Are you trying to find external thunderbolt hard drives among various brands on the market but aren’t sure where to begin? To assist you in finding the right one, we’ve put together a list of the 7 best to help you pick the perfect one!
We investigated and evaluated a number of the top-selling external thunderbolt hard drives on the market in order to create our list of the best. Making a decision among the many options available is never simple. There are an infinite number of models available, each with a distinct price. And as you’ll find out, the best options aren’t usually the ones you imagine! This comparison is rich and relevant because of the numerous factors that were employed. You will find products featured in this ranking not only based on their pricing but also on their features and other customers reviews. To write this review, we completed 25 hours of research and did 20 external thunderbolt hard drives tests. You won’t need to pick products at random any more. If you’re unsure of what to look for, browse our list and consult the buying guide!
An overview of our top picks
Table of contents
The best external thunderbolt hard drives you can buy today
- CROSS PLATFORM: The LaCie d2 Professional is the go-to external desktop hard drive for creatives using Mac/PC SSD-based laptops or all-in-one-computers with limited storage capacity.Specific uses: Business,Personal,Gaming
- FAST DATA: Easily edit and archive projects with massive massive capacity and speeds of up to 240MB/s
- FUTURE PROOF: Seamlessly connect to USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 computers, enjoy reduced noise and vibration thanks to an aluminum form factor, and get ultimate reliability and performance with BarraCuda Pro enterprise-class drives
- BOUNDLESS CREATIVITY: Includes one-month membership to Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps Plan
- RECOVERY INCLUDED: Enjoy long-term peace of mind with the included five-year limited warranty including Rescue Data Recovery Services
- Shock, drops up to 4 feet, dust and water resistant for all-terrain use
- For Mac compatibility this Hard Drive requires reformatting. Refer to Application Guide for more details
- Password protection built in. Maximum speed is 130 mb per second
- Uses USB 3.0 which is up to 4 times faster than USB 2.0 (USB 2.0 compatible)
- Includes 1-month complimentary membership to Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps Plan. Must redeem by January 31, 2020
- English (Publication Language)
- Eight universal 2.5 or 3.5-inch SSD/HDD drive bays w/Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports (Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt backward compatible)
- Daisy-chain six units together for up to 960TB of storage capacity or five additional Thunderbolt devices with second Thunderbolt 3 port
- Plug-and-play ready: no drivers needed and includes Thunderbolt cable; Quick drive swaps: thumb screw release trays
- No drivers needed and Thunderbolt certified for Mac and Windows
- 1 Year OWC Limited Warranty
- Rugged, all-terrain portable drive solution
- Features watertight; Drive compartment
- Data protected from pressure, shock and dust
- Evolution Series-compatible
- Customize your drive’s RGB lighting with the downloadable WD_BLACK Dashboard (Windows only) to show off your style and make every play personal.
- Kick loading into overdrive with a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 interface and speeds up to 2,000MB/s. (Based on read speed. 1 MB/s = 1 million bytes per second. Based on internal testing; performance may vary depending upon host device, usage conditions, drive capacity, and other factors.)
- Compatible with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles. {Compatible with PlayStation 4 Pro or PS4 with system software version 4.50 or higher, PlayStation 5 (Play and store PS4 games; archive PS5 games), Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S (Play and store Xbox One games; archive Xbox Series X|S games).}
- Keep more of the latest and largest titles installed and ready to launch with capacities of up to 2TB. (1TB = 1 trillion bytes. Actual user capacity may be less depending on operating environment.)
- Built with WD_BLACK toughness thanks to a shock-resistant structure, this durable drive can survive a drop of up to two-meters.
- MADE FOR THE MAKERS: Create; Explore; Store; The T7 Portable SSD delivers fast speeds and durable features to back up any endeavor; Build your video editing empire, file your photographs or back up your blogs all in an instant
- SHARE IDEAS IN A FLASH: Don’t waste a second waiting and spend more time doing; The T7 is embedded with PCIe NVMe technology that brings fast read and write speeds up to 1,050/1,000 MB/s¹, making it almost twice as fast as the T5
- ALWAYS MAKE THE SAVE: Compact design with massive capacity; With capacities up to 4TB, save exactly what you need to your drive – from large working files to game data and everything in between
- ADAPTS TO EVERY NEED: Whether using a PC or mobile phone, count on the T7 for extensive compatibility²; It’s a true team player when it comes to heavy-duty application usage or file-saving
- HI RESOLUTION VIDEO RECORDING: Record Ultra High Resolution (4K 60fs) videos directly onto the T7 Portable SSD with your favorite camera or mobile devices; Supports iPhone 15 Pro Res 4K at 60fps video and more³
- ALL FOR THE SHOT: This strong, sturdy sidekick will help you see it through with shock resistance and fall protection up to 6 feet⁴; With its solid aluminum unibody construction, it’s made to withstand any adventure
- WORLD’S #1 FLASH MEMORY BRAND: Performance and reliability from the world’s #1 brand for flash memory since 2003⁵; All firmware and components are produced in-house, including our world renowned DRAM and NAND, for quality and you can trust
- Designed, sold & supported by Twelve South, a family-owned small business in Charleston, South Carolina
- Helps create an organized workspace by elevating hard drives and other peripherals off your desk
- Adds a space-saving shelf that mounts to the back or front of your iMac or Apple Display. (Not compatible with iMac M1)
- Holds up to 3.5 pounds of hard drives, peripherals – even a MacBook
- Compatible devices: Gaming Console
- Gain free access to 100+ great games with a limited time membership to Xbox Game Pass
- Dive into the action with a quick step by step setup and plug and play USB 3.0 connectivity—no power cable needed
- This external solid state drive features a lightweight, shock resistant design with a sleek black finish to complement the Xbox One X
- Enjoy long term peace of mind with the included three year limited warranty and one-year Rescue Service
- English (Publication Language)
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- SUPER STREET BIKE (Director) - SOURCE INTERLINK MAGAZINES LLC (Producer)
- (Playback Language)
- Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
- Up to 16TB of max capacity on two 7200RPM Ultrastar Enterprise-class Hard Drives Inside (1TB = 1 trillion bytes. Actual user capacity may be less depending on operating environment and RAID configuration. For RAID products, storage capacity is based on RAID 0 mode.)
- Ships in RAID 1 for peace of mind with transfers rates up to 250MB/s read, or use the hardware RAID selector for up to 500MB/s read in RAID 0 (1 MB/s = 1 million bytes per second. Based on internal testing; performance may vary depending upon host device, usage conditions, drive capacity, RAID configuration and other factors)
- PRO-BLADE SSD Mag slot to easily add SSD capacity and performance for fast transfers, editing, and backup without adding to your workspace.
- Color-coded cable indicators to connect the right cables and get the most out of your device performance.
- High-performance Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) interface and USB (10Gbps)
How to choose a good external thunderbolt hard drives
Does the idea of finding a fantastic external thunderbolt hard drives make you anxious? When it comes to purchasing this product, specifically when deciding which model to select, has your head been spinning between options? You are not alone if that is the case. We are aware of the pressure involved in the purchasing process!
Your presence here indicates that you are interested in external thunderbolt hard drives. Before choosing which product would be the best for your needs after being inundated with information, locate a reliable source with genuine selections. You can get that information from a variety of sources, including buying guides and rating websites, word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family, online discussion forums where users can share their own experiences, product reviews that can be found all over the internet, and YouTube channels. You can only get the right product through exhaustive analysis. But you realize that’s not always simple. In order to ease your concerns, we have taken the time to develop a list of the top external thunderbolt hard drives products available right now. You might be wondering how we came up with the list. How was this buying guide developed?
First, we used our algorithms to gather as much reliable data as we could about these products. To verify all the data gathered, we used both artificial intelligence and a lot of algorithms.
Then, our experts used criteria that are recognized in the business to evaluate them according to their quality to price ratio, allowing us to choose the top external thunderbolt hard drives on the market right now!
The selection of the goods is not arbitrary. Before creating a list, we take into account a number of factors. Below are some of the criteria discussed:
Brand Value: What happens if you choose a dubious brand just because it appears to be a good deal? So the likelihood of receiving a product with a short shelf life increases. That is due to the fact that well-known brands have a reputation to uphold, while others do not. Top external thunderbolt hard drives brands strive to provide some distinctive traits that set them apart from the competition. So, hopefully one or more of the items on our list will be perfect for you.
Features: Useful features are all you need, not tons of them. We consider the important aspects and select the top external thunderbolt hard drives based on those.
Specifications: Numbers always help you measure the quality of a product in a quantitative way. We try to find products with higher specifications, but with the right balance.
Quality: A product’s quality may always be quantified with the aid of numbers. We look for goods with better standards that strike the proper balance. The best quality product that gets highly appreciated and recommended by experienced users.
Customer ratings: Would it be accurate to suggest that the external thunderbolt hard drives were used by hundreds of customers before you? Superior ratings indicate that many customers had better service.
Customer Reviews: Like ratings, provide you with accurate and reliable information about the product from genuine customers. Customer ratings are very important to all of us because they contain accurate and reliable information about the customer service we received from several hundred customers.
Seller Rank: This is very intriguing! Not only do you need a good external thunderbolt hard drives, you also need a product with rising sales that is trendy. It accomplishes two goals. First, the expanding user base proves the quality of the product. Second, given that number, producers must be able to offer greater quality and after-sales support.
Value: You get what you pay for, they say, so consider the value. Cheap isn’t always good and expensive isn’t always bad. However, that does not imply that spending a lot of money on a product that is flashy but underwhelming is a good idea. Before adding them to the list, we make an effort to evaluate how much value you can get for your money from your external thunderbolt hard drives.
Durability: Durability and reliability are closely related concepts. You will benefit from a strong and long-lasting external thunderbolt hard drives for months and years to come.
Product availability: Products come and go, and new ones replace the old ones. Most likely, a few new features and required changes were made. What use is it to use a supposedly good product if the maker no longer supports it? We make an effort to highlight products that are current and offered by one or more trustworthy sellers, if not more.
Negative Reviews: Yes, we do take that into account as well! The goods with the majority of bad reviews are filtered out and disregarded when we choose the best-rated one on the market.
These are the standards by which we selected our external thunderbolt hard drives. Do we end our process there? Hell no. The most crucial fact about us that you should be aware of is that we regularly update our website with current and pertinent information. We have one more layer of filtration since we place the greatest importance on reader satisfaction. Please let us know if any product included here is incorrect, irrelevant, subpar, or simply out of date. We always value your opinions, and we’ll work hard to make any necessary corrections to our list in response to them.
Why should you believe us?
There are now thousands of possibilities for these products on Amazon, but choosing the best one can be difficult and time-consuming. And what external thunderbolt hard drives should you purchase in 2022?
This guide is the result of more than 10 years of experience in researching, testing and writing about many topics. Each member of our team is an authority in their area. We read every article we could find online and every consumer review on every retail website for seven hours. Additionally, we discovered a ton of websites that offered helpful resources, including buying tips and thorough information on external thunderbolt hard drives.
