Best External SSD Drives 2022

The demand for storage space has grown over the years, especially as everything goes digital. Expanding your computer’s disk space is the new normal, especially for laptop users who don’t have much of it. 

External SSD drives are useful for more than just expanding storage space. Unlike portable hard drives, they don’t have moving parts, so they’re faster and less likely to break, while keeping your files close at hand. And quite a few of them have a solid construction, so you can take them with you on trips or business trips. 

Because external SSDs come with a number of benefits, they’re worth looking into if you’re thinking about additional storage for your laptop or computer. We’ve selected the best portable SSDs in 2022 to make your search easier. 

Top 10 rating according to KP

Editor’s Choice

1. Adata SD700 External SSD (average price 10,5 thousand rubles)

The Adata SD700 will suit those who are looking for a reliable external SSD drive that can provide enough capacity without the extra cost. It offers speed and IP68 protection rating, i.e. it can be carried around without worrying about damage. It has a capacity of up to 1TB, so you don’t have to worry about wasting storage space just because it uses SSD technology. But it doesn’t come with the new USB Type-C connection, which means the speed isn’t as fast as it could be. 

2. Seagate Fast SSD (average price 12,5 thousand rubles)

Seagate is a well-known brand that has made an impressive contribution to the portable SSD market with the introduction of the excellent Seagate Fast SSD. It’s an impressively thin external SSD, at just 9mm thick and with a footprint of 94 x 79mm. It’s an affordable option and it’s a great choice, it’s relatively small, plus it has a nice design and a three-year manufacturer’s warranty. Worth considering if you’re looking for a good portable SSD at a low price. 

3. Samsung X5 Portable SSD (average price 29 thousand rubles)

If speed is your top priority and money doesn’t matter, then the Samsung X5 portable SSD is the best external SSD for you. It comes with a Thunderbolt 3 connection that takes full advantage of the ultra-fast speeds of the Samsung 970 Evo NVMe SSD. But it comes at a cost. First, it’s a financial cost, as it’s an expensive external SSD. It is also bigger and bigger than the Samsung T7 or Samsung T5 which are also on this list. The device is quite heavy at 150g, which is three times the size of the Samsung T5, and at 116 x 60 x 18mm, it’s best described as portable rather than petite. However, when it comes to performance, Samsung X5 is the best portable SSD. 

What other external SSD drives are worth paying attention to

4. Adata SE730H External SSD (average price 5300 rubles)

This small and compact external SSD provides very decent speed. There is a durable case that protects the drive from water, as well as drops and bumps. It’s not the fastest drive as it still relies on the legacy SATA technology rather than the newer and faster NVMe technology, but you still get great performance for the money. At 72,7 x 44 x 12,2mm, Adata claims it’s the smallest external SSD, weighing just 37g excluding cable, and comes with military-certified protection. Therefore, an SSD should be able to withstand accidental drops and bumps without much damage. 

5. WD My Passport Wireless SSD (average price of 31 thousand rubles)

Storage giant Western Digital is no stranger to the industry of hard drives designed specifically for professional photographers, and in the form of the WD My Passport Wireless SSD, it has created another great device that photographers or even casual users will love. Here you can view and move files through a Wi-Fi connection, and not through a cable, which is very convenient. However, over Wi-Fi you don’t use the full speed of the SSD. It also connects via USB 3.0, which offers very good speeds, but not as fast as USB Type-C or Thunderbolt. But the flexibility and reliability of the WD My Passport Wireless SSD is certainly enticing, plus it comes with a built-in SD card reader, making it one of the best portable SSDs for photographers. 

6. Samsung T7 SSD (average price 17 thousand rubles)

If you’re looking for an external SSD with lots of features, the Samsung T7 might be the one for you. This external storage is not only fast (sequential read and write speeds up to 1050 and 1000 MB per second), but it also boasts a lot of useful features in its compact body. The most important of these features are the built-in security options, which use AES 256-bit encryption and give you the option to use fingerprint login. It is fashionable to customize with your own management software. 

7. LaCie Portable High Performance External SSD (average price 23 thousand rubles)

It is not for nothing that LaCie is one of the few brands that are equally trusted by both professionals and ordinary users. The manufacturer has designed its HDDs and SSDs to be travel-friendly, durable enough to withstand accidental drops, and lightweight and shock-resistant. LaCie’s portable, high-performance external SSD falls into the second category. While it may not have the rugged construction that Lacie drives are known for, it’s still built for travel. It’s also versatile in terms of connectivity – while it has a USB-C connection that’s best for MacBooks and the Dell XPS line, it also allows USB 3.0 connectivity for other laptops. 

8. Samsung T5 SSD (average price 13,5 thousand rubles)

The Samsung Portable SSD T5 builds on the great design and performance of its predecessor, the Samsung T3 SSD, but upgraded with an incredibly fast USB Type-C connection that pulls every last drop of performance from the SSD inside. Of course, it’s also backward compatible with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 if your computer doesn’t have USB Type-C. It’s expensive, but worth the money. 

9. G-Technology 1TB G-DRIVE mobile SSD (average price 14 thousand rubles)

When it comes to protecting your files, G-Technology is still a good choice. This manufacturer’s 1TB external G-DRIVE SSD, for example, is IP67 rated against water and dust, can withstand drops from up to 3m, and has a crush resistance of over 1000kg. Its data transfer speeds up to 560MB/s and USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt 3 compatibility also ensure consistently fast data transfers. Similar to the LaCie Portable High Performance External SSD described above, this is not the cheapest option. 

10. SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD (average price 17 thousand rubles)

Sandisk has been releasing the Extreme Portable SSD series for a while now, and it stands out for its durable rubberized shell that is IP55 water and dust resistant, as well as shockproof. But underneath the boring exterior, the Extreme Pro is a far cry from any of the manufacturer’s other models when it comes to read and write speeds. Sansdisk claims a maximum continuous read speed of up to 1050 MB/s, up from 550 MB/s in conventional models – a significant boost. 

How to choose an external SSD drive 

In preparing this compilation, we turned to Ilyas Khodjametov, Sales Manager of the Federal Network of Digital Stores. He told what to look for when choosing the best SSD drive in 2022.

Security

The rugged design will be useful if you want to move your external SSD freely without worrying about the device being damaged and, more importantly, that you will lose your data. 

Reliability

It’s hard to say unequivocally which manufacturer makes the most reliable hard drives. While there is a big difference between the technologies used in traditional HDDs and SSDs, both have a limited lifespan and therefore warranties are relatively short—typically two or three years.

Cost

For many users, a portable storage device may not be a mandatory purchase, and price will be a deciding factor. Often an old SSD drive will be cheaper due to the price drop, so you can save some money, but make sure you don’t miss out on new technologies that can be very useful. 

Professionals will be willing to pay more for faster, more durable SSDs. 

Security

The larger the drive, the more you can store on it—and the more you lose if the drive is lost or stolen. That’s why it’s worth securing this drive. 

There are two ways to make data unreadable by other users. You can encrypt content using hardware-based encryption (such as a fingerprint). Or you can use a software application to encrypt either part or all of the drive via a computer.