The cheapest way to store a lot of data, and the category where owner experience is dominated by cables, enclosures and dead-on-arrival units rather than platters. Treat any single external drive as temporary.
This entry is written from the 4 sources listed at the bottom of the page. The numbers are our editorial estimates drawn from that material, not measurements, and no statistical sample sits behind them.
It depends on how you will use it. 58% would buy it again, which means roughly 42% would not. USB cables and bridge boards fail before the platters do.
Still spinning, usually. The thing to internalise is that one external drive is not a backup — it is one of the copies you need.
USB cables and bridge boards fail before the platters do. Any single copy on a mechanical drive is a risk, not a backup. Owner reviews describe warranty processes as slow.
Worth it for: Bulk archive storage as one of several copies; Backing up a laptop at a desk; Large media libraries on a budget. Think twice if: Your only copy of anything; Carrying around daily; You need fast random access.
Our reading of how sentiment moves across an ownership period, drawn from the sources below. It is an editorial estimate, not tracked longitudinal data.
| At purchase | 7.6 / 10 |
|---|---|
| First week | 7.8 / 10 |
| One month | 6.9 / 10 |
| Six months | 6.6 / 10 |
| One year | 6.5 / 10 |
| Two years or more | 6.4 / 10 |
Owner reviews move this score. The researched figure stays visible next to it, so you can always see what the sources said before anyone voted.
Leave a review on the live pageEvery complaint and every piece of praise above traces back to these. The summaries are ours; nothing is quoted, and no link, quote or username anywhere on this site is invented.
Analysis of owner-reported failure modes across external drives.
Owner reviews covering reliability and DOA rates.
Buyer discussion including shucking and reliability.
Owner discussion of the older Backup Plus line.