What's the best external hard drive for photos for photographers? An SSD (solid state drive) hard drive, of course. It's an improvement version of the HDD (hard disk drive). Why do photographers should adopt this new SSD hard disk technology? The reason is simple: just like a memory stick, there are no moving parts within an SSD hard drive. So you've got both reliability and high performance for photo and video editing. I'll go through some of the best portable SSD hard drives by looking into two main factors, speed and reliability. Top rated external SSD external hard drives for photographers should be:
- USB-C compatible for fast data transfer
- Shock, dust, and water resistant
- Small and lightweight
- Compatible with major operating systems like Mac, Windows, and Linux
A List of Top 10 Best Portable SSD Hard Drives for Travel Photographers (2021)
Sandisk SSD 2 TB Extreme E60 USB3.1 Gen2 550MB/s Portable Solid State Drive ct $327.59 Samsung 2TB T7 Silver 1050MB/s Read 1000MB/s Write Portable Solid State Drive ct.
SanDisk Extreme 900 portable SSD
WDBlack 2TB P50 Game Drive Portable External SSD, Portable External Hard Drive Compatible with Playstation, Xbox, PC, & Mac, Up to 2,000 MB/s - WDBA3S0020BBK-WESN 4.8 out of 5 stars464 $349.99$349.99$499.99$499.99 Get it as soon as Wed, Mar 10. .Based on the internal comparison test with a Samsung external HDD 1TB (HX-MK20P12) and a Samsung Portable SSD 1TB (T5). Performance of the PC Internal storage should be equal to or greater than X5. Test system configuration: Motherboard-Asus Strix Z270E Gaming, Intel® Core i5-7600 @3.5 GHz, DDR4 1066MHz 4GB, OS-Window 10x64. Description Secure and protect your data with this gray Samsung T7 2TB portable SSD. Large files transfer rapidly with USB 3.2 Gen 2 technology, and the durable thermal construction defends against impact and overheating.
Top of the notch SSD hard drive from global brand SanDisk, the Extreme 900 portable SSD is unbeatable in term of speed. This is amazing. Photographers with high end DSLR camera love this kind of high-performance portable SSD hard drive. You don't even need drivers when connecting your computer to the hard drive. The other important feature we should not overlook is temperature and impact resistant.
Pros
- Read up to 850 MB/s and write up to 850 MB/s, using USB 3.1 Gen 2
- Compatible with PC & Mac computers
Cons
- Speed not matched as mentioned
- Not for running operating system
Samsung T3 Portable SSD
Second after SanDisk, I'd recommend Samsung T3 Portable SSD. The Samsung SSD T3 works well with PC, Mac, and even Android operating system. It's very compact and lightweight. This sleek SSD hard drive fits well in your pocket, so you can take all your photos with you anywhere you go.
Pros
- Read-write up to 450 MB/s
- Achieve the best performance with USB-C cable (make sure you have a USB-C cable support at least 5Gb/s transfer speed)
Cons
- Not friendly with Apple devices
VectoTech Rapid 2TB External SSD USB 3.0 Portable Solid State Drive
This portable SSD hard drive is a great addition to your storage needs. It's easy to use; it's plug and play. The SSD drive offers fast transfer speeds. Slick and lightweight is usually preferable by travel photographers. In addition, VectoTech Rapid Portable SSD is shock and vibration resistance, so it's a plus when you move around a lot.
Pros
- Super fast Read/Write speeds up to 450Mb/s
- Shock and vibration resistant
- 2-year manufacturer warranty
Cons
- Need driver installation with Mac OS powered devices
PNY Elite Portable SSD
This external Solid State Drive is ideal for photographers, videographers, graphic designers who needs to back-up or transfer large files. It was built with performance and reliability in mind. It's also probably one of the most compact SSD hard drives in portable SSD class. It works on MAC and Windows out of box. Plug and play. The down size is storage capacity available, unlike the above reviewed portable SSD hard drives, which offer more capacity.
- Read up to 430 MB/s and write up to 400 MB/s
- Great look, feel and quality of materials
WD 2TB My Passport SSD Portable Storage – USB 3.1
What I really love about this WD My Passport SSD hard disk is its shock-resistance, compact storage in a durable design. The automatic backup feature is useful for most photographers. Largest portable hard drive. Overall, it's the best SSD portable hard drive for Macs.
- Read speeds up to 540 MB/s
- USB Type-C and USB 3.1
U32 Shadow External 2TB USB-C (3.1 Gen 2) Portable Solid State Drive SSD
The Thunderbolt 3 compatibility makes the U32 Shadow External SSD drive outstanding for its speed and performance. On the other hand, this SSD hard disk is quite portable, which makes it easy to pack and travel.
- Compatible with USB 3.1/3.0 and Thunderbolt 3
- Durable build and design with aluminum housing
LaCie Rugged 1TB Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 SSD Portable Hard Drive
If you travel a lot for photography purpose, LaCie Rugged Portable Hard Drive will survive extreme data security in most circumstances.
- Shock, dust, and water resistant for all-terrain use
- Speeds of up to 387 MB/s
Seagate Portable 4TB External Hard Drive USB 3.0
Seagate has been popular for years as a hard drive maker. This external SSD hard drive is quite affordable for most photographers. What's more? You won't sacrifice the reliability with this Seagate brand. Overall, it's the best cheap external SSD hard drive everyone can buy.
- Lightweight and compact design
- Plastic top cover
- Mac compatibility
Samsung T5 Portable SSD
With read and write speeds up to 540 MB/s, it's a great travel hard drive for photographers. It's compact and lightweight.
- Compatible with Windows, Mac OS, and Android devices
- Metal design
- Read-Write speeds of up to 540 MB/s
- Comes with USB Type C to C and USB Type C to A cables
SanDisk Extreme 500GB Portable SSD: The Best Waterproof
Adobe acrobat pro 10 0. If your ultimate choice is the best water-resistant external SSD hard disk, you should not look further. The SanDisk Extreme 500GB is my favorite.
- Up to 550MB/s read speeds
- IP55 for water and dust resistance
- Shock-resistant (Shock-resistant (up to 1500G)
- Vibration-resistant (5g RMS, 10-2000 HZ)
- Non-operating temperature
- For PC and Mac users
Toshiba Canvio Advance 2TB Portable External Hard Drive USB 3.0
Compatible with Mac and Windows, the Toshiba Canvio is a USB 3 portable hard disk made for storing photographs. It's quite easy to use with a MacBook laptop to backup photos. Overall, it's very reliable.
For those photographers with a massive collection of photographs, I'd recommend that you should either buy a few of the Toshiba Canvio external hard drives or get the 4TB capacity.
- Slim design
- Toshiba Storage Backup Software (downloadable)
- Automatic backup and password protection
Good to Know
Of all the digital storage, the SSD technology is a good investment. For most travel photographers, what we need most is digital storage to keep all their photographs. Having the best SSD hard drive is essential for most of us. I chose the to best portable SSD hard drives over normal external hard drives because of these two factors: reliability and speed.
These features are what we need to pay attention to before buying an external hard drive to store and backup our photos. The top rated external hard drives will make photographers and videographers easier for use in the home studio or travel, especially for backup large photo files. There are times we our normal external hard disks are having issues due to its old technology. With the best portable SSD hard drives you'll feel more comfortable storing your valuable photos.
What's else? If you're looking for a gift idea for your friend who's a passion photographer, giving the best external SSD hard disk is a great choice. The list above gives you a variety of options for either Windows or Mac users.
Usb Ssd 2tb
G-Technology 2TB ArmorLock Encrypted NVMe SSD Review
ArmorLock – A Serious Encrypted 2TB Portable SSD
If you are concerned with the data on your portable SSD getting seen by others an encrypted SSD like the ArmorLock by G-Technology might be of interest. This 2TB external NVMe SSD has high-end speeds of up to 1000 MB/s yet offers 256-bit AES-XTS hardware encryption and NIST P-256 elliptic curve-based key management!
This drives shipped to you locked with encryption enabled and goes back to a locked state each and every time it is ejected from the system it is being used on. This automatic locking feature ensures that all of the content on the drive is inaccessible.
To unlock the ArmorLock you'll need to use a dedicated app for your smartphone that unlocks the drive over Bluetooth. This means no password is needed and you can assign multiple users to the drive. Right now the app requires macOS 10.13+ and iOS 13+ operating systems to work, but an Android app is said to be in the works.
G-Technology sent over the ArmorLock 2TB model to review that is sold under part number 0G10484-1. This is the only capacity that the ArmorLock is available in and it runs $599.99 shipped at places like Amazon.
Inside the box you'll find a USB Type-C to Type-C cable, USB Type-C to Type-A cable, quick start guide, and finally the the drive itself.
Solid State External Hard Drive
The LaCie Rugged SSD 1TB measures 5.29″ x 3.21″ x 0.73″ and our 2TB sample tipped the scaled at 198 Grams without the cable. The enclosure feels solid and G-Technology says that it will survive a 3-meter drop, has a crush resistance of 1,000-pounds and is IP67 dust and water rated. This drive comes with a standard 5-year warranty, so it should last many years!
The front of the drive also has LED lights that go along with padlock images to show if the ArmorLock is in a locked or unlocked state. On the front and back of the AmorLock you can see the yellowish aluminum core that was deigned to dissipate heat from the NVMe SSD to minimize throttling.
2tb External Ssd Drive
On the back of the ArmorLock you'll find the usual regulatory information, part number, serial number, capacity, place of manufacturer and so on. You'll, also have a QR code and short code that is unique to each individual drive. The QR code is to be used with a phone camera and the short code is to be used with computers for app-to-drive pairing.
The USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C connector is located along top edge of the Armorlock. All the power for this external drive is bus-powered, so no external power source is needed.
Along the bottom edge of the drive is the white activity/power LED light. The white LED is illuminated when the device is powered and blinks to show read/write drive activity.
Using the drive for the first time is fairly simple. You need to download the ArmorLock app and then use your phones camera to scan the WR code on the back of the drive. After accepting the EULA you can then name your phone, the ArmorLock drive and setup users for the drive. You can partition the drive using the HFS+, NTFS, or exFAT file systems. The ArmorLock app guides users through the whole setup process and it is quick and painless.
Bluetooth is required and must be enabled. You can authorize local users and they can request access to the drive by using the QR code or short code found on the back of the drive. The manager of the ArmorLock can review, modify and reject access to the drive on their app.
Here is a good video that G-Technology did that shows how content creators and professionals can benefit from the ArmorLock.
Let's move along and see how this drive actually performs!
