10 Best 1TB & 2 TB external Hard Drives for 2020

The best hard drives come with power, portability, and capacity. Some might be tiny enough to slide into your pockets. You can get a 2TB external hard drive in a small footprint. When it comes to storage and transfer rates, these hard drives are gonna rule the coming years. Also, as the new Macs, PCs and most of the smartphones have already ditched and moved on with the USB C port.

This guide looks at the best 1TB and 2 TB external hard drives. Most of them are designed to meet different users, the pros, amateurs, etc.

Seagate 2 TB Backup Plus

The Seagate 2 TB external hard drive gives you a mammoth amount of storage within a small and sleek design. It is the best external hard drive that you can take with you as a storage backup. The Seagate hard drive is quite portable and slim. You could slide it into your pockets without any fuss. The Seagate 2 TB external hard drive comes with USB 3.0. There is no external power supply required to work with this external hard drive. You get a 46cm USB 3.0 cable with the package to connect your PC.

As it is reverse compatible, you can work with the lower versions like The USB 2.0. the Backup Slim Plus can give you a max read speed of 144MBps. The write speeds depend on the PC system you use. But Seagate assures a write speed of 130 MBps. With the delivery, you get Mylio Photo software and a subscription to Adobe CC. Apart from the 2 TB version, there is a Seagate 1TB external hard drive that you could get from Amazon.

WD Elements 2 TB External Hard Disk

This WD Elements external Hard drive we got here is the 2TB version. It might not be the fastest but it is by far one of the most trusted external hard drives you could get. There isn’t much to fancy when it comes to the design. But it is an excellent deal when you compare it with the other devices of this price range.

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As far as portability is concerned, you get a slim design that you can carry it whenever you’re on the go. Apart from the 2TB external hard drive model, there is a WD 1TB external hard drive and 4TB versions that do quite well when it comes to performance. The WD 1TB external hard drive gives you a decent 5400rpm that offers a pretty average to good performance.

WD External Hard Drive comes with the USB 3.0 port and can give up to 480MBps transfer speeds. Also, it is reverse compatible, meaning you could connect PCs or Smartphones that still have the USB 2.0. It doesn’t have any security features or circuits of its own. The backup software comes with a subscription that you should pay after the free trial. This could be a flaw when you consider the Seagate slim plus as it comes with backup software and Adobe CC subscription. But the WD elements Hard drive series never poke a hole in your pocket as the later.

Toshiba Canvio 2TB External Hard Drive

The Toshiba Canvio comes in 4 storage versions. Out of these, we’ve got the 2 TB external hard drive here. It is a slim, portable hard drive that stands a step ahead of its rivals when it comes to design. Toshiba 2TB external hard drive is one of the decent performers when it comes to transferring speeds and durability. The portability factor is worth praise. You can slide it into your back pockets or small bag without others even noticing. It comes with a glossy plastic casing, unlike the metallic ones we saw above. But yet, it could stand a fall or a thud to a limit. This 2 TB external hard drive comes ready to work with the windows.

Apart from the windows, it can work pretty well with the smartphones and the Macbooks. Also, by formating it to the FAT32, you can couple it up with the Xbox series too. Coming the performance part, the Canvio Advance can give you up to 122MBps write speed. It can clock up to 140 MBps in read speeds. This 2 TB external hard drive comes with USB 3.1 and can work with most of the PCs. If your PC supports only the USB 2.0, then you could feel a drop in the transfer speeds mentioned.

Samsung T5 2 TB External Hard Drive

The Samsung T5 is on this list because of its sheer built quality and lightning-fast performance capability. This version we got here is the 2TB one. It is the best all-rounder that suits those who need to carry enormous amounts of data. The T5 comes with a superfast transfer rate that no rivals can oppose. With a transfer speed of 540MB/s and the new USB 3.1 tech, this USB C SSD is the standout performer in this class. It is quite slim and is even slimmer than its former, the T3.

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You can slide it into your pockets and move around without others even getting a notice. The whole casing comes in metal. Samsung T5 is quite sleek and has a decent look of its own. This USB C SSD comes with a password and AES 256 bit protection standards. You also get type C to Type A adapters with the package. Most of the devices are compatible with the T5. Backward compatibility includes the USB 2.0 ports too. Apart from the Macs, it works well with Windows PCs and the Android smartphone.

Seagate Backup Plus 1 TB

The Seagate 1 TB external hard drive is just like the 2 TB version in design but with lower capacity. It is quite portable and slim. You could slide it into your pockets without any fuss. It comes with USB 3.0.  You get an 18 inch USB 3.0 cable with the package. As it is reverse compatible, you can work with the lower versions like The USB 2.0.

This 1 TB external hard drive gives you an  Interface Speed of 5.0 Gbps with the USB 3.0 and 480 Mbps with the USB 2.0. As its the same model but different storage category, we aren’t going deep into this one. Most of the features are quite the same as that of its 2 TB version. Backup Slim Plus can give you a max read speed of 144MBps.

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Toshiba Canvio 1TB External Hard Drive

The Toshiba Canvio 1 TB external hard drive here is also slim and portable. As this one we got here is the same version with lower storage capacity, most of the features are the same.  It comes with a glossy plastic casing and that too in 4 colors. It works well with most of the Windows PCs and the MacBooks.

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Coming the performance part, the Canvio Advance can give you up to 122MBps write speed. It can clock up to 140 MBps in read speeds. It comes with the USB 3.0 tech and yes, there is reverse compatibility factor too. This makes it easy to work with other PCs and smartphones with standard ports.

WD Elements 1 TB External Hard Disk

The next one is the WD Elements 1TB external Hard drive. Yes, its the same version but with a lower storage capacity. The design part, build quality and type of casings all are the same as compared with the 2 TB version. It is portable like its 2 TB version as they are of the same dimensions.

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The 1TB external hard drive gives you a decent 5400rpm that offers a pretty average to good performance. WD 1TB external hard drive comes with the USB 3.0 port and can give up to 480MBps transfer speeds. You also get the backup software with a subscription that you should pay after the free trial. It is reverse compatible and can work with PCs or Smartphones having the USB 2.0.

Samsung T5 1 TB External Hard Drive

The next one is the 1 TB version of the Samsung T5. It also is the best all-rounder that suits those who need durability and good transfer speeds. Like the later, this 1TB external hard drive also comes with a superfast transfer rate. With a transfer speed of 540MB/s and the new USB 3.1 tech, this external hard drive of 1 TB suits you well. The portability factor is also like that of the T5 2 Tb version. The only difference is in the reduced storage capacity and nothing else.

The whole casing comes in metal. This 1 TB external hard drive comes with a password and AES 256 bit protection standards. You also get type C to Type A adapters with the package. Most of the devices are compatible with the T5. Backward compatibility includes the USB 2.0 ports too.

Toshiba Canvio Basics 1TB

The Toshiba Canvio Basics is yet another portable HDD from Toshiba that has hit the mark. They are for those who need portable space all the time. It might not be the quickest in transfer speeds but can do wonders when you connect it with the PCs.

It comes with the USB 3.0 tech and offers 200MBps transfer speeds. Its disk works at the rate of 5400 rpm and gives phenomenal write speeds. The outer casing comes with good quality plastic that can shield a normal fall. The drive supports window and mac but only windows are out of the box. If you want to use it with the mac, then you need to reformat it. Apart from that, it is also detectable with Android smartphones too.

For connection purposes, you get a USB type B to Type-A cable in the box. Coming to security features, there isn’t anything available for the Convio Basics from Toshiba as of now. If you are looking to backup your PC then you could definitely consider other ones on our list. As with the pricing, the Convio basic is one of the cheapest in our list. All the three versions other than the 1 TB are also reasonably priced.

SanDisk 1TB Portable Hard disk

SanDisk Extreme is a portable SSD that comes with 1TB storage space. It is one of the best SSC drives you could get online. This external USB hard drive is developed with the TLC V-NAND technology and offers greater portability thanks to its compact console. It gives you lightning-fast read and write speeds when you connect it with your Macbooks.

SanDisk Extreme is capable of clocking a transfer speed of 550MB/s with Thunderbolt ports. Also, there are security standards like the AES 256-bit encryption algorithm that protects your data from malware attacks.

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The Extreme comes with the new USB 3.1 type C. You can use it with other devices supporting USB 2.0 ports with the USB Type-C to Type-A adapter. Apart from the Mac, this USB C hard drive works well with Windows and Android smartphones. It can also work in partition mode to suit two OS at once.

Selecting the best HDD can be quite cumbersome. You should go through a lot of things such as your use, amount of data and many more. Our list includes some of the best portable hard drives that come with a storage capacity of 1 and 2 TB. These HDDs come handy to different users in different ways.

The list includes some of the best portable PC backup solutions to other portable SSDs that suit the gamer in you. We believe you’ve got your right shot this time. Make sure to consider every degree of specs before jumping into a conclusion though.