Cloud services like OneDrive and DropBox offer convenient ways of accessing files on PCs in different

locations, but there are still reasons to lug data the old fashioned way—in your pocket (or your purse or fanny pack or whatever). Unlike online services, physical storage devices like USB flash drives are immune to Internet outages. They’re also more secure in the sense that hackers won’t be infiltrating your external storage solution while you sleep, not unless you leave your storage device connected to a PC with an online connection (don’t do that). It’s also oftentimes much faster to cram large files onto an external storage device than it is to upload them to the cloud.

It’s also oftentimes much faster to cram large files onto an external storage device than it is to upload them to the cloud. That might change when ISPs finally take the brakes off of upload speeds, but for now, dragging and dropping your data onto a flash drive or whatever you’re carrying around is just plain faster and easier.

Of course, not all portable storage solutions are created equal. Some favor raw performance over price and capacity, while others take the exact opposite approach. There are different tools for the job. Here are the ones we’ve pegged as the best.

Best portable SSD Much faster than USB flash drives Easily fits in your pocket Up to 2TB of storage capacity Speed comes at a premium

For the power user who wants it all—speed, capacity, and portability—and is willing to pay a premium for it, Samsung’s Portable SSD T3 is one of the slickest solutions out there. It’s faster than any USB flash drive available, it has the capacity of a hard drive, and you can carry it inconspicuously in your pocket. In hockey, that’s called scoring a hat trick.

This spunky little drive shares the same DNA as Samsung’s 850 Evo SSD, just in a smaller package. It has a USB 3.1 Type-C connector, albeit Gen 1 so it’s limited to a maximum theoretical throughput of 5Gbps. We pitted it against a 512GB Samsung SM951 NVMe SSD connected over Gigabit Ethernet. The T3 ran the table in all eight CrystalDiskMark benchmarks and proved significantly faster in reading and writing game files and large files.

Speed doesn’t come at the expense of storage space. While it’s easy to bump into the storage ceiling of a 32GB, 64GB, or even a 128GB USB flash drive, you’ll find there’s much more breathing room when dealing with terabytes of space, which is what the T3 offers. Whereas the first generation T1 topped out at 1TB, Samsung was able to double the maximum capacity of the T3 to 2TB, a result of upgrading from 32 to 48 stacked layers of V-NAND flash memory cells for a denser configuration.

To put the amount of top end storage into perspective, 2TB is twice as much space as a Dropbox Pro account, which runs $10/month, and 1,000 the capacity of a free account. That’s a lot of storage to carry in your pocket, though if you don’t need that kind of capacity, less expensive 1TB (we recommend this amount to avoid sticker shock), 500GB, and even 250GB models are also available.

As for portability, this svelte drive measures 74mm x 58mm x 10.5mm (WxHxD), about the size of a business card, and weighs just 51g. It’s also shock resistant with an external metal body and internal support frame, so there’s no need to panic if it slips out of your hand. Well, not unless you’re skydiving or participating in the Pamplona bull run.

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Best rugged portable usb drive Built like a tank Completely water tight Strong AES 256-bit encryption Expensive for basic file transfers

What’s that, you are into skydiving and running with the bulls? If you’re a true adventurer, then it might not be speed, capacity, or value that top your list of priorities. What you need is a rugged flash drive, something that can survive horrifying levels of abuse.

There are a few different solutions, though one of the toughest USB flash drives out there is LaCie’s XtremKey. According to LaCie, you can run over this thing with a 10-ton truck without compromising your data. It can also withstand extreme temps from -50C to 200C, and it stays water tight when submerged up to 200 meters.

It’s one thing for LaCie to say how durable its XtremKey is, but demonstrating it is another matter. Lest there be any doubt, LaCie posted a couple of YouTube videos showing its XtremKey being subjected to levels of abuse that would destroy any regular USB flash drive, such as being run over with a steamroller and dropped in a tank of liquid nitrogen. Have a look:

How did LaCie build such a rugged flash drive? The memory modules sit behind a 2mm Zamac metal alloy casing sealed with water-resistant screw threads and a hermetic, rubber O-ring. But it’s not just about physical protection, the XtremKey features AES 256-bit encryption and comes with backup software for Windows and Macs.

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Best high-capacity portable hard drive It's cheap, bulk storage No software to install Doesn't require external power Slow compared to flash-based drives

If you’re the resident chaperone for your child’s soccer team or school outings, you’re not going to roll up to events in a Ferrari, you’re busting out the minivan or SUV. When hauling kids and cargo, space trumps speed, and the same is true when you’re looking to backup or otherwise transfer large amounts of data from your PC. And for big backup chores, hard drives still offer the best bang for buck.

We like Seagate’s Expansion Portable Hard Drive. It’s not as compact and fast as Samsung’s T3, and it can’t withstand an armageddon like LaCie’s XtremKey, but at up to 4TB for $120, it offers the most storage space at the best value.

The 4TB and 3TB models measure 20.9mm x 80mm x 117mm (HxWxL) and weigh 238g. You probably wouldn’t want to try and jam one into a shirt pocket, but they they’re about as portable as a smartphone, just a little chunkier. The smaller capacity drives are even more portable with a thickness of 14.8mm and weighing 170g.

No external power supply is needed to use Seagate’s drive, nor is there any software to install—just plug in the USB cable and start dragging and dropping files. If you go for the 4TB model, by Seagate’s math you’ll have enough room to store:

- Up to 4,000 hours of digital video- Up to 1,000 2-hour DVD movies- Up to 1,280,000 digital photos- Up to 66,640 hours of digital music

If you can get by with 2TB or less and want something that’s even more portable, Seagate’s Backup Plus Slim line is another option. The bang-for-buck isn’t quite as high, but it’s still relatively cheap bulk storage, and in a slimmer profile.

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Conclusion

Storage, especially hard drives, has gotten cheaper and cheaper as time has gone by. It wasn't long ago that a 1TB HDD was an achievement. Now, you can fit that much storage in your pocket in the form of high-speed flash memory. After all, being able to easily take 220 DVDs worth of data with you is way more convenient than having to burn and store all of those discs.

Solid state storage is still far more exspensive than the spinning variety, but the cost for SSDs is declining. As storage declines in cost, so too will external drives that rely upon those same components. However, an external drive will always cost more than an internal bare drive of the same capacity, since you're paying for the USB interface that talks to the drive.

If you prefer to roll your own portable drive, there are hard drive enclosures available for both 2.5-inchand 3.5-inchHDDs and SSDs.

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