Grab some solid savings on top-rated SSDs and external hard drives before the holiday shopping season officially kicks off.
With Black Friday around the corner, there are early deals to be had for upgrading your storage needs with massive discounts on top-rated portable SSDs. Whether you're a content creator or a frequent traveler, you'll find rugged, reliable options that offer impressive speeds and robust security features. Don't miss out on these amazing savings to enhance your workflow and keep your data safe while on the go. And check back here often for new deals and updates!
And don't forget to check out the Best Early Black Friday Deals Available Now.
The Samsung Portable SSD T9 is ideal for content creators needing fast, reliable storage. Its standout feature is its exceptional speed over USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 connections, providing quick file transfers, especially for large media files. Available in 4TB capacity, it also supports 256-bit AES encryption for secure data. PCmag's expert, Tony Hoffman, rates it "Outstanding" and honors it with the Editors' Choice award in our Samsung T9 review while saying, "Its performance and features make it well worth the price," though it may require an expansion card for top speeds on older systems.
The Samsung Portable SSD T7 Shield is perfect for outdoor workers and travelers, offering protection from dust, rain, and drops while securely storing data with AES 256-bit encryption. It provides solid speed with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface, though it's not the fastest for everyday tasks. "If you ever take your laptop on the road or into the great outdoors... you'll appreciate having a drive like the T7 Shield," says expert reviewer Tony Hoffman while giving it an "Excellent" rating in our review.
The 2020 WD My Passport SSD combines speed and security, making it an excellent choice for business travelers and everyday users. According to our review, "The My Passport SSD 2020 does support 256-bit AES hardware encryption, which is both fast and very secure." Its compact design, solid read/write speeds, and 256-bit AES hardware encryption ensure data safety. At a competitive price and 27% discount, this SSD also comes with a generous five-year warranty, providing peace of mind. Expert Tony Hoffman gave it a 4-star rating and our Editors' Choice award.
The Crucial X10 Pro is an ultra-compact, rugged external SSD perfect for video editors or anyone needing fast, reliable data storage on the go. With IP55 water and dust resistance, 256-bit AES encryption, and a five-year warranty, it balances durability and security. Its performance shone in PCMark 10 and folder transfer tests, making it a versatile pick. "The X10 Pro supports 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption, while the XS2000 does not," says PCMag's Tony Hoffman, who awarded it an "Excellent" rating in our review and the Editors' Choice title.
The SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD V2 is an excellent choice for content creators and frequent travelers who need fast, durable storage. It offers impressive speed, IP55 water and dust resistance, and 256-bit AES encryption for secure data. Priced competitively, even before the 30% discount, our expert Tony Hoffman gave it an "Excellent" rating and our Editors' Choice award in his SanDisk Extreme review, calling it "a zippy, durable SSD at home, on set, in the studio, or in the wild."
The SanDisk Desk Drive offers fast, high-capacity storage ideal for creative professionals and desktop users with demanding data needs. With 8TB of storage, it excels in speed and capacity while including free Acronis True Image backup software. In his review, Tony Hoffman praised it as "proficient at performing a wide variety of tasks, from gaming to general storage," making it a compelling option for large, SSD-speed storage.
The LaCie 2big RAID external hard drive is ideal for creative professionals like videographers who need high-capacity storage with data redundancy. Its two hot-swappable 7,200rpm drives offer flexible configurations, including RAID 0 for speed and RAID 1 for backup. With a five-year warranty and included data recovery, it delivers reliable performance. And you can hot-swap drives with no tools and without turning the drive off earning. PCMag's expert, M. David Stone, gave it an "Excellent" rating in our review.
The SanDisk Professional G-Drive ArmorATD is a rugged, affordable external hard drive, ideal for Mac users who need durable, portable storage. With IP54 dust and water resistance, drop protection, and 4TB capacity, it balances reliability and price, though it lacks encryption and bundled software. In his review, PCMag's Tony Hoffman rates it as "Excellent" and praises its "good balance of price and ruggedness, with on-the-mark performance thrown in."
The 5TB Seagate FireCuda Gaming Hard Drive offers massive storage, perfect for gamers or content creators with large libraries. While its 7,200rpm speed is slower than SSDs, it excels at storing games, movies, and backups affordably at just 2.5 cents per gigabyte. RGB lighting and integration with Razer Chroma enhance its gaming setup appeal. PCMag's Tony Hoffman rates it as "Excellent" in his review. "Most gamers should be able to store their entire collection on the Gaming Hub," he notes.
The Western Digital My Book (14TB) delivers massive, affordable storage, perfect for gamers, photographers, and heavy downloaders. It easily stores thousands of hours of videos or hundreds of games, offering excellent compatibility with Macs, PCs, and gaming consoles. Our review says it's "an excellent choice, with enough capacity to last you for several years." It gets an Outstanding rating and an Editors' Choice award. Its value per gigabyte, three-year warranty, and reliable performance make it a smart investment for long-term storage needs.
Is Black Friday/Cyber Monday a Good Time to Buy an External Storage Product?
The Black Friday/Cyber Monday period is a great time to buy an external SSD or hard drive, as an abundance of storage products are offered at often substantial discounts off their normal retail pricing. That said, major manufacturers such as WD/SanDisk, Seagate, Micron (Crucial), Samsung, LaCie, OWC, and Lexar often sell their external storage products less than list price, and particularly around holidays, offer sales in which the discounts may rival or exceed those offered on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
If you have your heart set on a particular SSD or hard drive, it may or may not be offered in a Black Friday/Cyber Monday deal and you should feel secure picking it up whenever it's on sale at an acceptable price. But if you have broader criteria (say, a 2TB SSD with throughput speeds of about 1,000Mbps and support for hardware-based encryption), the sheer number of deals offered around Black Friday and Cyber Monday at this time increases your chances of finding a suitable match at a good price.
How Much Does a Good Cheap External SSD or Hard Drive Cost?
For SSDs, 1TB models from well-known brands start at around $70 when on sale, while 2TB models can be found for $150 or less, and 4TB models start at around $250. A 1TB portable external hard drive starts at around $50, with 2TB models starting at $70, 4TB around $100, 5TB about $130, and the few available portable 6TB spinning hard drives starting at about $170. Desktop hard drives with capacities centered around 14TB start at around $180. Check out our Best Cheap SSDs of 2024 for some price comparisons.
What Factors Other Than Price Should You Consider When Buying an External SSD?
Portable external SSDs can vary greatly features and performance, and such differences can have a substantial impact on price (like rugged models, for example). First, the interface: Most current external SSDs support what's called USB 3.2 Gen 2 and support maximum throughput speeds of about 10Gbps. You'd pay extra for a drive with a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 interface, but unless your computer supports this standard, or you're prepared to add an expansion card to a desktop PC, your speeds will max out at about the same 10Gbps, instead of the 20Gbps read and write speeds that Gen 2x2 drives are capable of producing.
Thunderbolt 3 and USB4 SSDs, still more expensive, can be capable of faster speeds, but only if your computer supports these standards. At the other end of the market, a few low-priced external SSDs still use older-style SATA internal components; you can tell these because they will be rated for top speeds of up to 500MB to 600MB per second.
Among other features to look for (and which may raise the price) are the inclusion of backup and security software, which often provides password protection and is frequently paired with AES 256-bit hardware-based encryption and ruggedization (the latter including MIL-STD certification for drop and shock resistance and/or an IP (ingress protection) rating for dust, sand, and water resistance. Design-wise, external SSDs range from featureless slabs to stylish designs; some gaming-oriented SSDs include RGB lighting.