Hard drive, SSD, or USB flash drive: Which portable storage is right for you?

Data is omnipresent. It’s stored on different devices — traditionally on a desktop PC, but now perhaps even more importantly on a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.

Even though data and system backups are often automated via the cloud, especially on mobile devices, you often feel more comfortable if you still have a tangible medium in your hand on which to store your digital treasures.

What’s more, sometimes you just want to move data from A to B quickly and easily. Or simply be available offline. Or move it directly to a storage medium to free up internal hard drive space.

Further reading: The best external drives

There is portable storage for all purposes. But there is no one solution for all applications.

This guide summarizes the most important advantages and disadvantages of external SSDs, HDDs, and USB sticks to make it easier for you to decide on the best portable drive.

External SATA SSD: All-round storage for everyday use

Internal SSDs with a SATA connection are now outdated and less common. However, they remain justifiably popular as external drives.

The reason: With a bandwidth of 6 Gbit/s, SATA delivers a theoretical transfer speed of up to 560 MB/s read and 530 MB/s write.

These values exceed the transfer rates of the widely used external interface USB 3.2 Gen1 (formerly USB 3.0), which is up to 500 MB/s, at least in theory.

This makes external drives in 2.5-inch format still a competitive storage solution for everyday PC use.

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Advantages: In principle, the SATA drives in the external housings also have the advantages of all flash storage devices. They can read and write very quickly, especially with many small files.

And this pays off in everyday use. Low latency and short access times to small blocks of data randomly distributed on the drive are what count here. That’s why extensive programs can be started quickly from an external 2.5-inch hard drive or large photo collections can be opened without delay.

In addition to the speed, external SATA drives also benefit from the silent operation of the flash memory — as is generally the case with flash, only stationary parts are used.

In contrast to HDDs, SSDs are insensitive to shocks. Depending on the housing design, external SSDs can even withstand drops from a height of several feet without damage.

And there is another advantage of SATA SSDs that is worth mentioning: If you have removed the drive from the computer for a capacity upgrade, you can continue to use it as an external SSD without any problems.

All you need is an external housing in which to install the used drive. Inexpensive models in 2.5-inch format are available from around $10 — for example from Delock, Ugreen or Verbatim.

Further reading: Best external SSDs for gaming

At this price, the enclosures usually come with a USB 3.0 interface. If the enclosure is to be equipped with a USB Type-C port, prices start at around $20 — which is also not too high a hurdle.

Disadvantages: The SATA connection is on the decline for SSDs. At the same time, the interface is no longer being developed further. Higher transfer speeds are therefore not to be expected with SATA.

As a result, the choice of models is decreasing. An external SSD in 2.5-inch size, such as the Lexar SL200 model, costs around $90 with a capacity of 512GB and is therefore a manageable investment.

At higher capacities you will not usually find details of the flash type used. For this capacity, assume QLC (Quadruple Level Cell) flash modules, which store four bits per cell. They are intended for high capacities when maximum write speed is not important.

An example of an external 8TB SSD can be found in the Samsung Portable SSD T5 Evo. At $525, it’s not exactly a bargain. The price is put into perspective, because at around 7 cents per GB, it achieves a very fair result.

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Most mobile 2.5-inch SSDs have a capacity of 1 or 2TB. TLC (Triple Level Cell) flash memory can also be used here. It stores three bits per cell. These mobile storage devices are priced at around $70 for 1TB and $130 for 2TB. This results in prices per GB of between 6.5 and 7 cents.

External NVMe SSD: Lots of mobility and high speed

Ultra-mobile SSDs now make up the majority of external SSDs. The housings contain an NVMe drive that was originally intended for the M.2 slot.

These SSDs have a card shape — mostly 22 millimeters wide and 80 millimeters long. This is why you will also find them labelled 2280 if you are looking for an internal drive.

Further reading: Is USB or Thunderbolt better for portable SSDs? The key differences, explained

Advantages: Thanks to their compactness, many external NVMe SSDs are only slightly larger than a USB stick. This means they are very light and can fit into any bag. This is ideal if you need an external SSD for travelling.

External NVMe SSDs use USB-C as a connector throughout. It is twist-proof and therefore cannot be plugged into the port the wrong way round.

The majority of models use USB 3.2 Gen2 as the standard with a transfer speed of 10Gbit per second.

Sequentially, data rates of around 1,000MB/s can be achieved for both reading and writing. This makes them approximately twice as fast as external SATA SSDs.

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The increase in speed is noticeable with every copying process. Regardless of whether you are writing and reading many small or very large files, the work is done quickly.

This is why external NVMe SSDs are recommended both for quick file copies in between and for extensive weekly backups.

As a rule, you can use external NVMe SSDs across all devices. This is because most of them are formatted in the exFAT file system. It can be used with Windows and Mac OS as well as with the Android and iOS mobile phone operating systems.

Some external NVMe SSDs are even explicitly designed for use with mobile devices. They are designed to relieve the internal memory or make extensive media content available at any time.

For example, you can take high-resolution photos and videos with your mobile phone camera and store them directly on the external data storage device. In this way, they can also be easily transferred to PCs and laptops.

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