Best Portable Drives of 2021: The Ultra-secure, Extra-rugged, and Super-fast

Portable drives are storage devices that allow you to conveniently carry a large amount of data from one computer to another.

Or you can use one as an offline backup — tuck it away, and nobody can hack into your essential information.

Find below the list of the best portable drives I’ve tested. Chances are you’ll find one that goes well with your situation or makes a great gift for any occasion.

Dong’s note: I last updated this frequently revised post on September 24, 2021.

Best Portable Drives: The lists

There are two lists.

One is portable drives that have what I’d called the “storage vault” level of security. The second list includes traditional portable drives for general usage.

Both lists consist of hard-drive-based and SSD-based portable drives. They also include devices of different interfaces, including USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps), Gen 2 (10Gbps), Gen 2×2 (20Gbps), and Thunderbolt 3/4 (40Gbps).

If you’re confused about these interfaces, you’re not alone. Check out this post on the USB-C port type where I explained them all.

Important note: The number in front of each name is just the review order and not the ranking. Any of these will serve you well. It’s a question of how well, and that requires some reading — check out the full review!

Scroll to the bottom of the page to find out how their performance stacks up against one another.

A. The ultra-secure storage vaults

Again this list includes a portable drive for those with serious concerns about data breaches. They keep information absolutely safe from prying eyes.

In return, though, they will not keep the information from being destroyed, so don’t use any of them to store the only copy of your important data.

5. iStorage diskAshur M2: Super-Secure and rugged with a bit of Oddity

The diskAshur M2 is another ultra-secure drive from iStorage that has two other members on this list.

The M2 is an ultra-compact portable SSD that has an interpreted keypad. The drive was excellent in my testing, except it uses a Micro-B SuperSpeed USB port instead of USB-C.

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4. Apricorn Aegis Padlock SSD: The convient keeper of secrets

Similar to the diskAshur PRO2 below, the Apricorn Aegis Padlock SSD portable drive has an integrated USB cable that makes it works right away out of the box — you’ll need a converter before it can connect to a USB-C port, however.

However, it’s a portable SSD and not a hard drive, so it’s much faster.

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3. Samsung T7 Touch: Security on the finger tip

The Samsung T7 Touch doesn’t have an integrated keypad, but it’s super-secure nonetheless, thanks to the built-in fingerprint scanner.

It’s also the only drive on this list that features USB-C, USB 3.2 Gen 2, and an NVMe SSD on the inside — it’s the fastest among ultra-secure portable SSDs.

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2. iStorage datAshur PRO2: The storage vault thumb drive

This tiny thumb drive is the most secure of its kind. It’s a type of storage device you can entrust your most confidential information. It’s a storage vault that fits inside your pocket.

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1. iStorage diskAshur PRO2: A Real Storage Vault in Your Palm

The iStorage diskAshur PRO2 is the only hard-drive-based storage vault on this list. Other than the fact it’s the slowest one, it has the same security level as the next guy.

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B. The day-to-day traditional portable drives

This list includes traditional portable drives, including those without any security features at all.

11. SanDisk Professional G-Drive SSD: Western Digital’s latest tough guy in town

The G-Drive SSD is the fruit of merging SanDisk and G-Tech, two storage brands Western Digital acquired over the years, into a new professional lineup.

The new compact portable NVMe SSD is indeed quite pro. It has excellent performance, rugged chassis, and looks the part.

Though a bit pricey, the SanDisk Professional G-Drive SSD has enough to be worth your consideration.

10. OWC Envoy Pro SX: Underwhelmingly super-fast

The OWC Envoy Pro SX is the second Thunderbolt-exclusive portable SSD on this list. It’s the direct competitor of the Samsung X5 below.

As such, it’s a bit underwhelming due to the slower performance, but supporting Thunderbolt, this is still one of the fast, portable drives on the market.

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9. WD Black D30 Game Drive SSD: Well-balance console add-on storage

The WD Black D30 Game Drive SSD is an excellent alternative to the P50 below. No, it’s not faster, but it sure is more affordable and has just the right specs for many game consoles and computers on the market.

On top of that, it has a little stand that makes the whole package quite cute in use.

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8. SanDisk Extreme Pro: The fastest USB portable SSD to date

The SanDisk Extreme Pro is the latest version to replace the model that came out last year.

It’s the first in the SanDisk Extreme family that sports the USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20Gbps) and standard and, among other things, proved to be the fastest USB portable SSD to date.

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7. WD Black P50 Game Drive: First USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 portable SSD

The WD Black P50 is the first portable SSD on the market that supports USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, which caps at 20Gbps.

And in my testing, it was one of the fastest on the market. That, plus the fact it’s super rugged and cool looking, means it looks the part as a storage device designed for gamers.

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6. SanDisk Extreme: And excellent sweet-sport portable SSD

This portable SSD is the non-PRO version of the SanDisk Extreme PRO above.

The only difference, though, is the lack of support for USB 3.2 Gen 2×2. Instead, it uses the older USB Gen 2 (10Gbps), which is slower.

To compensate for that, it’s significantly more affordable and a tad more compact. That and the fact USB Gen 2 is a popular USB standard — most computers don’t have a faster option anyway — mean it’s an excellent buy.

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5. WD My Passport: The most complete portable SSD to date

The latest WD My Passport SSD is an entirely new drive compared to the previous model.

It now has everything you’d ask from in a portable SSD: Top speed, compact design, storage space, and security. While it’s not perfect and slightly more expensive than competing drives, it’s easily one of the best portable SSDs on the market.

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4. Crucial X6: The tiniest 4TB portable SSD

In many ways, the Crucial X6 is the mini (and lesser) version of the Crucial X8 below. Since the latter is already ultra-compact, we’re now talking about a tiny portable storage device.

Despite the diminutive physical size, the X6 is a formidable portable SSD. It delivers up to 4 TB of storage space and has the performance that can match that. You won’t need to wait for a long time, even when you want to fill it up.

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3. Crucial X8: Micron’s first portable SSD

Micron joined the portable SSD market with a bang. The Crucial X8 delivers stellar speeds via USB 3.2 Gen 2 and is one of the fastest among its peers. And the fact the drive comes with a beautiful design and a friendly price tag doesn’t hurt.

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2. WD Black P10: The ultra-spacious rugged gamer’s portable hard drive

It’s a portable hard drive for gamers. The rugged, cool-looking drive delivers tons of storage space inside a tough casing.

It’s the only hard-drive-based portable drive on this list and suitable for those who need a ton of storage space instead of performance.

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1. Samsung Portable SSD X5: The Thunderbolt 3 bootable speed demon

The X5 is the fastest portable SSD by far. The catch is it only works with Thunderbolt 3 and not USB. For this reason, it’s more suitable for professional Mac-based environments.

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Best Portable Drives: The performance

When it comes to portable drives, the most important performance is copy speeds. Find below how the drives mentioned above stacked against one another in my testing.

Again, keep in mind that this chart includes drives of different connection and storage types, not to mention the pricing, and therefore is only for references.

That’s because comparing them using their performances alone is like comparing apples to oranges. It’s a good idea to read their reviews to find out how well they fit your needs.