost certainly SMR too, still wrote steadily, averaging 112.5 MB/s over 30 minutes [src6].
• Hard drives have moving parts. Wirecutter quotes a WD product expert: portable drives are designed for the wear of being carried, while desktop drives may be less resistant to drops and are designed to stay put [src2].
• Shucking means taking the bare drive out of an external enclosure. ServeTheHome, which shucked the Seagate Expansion 28TB, did not expect to be able to claim warranty on the drives it opened, and found Seagate's enclosures "a pain to shuck" compared with Western Digital's [src11].
• What left the card, and why. The Seagate Portable (2TB), the previous budget pick: no guide we read tests it; ZDNET lists it as an alternative for storing console game files but publishes no test results for it [src15]. The Seagate One Touch (5TB) portable: no current guide we read tests it. PCWorld's 2026-09-25 review covers a different drive, Seagate's One Touch Portable (2TB and 4TB, with a USB-C port), "the fastest 2.5-inch USB hard drive" PCWorld has tested; one review is not enough for us to list it yet [src17]. The Toshiba Canvio Advance (4TB): no current guide we read tests it; Wirecutter tested the Canvio Advance Plus, which moved files faster than its pick in its tests but has a Micro-B port and a lower maximum capacity [src2]. The WD My Book (18TB): Wirecutter's previous desktop pick, which in its more recent testing was slower across the board and took longer to run backups [src2]. The WD Elements Desktop (12TB): no outlet we read tested the 12TB; the card now lists the 8TB that Wirecutter tested [src2]. The Seagate Expansion Desktop (24TB): no outlet we read tested the 24TB. The line does come larger than the 16TB we list: PCWorld's review covers it up to 24TB, and TechRadar lists it from 4TB to 24TB [src7, src3].