Home archive: TOP-5 volumetric external HDD 4 TB

The first thing that attracts attention in WD My Passport NEW is its non-trivial appearance by the standards of external HDDs. Its top cover is actually divided into two halves, one of which is smooth and glossy, while the second has a corrugated surface. Adding color is the presence of six color options, including strict black, blue, yellow, orange and extravagant bright red. Definitely, this is a gadget that you want to put in the most prominent place on the table.

But the ergonomics are not so well thought out. On the one hand, small rubber feet are glued to the bottom of the device, which dampen the vibration of the hard drive during operation and prevent the device from slipping to the floor. On the other hand, the drive comes with a very short cord of 30 cm. For laptop owners, this is a plus, since there will be fewer wires on the table, but computer owners will either have to crawl under the table or use a USB hub.

When you connect for the first time, you will find several useful programs for creating a system backup, encrypting data, and monitoring the status of the drive. As for the disk itself, its 4 TB storage will be enough for your eyes to store your media library, to back up data from your work computer, store your game archive, and there will still be enough left to fill in all the archive photos and videos from your vacation. The speed indicators are as follows: when reading, the maximum is 104 Mb / s, when writing 103 Mb / s. On average, the speed is kept at 95 Mb / s. This is the standard speed for this class of devices.

Seagate Expansion Portable is hidden in a patterned protective cover made of dark plastic. The embossed surface gives originality to the appearance, this is not just a three-dimensional pattern, as you might think at first glance, there is really a relief in the form of small, repeating pyramids. Four rubber feet are glued on the bottom edge to reduce vibration.

However, this shortcoming is compensated by the Seagate Dashboard software package, which is already installed on the disk. That is, you do not need to download and install anything. In terms of sophistication, usability and functionality, Dashboard leaves behind most software from other manufacturers. In addition to standard utilities for archiving, backing up and protecting data, you can set up time windows for automatic backups, and then additionally send these copies to the cloud storage provided by the company. Plus, Seagate Dashboard has a mobile app that can back up system data from smartphones and tablets.

As for the drive itself, it's quite a standard laptop HDD from Segate with a capacity of 4 TB, an average read speed of 116.9 Mb/s and an average write speed of 111.7 Mb/s.

Elements Portable from WD gives the impression of a strong workhorse that is not trained in any tricks, but knows its business perfectly and will not let you down at the right moment. Of some notable advantages, one can only single out almost silent operation, so that it can be used without problems both in the office and at home.

The case of the drive is made of strong plastic, in which the front side is matte with a small edging, and the back is rougher, so that it does not slip on the surface of the table or in the hands. In general, the disc looks minimalistic and restrained. Inside the case is a 4 TB HDD of WD's own production with a rotation speed of 5400 rpm, 8 MB of cache and decent read and write speeds. In the Crystaldiskmark test, the drive showed the same results at 108 MB / s for both reading and writing.

Among the small bonuses, it is worth highlighting the Auto Local & Cloud Backup utility, which allows you to set up data backup, including making a copy to the Dropbox cloud service. And the WD Security app allows you to use hardware-based encryption to protect data on the drive or simply “password” it. As they say, there is no such thing as too much caution.

The A-Data HV300 focuses on simplicity, reliability and attractive design. As it is written on the official website of the company "designed to impress." Not to say that the design blows the mind with its uniqueness, but against the background of the same type of plastic boxes, the neat case of this HDD with corrugated plastic edging looks really advantageous.

As for simplicity and reliability, everything is simple here (sorry for the tautology). Firstly, the manufacturer took care of data protection by equipping the device with shock and vibration protection technology. Secondly, the drive supports the AES 256 data encryption standard, which will help protect information from prying eyes.

And thirdly, A-Data provides customers with a set of HDDtoGO utilities that allows you to optimize the backup of information from a computer, quickly archive everything, close the data with a password and write your contact information to disk in case of loss. The application is not the most convenient, but knows its business. It is also worth noting the light indicator on the end of the disk, which not only signals that the disk is connected and data is being copied, but also blinks red in case of errors and malfunctions.

A-Data HV300 connects to a computer using a USB port of the third version (and compatible with USB 2.0). The length of the cable included is about 30 cm - this will be enough for use with a laptop, but when connected to a PC, it can cause inconvenience. The 4 TB hard drive itself has a spindle speed of 5400 rpm and shows excellent speed performance - 149 and 153 MB / s with sequential reading and writing.

Transcend StoreJet 25H3 kills two birds with one stone - it allows you not only to archive and save everything in the world (fortunately, 4 TB gives room for manoeuvre), but also to securely protect data.

Hidden inside the shroud is a 4TB drive that runs on USB 3.1 Gen1 and is also backwards compatible with USB 2.0. According to synthetic tests, the average speed of reading and writing large files in one stream is approximately 90 Mb / s, which is a good indicator for such a drive. Of the minuses, one can single out only a strong drop in speed when copying to several streams. However, in the case of external hard drives, such a scenario is extremely rare and it would be wrong to write it down as a minus.

Traditionally, for external drives from Transcend, you can find a small button on the front panel that puts the drive into power saving mode or starts automatic data backup. With the extremely user-friendly Transcend Elite app, you can set custom copy patterns for this button, including specific time intervals and specific disc sections. From the outside, this may seem like a trifle, but it greatly simplifies life.