In a world where cyber-crime and security threats run rampant, protecting our data from hackers and other nefarious individuals is crucial. Much of our information and data lie unprotected on our computers, leaving us vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The best encrypted drives provide a reliable and easy way of ensuring your protection, but with so many options, it can be overwhelming to choose the best one.
We have compiled a list of the best gaming mice for each player in 2018. Mice for shooters, MOBA, RPGs and other games in our article. You can almost never have enough storage space and it can almost never be too fast. These are the best hard drives for your PC and laptop in 2018.
We did the research on encrypted thumb/USB/flash drives to find the best of the best. We’ll go through some of the best encrypted drives with options that will give you all the bang for your bucks.
The Best Encrypted Drive
With its impressive range of features, the Integral 8GB Crypto Drive tops our list of best encrypted drives available. This is a secure, water-tight device that holds all of your data and keeps it behind a 256-bit AES encryption code. The 256-bit AES encryption code is the industry standard. However, the military-level security isn’t the only standout feature on the drive. This device also comes with a sturdy, rugged design that can withstand severe impact, as well as an intelligent software that ensures safe data storage.
The Crypto Drive is compatible with both Windows and MacOS computers. Hackers will also have trouble bypassing this device’s secure entry and brute force password attack protection feature. This ensures that all data will be automatically erased – with the drive itself resetting – if you enter the wrong password more than six times. The drive is easy to set up and is quite accessible, even for newbies. Its steel outer case also protects its inner components from a collision or submersion. However, it’s worth noting that it doesn’t come with a data recovery plan, which is a disaster should you lose your password. Once you set a password up, you better hold onto it dearly. You may also be interested in some of the best external hard drives from our list, so take a moment to check them out.
Military-level encryption
Rugged and waterproof design
Compatible with Mac and Windows
8 GB 256-bit encrypted drive
BrandIntegral
ModelINFD8GCRYPTO197
Weight0.48 ounces
Versatile functionality
Top-level security
Built to last
Clumsy software
No data recovery option
Effortless and superfast, the Apricorn Aegis Padlock is another excellent choice for an encrypted flash drive. Apart from providing impeccable speed, the drive also offers unbeatable data security. To begin, you’ll appreciate the drive’s XTS hardware encryption, which is the most robust algorithm available on any drive. The drive itself is also compatible with any operating system, with a quick and easy setup process. A USB 3.0 interface ensures quick data access and swift encryption in real-time. This means that your files are kept safe even if you eject the hard drive from its enclosure.
Note that once the drive is keyed in, it stays active until removal and reboot. The Apricorn Aegis Padlock is suitable for corporate deployment or private use, and also supports multiple passwords. This means up to ten people can enter their password with the keypad and gain access whenever they would like. However, these multiple passwords support also means that your data isn’t private to you alone. You’ll need to ensure that you only share it with trusted individuals.
The drive is feature-packed and includes a data reset feature and data recovery PINs. Unlike the previous option, you know your data isn’t entirely lost even if you forget your password. Low power consumption also means the provided Y-power cable is hardly necessary.
On the downside, however, the drive locks up when you reboot your computer, and your data becomes inaccessible with the reboot. For more amazing storage solutions, check out our guide to the best hard drive docks.
Fast USB 3.0 connection
Brute force self destruct
Rugged but compact design
Wear-resistant keypad
Military-grade encryption algorithm
BrandApricorn
ModelA25-3PL256-1000
Weight8 ounces
Compact and accessible build
Data recovery option is available
Strong, durable design
The same data is accessible by all users
For anyone who has confidential data that needs effective storage, the Apricorn Aegis Secure Key holds a well-earned spot on our list of encrypted hard drives. While the Aegis Padlock was a great security option, the Apricorn Aegis Secure Key takes security a step further with its incorporation of PIN access and military-grade hardware encryption. This drive doesn’t require special software or driver access, and is compatible with popular operating systems (including Linux and ChromeOS).
One of the most outstanding features is the ability to configure it with Independent User and Admin PINs, thus making it an ideal choice for corporate and government institutions. The device also comes equipped with a “drive reset” feature that can delete the User and Admin PINs, erase stored data, and generate a new encryption key. This allows you to reuse the drive as many times as you need. Ease of use and accessibility are added benefits of the Apricorn Aegis Secure Key, plus you get a high-quality aluminum casing and wear-resistant keypad. However, the device tends to be much slower – a demerit that will affect your user experience. Perhaps this is due to the number of features, or it could just be a defect from the manufacturers. For more useful devices like this, read our comprehensive guide to the top external SSDs.
Rugged, waterproof casing
Military-grade hardware encryption
Compatible with any platform (Windows, Mac, Linux, Embedded systems)
Includes drive reset and pin installation feature
BrandApricorn
ModelASK-256-16GB
Weight1.6 ounces
Water-resistant body
Rugged, long-lasting casing
“Drive reset” feature allows for reusability
The device is slow
The Kingston Digital Vault Privacy Data Traveler may seem small and elementary, but the device packs quite a punch as far as security is concerned. This device offers you excellent data protection at an affordable price. The Data Traveler offers business-grade security with AES hardware-based encryption, while also incorporating antivirus protection. This drive is available in three models – standard, managed, and antivirus. Regardless of what your individual or company needs are, you will be able to get effective data security with this option from Kingston.
The Data Traveler features SafeConsole management which makes it an ideal choice for corporate users. The feature allows more control via management tools, thus providing a great use for IT administrators who want to manage secure flash drives centrally to meet compliance requirements. Professionals that manage confidential information will appreciate its ease of use and customization features as well.
You also get a solid build with the Data Traveler, while the hardwired software will make it easy for you to install the device. The drive is compatible with any computer, and it will also work on a USB 2.0 port effortlessly. Sadly, however, the device is limited in its storage capacity. With just 16 GB of storage space, companies that move tons of data might find it inconvenient to work with this product. However, it could be sufficient for individual use. Don’t forget to also check out our selection of the best external optical drives for more quality devices you may find useful.
Business-grade security
Can be customized to meet specific internal corporate IT requirements
USB 3.0 technology
Features antivirus protection
Supports SafeConsole management
BrandKingston
ModelDTVP30/16GB
Weight0.32 ounces
Portable design makes it easy to carry around
Compatible with any computer
Affordable
Small storage space
With a strong resemblance to spyware, the DataLocker FE2000 drive is sleek and aesthetically appealing. Although pricey, the 2 TB hard drive is a good value for its perfectly combined aesthetics with performance. It is also an excellent choice if you prefer a flash drive with a large storage capacity. With its brute force self-destruct, auto-lock, and silicone outer shell features, it’s not hard to see why the Data Locker has made it to our list of encrypted hard drives.
It is not just the sleek outer casing that makes the DataLocker stand out; its dual 2-pass encryption is an impressive feature on the drive that ensures your data is doubly secured. The alphanumeric keypads also function well and make the device more accessible and easier to use. This gadget is ideal for short term data storage because the device tends to become unreliable and may constantly disconnect after long term use. This doesn’t affect its data storage and security in any way, however.
Compatible with every platform
Sleek silicone outer shell
Dual 2-pass encryption
One year warranty
BrandDataLocker
ModelFE2000
Weight1.15 pounds
Speedy connectivity
Double security is a unique feature
Sleek casing
Not reliable for extended use
As one of the sturdiest and most highly recommended drives around, the STNTUS INNOVATIONS Encrypted USB Flash Drive sells itself. It’s the perfect drive for people with active lifestyles, thanks in no small part to its near-indestructible build. The ease of use is one attractive feature of this drive, and it takes no time to set it up with the easy-to-follow instruction manual and good support process.
This drive does not disappoint in terms of security and performance. Its list of impressive features includes auto-lock, software-free operation, and cross-platform compatibility. It comes with superfast transfer speeds, which allows you to transfer large amounts of data in a relatively short time. The auto-lock feature is activated once you eject the drive from your computer preventing unauthorized persons from accessing your secure data. The STNTUS INNOVATIONS Encrypted USB Flash Drive is bulky, and that might be its Achilles heel. However, when you consider its powerful and sturdy shell, which is water-resistant and shockproof, the drive seems like a worthy investment – especially for people who have a lot of important data.
Auto-lock
Software-free operation
Cross-platform compatibility
BrandSTNTUS INNOVATIONS
ModelUpdated 16G
Weight0.8 ounces
Durable and sturdy build
Compatible with all platforms
Good value
Heavy device
The Farsler Encrypted Pen Drive has one of the most interesting designs in the world of encrypted USB drives, and all for a bargain price. This device features fingerprint encryption to enable more advanced security for your files; you can enter up to six fingerprints so that more than one person can access the data on the drive.
This encrypted drive from Farsler comes with a straightforward instruction manual for set up. It also comes with dual storage and public/private sectors for storing public and private data. You can only access the private sector through fingerprint identification. The pen drive is fashionable; however, it is made out of plastic and not as sturdy as it appears. The device is compatible with most computers, including Mac and Windows. But the fingerprint scanner is not compatible with Apple MacBook laptops and computers. However, at this price point, you will hardly find a similar device that encrypts your data more securely.
Fingerprint encryption
Dual storage containing private and public sectors
With a superb pairing of performance and durability, the iStorage DiskAshur Encrypted Drive is one of the best and most highly recommended drives on the market. Its design and list of impressive features are hard to ignore. This drive is compatible with most platforms. You can use it on any device with a USB port across all operating systems, including Linux, Chrome, and embedded systems. The device is government-certified, and it also delivers on data transfer speeds, too. Setting up the device may be tricky initially, but on the whole, it is easy to use.
The iStorage drive uses PIN authentication for better security, which is a superior system. Rest assured that hacking into the device is impossible without the PIN. So far, the only dross on the product is its high price, but the security is worth it. You may also like some of these quality network storage devices from our list, so check them out.
Pin authentication
Military-grade hardware encryption
Compatible with every platform
Two-year warranty
BrandiStorage
ModelIS-DAP2-256-1000-C-G
Weight8 ounces
Ultra-secure data storage capabilities
Sturdy and durable
Speedy data transfer
Connectivity can be inconsistent
The iStorage DiskAshur PRO2 is currently one of the fastest and most reliable encrypted drives available on the market. With its set of features, it’s rather easy to see why: This device is currently NCSC CPA, FIPS 140-2 Level 2, and NATO restricted level-certified. With a slew of government certifications and user recommendations, the device is loaded with high-level encryption.
The iStorage DishAshur PRO2 is compatible with every platform, and it’s capable of working with any device through the USB port. The setup process takes quite some time but the user manual is straightforward and should speed up the initial process. We noticed that customers who complained about the set-up were those who didn’t bother checking the manual. This design is portable, sturdy, and tamper-proof, as the device is not accessible without PIN authentication. For more amazing storage options, check out these amazing microSD cards from our list.
Military-grade hardware encryption
USB 3.1 solid-state drive
Pin authentication
BrandiStorage
ModelIS-DAP2-256-SSD-512-C-G
Weight8 ounces
Sturdy device
Compatibility with any device
Speedy data transfer
Connectivity may be inconsistent
The Corsair Padlock 3 bears no resemblance to a flash drive and has one of the most attractive designs of any drive available on the market. Combine its attractive look with a great build and optimal performance, and you have a device that will have no issues with securing your data. The drive is very affordable, and users will love the tamper-proof build. It also has optimal encryption, thanks to AES-256 hardware encryption.
If you live an active lifestyle, this drive may be perfect for you. It’s shockproof and water-resistant, and with government-level security protocols, there’s hardly a project that it doesn’t meet. Sadly, however, it’s blessing could also be its curse – once your data is lost, recovering it will be virtually impossible. The device also holds just 16 GB of data, so companies with massive data loads might not find much use for it.
AES hardware encryption
Pin authentication
Rugged rubber casing
BrandCorsair
ModelCMFPLA3B-16GB
Weight0.16 ounces
Shockproof and water-resistant
Affordable
Industry-standard encryption
Inconsistent connectivity
Low storage
In an era when 50GB of iCloud storage is 99 cents per month, and trim, slim external SSDs are getting cheaper, external hard drives, based on spinning platter disks, might appear less essential than they once were. But modern ones are faster, more stylish, and often more durable than their counterparts from a few years ago. They're ever more capacious for the money, too. For about $50, you can add a terabyte of extra storage to your laptop or desktop by just plugging in a USB cable.
Choosing an external drive isn't as simple as buying the most expensive one you can afford, however. The drive capacity is the most important factor to consider, and it can increase or decrease the cost dramatically depending on your needs. Other factors include the physical size of the drive (is it designed to be carted around, or to sit on your desk?), how rugged it is, the interface it uses to connect to your PC, and even what colors it comes in. This guide will help you make sense of these and many more questions that arise while you're shopping for an external hard drive.
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Weighing the Need for Speed: Hard Drive or SSD?
Hard drives may get you more capacity for your dollar by far, but first you need to consider a major difference in external storage these days: the hard drive versus the SSD.
Solid-state drives (SSDs) have fewer moving parts than traditional hard drives, and they offer the speediest access to your data. Unlike a conventional disk-based hard drive, which stores data on a spinning platter or platters accessed by a moving magnetic head, an SSD uses a collection of flash cells—similar to the ones that make up a computer's RAM—to save data.
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Just how much faster is it to access data stored in flash cells? Typical read and write speeds for consumer drives with spinning platters are in the 100MBps to 200MBps range, depending on platter densities and whether they spin at 5,400rpm (more common) or 7,200rpm (less common). External SSDs offer at least twice that speed and now, often much more, with typical results on our benchmark tests in excess of 400MBps. Practically speaking, this means you can move gigabytes of data (say, a 4GB feature-length film, or a year's worth of family photos) to an external SSD in seconds rather than the minutes it would take with an external spinning drive.
Not only is it faster to read and write data stored in flash cells, but it's also safer. Because there is no spinning platter or moving magnetic head, if you bump the SSD while you're accessing its data, there is no risk that your files will become corrupted and unreadable.
Still, while external SSDs are cheaper than they were a few years ago (see the best we've tested at the preceding link), they're far from a complete replacement for spinning drives. Larger external drives designed to stay on your desk or in a server closet still almost exclusively use spinning-drive mechanisms, taking advantage of platter drives' much higher capacities and much lower prices compared with SSDs.
And portable hard drives can be a great value if what you need is raw capacity above all else. You can find a 2TB portable hard drive with ease (possibly even a 4TB one, depending on the day) for less than $100. A 2TB SSD, though? Expect to pay at least two to three times as much as you would for that 2TB hard drive. And let's not even talk about the cost of 4TB and 8TB external SSDs.
Physical Size Matters: Get a Desktop Drive, or a Portable One?
If you have a large media-file collection—perhaps you are a photo or video editor, or maybe a movie buff—you'll likely need several terabytes of space in which to store it. In that case, your best option is a desktop-class hard drive. We define these as having one or more spinning-platter drives inside and requiring a dedicated power cable plugged into AC power to work. (Of course, in this scenario, your files are going to have to stay at your desk.)
A desktop drive with a single platter mechanism will typically use a 3.5-inch drive inside and comes in capacities up to 12TB, though a few 16TB single drives in external chassis have started to emerge. Most are roughly 5 inches tall and 2 inches wide. In addition to storing large media collections, these drives can also serve as inexpensive repositories for backups of your computer's hard drive that you schedule, using either software that comes with the drive or a third-party backup utility.
Best Internal Hard Drive For Desktop
The next size up for consumer desktop drives is about the same height but twice as wide, to accommodate more than one platter-based hard drive mechanism in the chassis. These larger models are more expensive but also much more capacious—think 16TB or more (in that case, populated by two 8TB drive mechanisms). In the case of these and single-platter-drive products, you're not meant to swap out the drive or drives inside.
(Photo: Zlata Ivleva)
The largest desktop drives are often much, much bulkier than the first two categories, so big that you'll want to stick them under your desk or in a dedicated server closet. They're mostly intended for professional use in editing studios, surveillance control rooms, and the like. Their defining characteristic is the ability to swap drives in and out of their multi-bay chassis easily, so most provide quick access to the drive bays at the front of the device.
Most such multi-bay devices are sold without the actual hard drives included, so you can install any drive you want (usually, 3.5-inch drives, but some support laptop-style 2.5-inchers). Their total storage capacities are limited only by their number of available bays and the capacities of the drives you put in them. The storage industry refers to these (as well as smaller-capacity externals as a whole) as DAS—for 'direct attached storage'—to distinguish them from NAS, or network attached storage, many of which are also multi-bay devices that can take two or more drives that you supply. (See our separate roundup of the best NAS drives.)
At the other end of the physical-size spectrum are portable drives. Hard drive-based portables make use inside of the same kinds of platter-drive mechanisms used in laptops. These are called generically '2.5-inch drives,' though they are actually a smidge wider than that. Any portable platter-based hard drive should fit easily in a purse or even a coat pocket. As a rule, portable drives get their power from the computer to which you connect them, through the interface cable, so there's no need for a wall outlet or a power cord/brick.
The best way to gauge relative value among similar portable drives is to calculate the cost per gigabyte, dividing the cost of the drive in dollars by the capacity in gigabytes to see the relative per-gig price. Example: A $60 1TB (1,000GB) hard drive would run you about 6 cents per gigabyte, while an $80 2TB (2,000GB) drive would work out to about 4 cents per gigabyte.
Need Redundancy or Extreme Speed? Consider a RAID-Enabled Drive
If you buy a larger desktop drive with two or more discrete spinning-platter drive mechanisms inside, you'll almost certainly have the option to configure the drive as a RAID array using included software. Depending on which RAID level you choose, you can prioritize capacity, speed, or data redundancy, or some combination thereof.
(Photo: Zlata Ivleva)
A collection of spinning drives configured with a RAID level designed for faster data access can approximate the speeds of a basic SSD, while you should consider a drive with support for RAID levels 1, 5, or 10 if you're storing really important data that you can't afford to lose. Hit the link above for an explanation of the traits and strengths of each RAID level. Some require you to sacrifice raw capacity for data redundancy, so you'll want to pay attention to the nuances of each level.
Which Drive Interface Should You Look For?
How an external drive connects to your PC or Mac is second only to the type of storage mechanism it uses in determining how fast you'll be able to access data. These connection types are ever in flux, but these days, most external hard drives use a flavor of USB, or in rare cases, Thunderbolt.
Right now, the fastest mainstream connection type is Thunderbolt 3, which is handy assuming you have a newer laptop or desktop with a Thunderbolt 3 port. (Thunderbolt 4 is still emerging in new PCs, but drives that use it and PCs that support it are not yet common.) All late-model Apple MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops have them, and many high-end Windows 10 laptops do, too. This interface piggybacks on a USB Type-C connector (not all USB Type-C ports support Thunderbolt 3, though) and offers blazing peak throughput of up to 40GBps. As a bonus, a desktop drive that supports Thunderbolt 3 might also come with additional DisplayPort and USB connections that allow you to use the drive box as a hub for your keyboard, mouse, monitor, and other peripherals. (See our explainer Thunderbolt 3 vs. USB-C: What's the Difference?)
You'll only see the speed benefits of Thunderbolt 3, however, if you have a drive that's SSD-based, or a multi-drive, platter-based desktop DAS that is set up in a RAID array. For ordinary external hard drives, Thunderbolt is very much the exception, not the rule. It tends to show up mainly in products geared toward the Mac market.
A desktop hard drive with a single platter-based mechanism inside, or a portable hard drive, is far more likely to make use of plain old USB instead. Almost every recent drive we have reviewed supports USB, and the same goes for laptops and desktops. USB ports are ubiquitous, and many external drives now come with cables with both rectangular USB Type-A connectors and oval-shaped USB Type-C ones to enable adapter-free connections to PCs that have only one type. If the drive includes only a single cable, you may need an adapter, depending on your computer's available USB ports. Be mindful of that.
In addition to their physical shape differences, USB ports on the computer side will variously support USB 3.0, 3.1, or 3.2, depending on the age of the computer and how up to date its marketing materials are. You don't have to worry about the differences among these three USB specs when looking at ordinary hard drives, though. All are inter-compatible, and you won't see a speed bump from one versus the other in the hard drive world. The drive platters' own speed is the limiter, not the flavor of USB 3.
The only case with hard drives where the USB standard matters much is if you connect a drive to an old-style, low-bandwidth USB 2.0 port, which is better reserved for items like keyboards and mice. (Also, if it's a portable drive, that USB 2.0 port may not supply sufficient power to run the drive in the first place, so the speed shortfall may be moot.) Any remotely recent computer will have some faster USB 3-class ports, though.
Do You Need to Go Rugged?
If you carry your drive around frequently, you'll want to pay attention to how rugged the drive is. Some models include plastic bumpers, and some even meet military standards for shock and dust protection. (Look for support for specifications such as IP67 or IP68.)
(Photo: Zlata Ivleva)
Best Budget Hard Drive 2018 Chevy
And of course, if you're carrying your drive around with you, you want it to look nice. Some come in multiple colors, while others are super-slim and ready to be tossed in a pocket.
Perhaps the only thing you don't need to pay all that much attention to is the warranty. Sounds counter-intuitive, perhaps? Sure, a long warranty is nice. But if your drive breaks because you dropped it, the warranty likely won't cover that, anyway. Even if the drive fails because of a manufacturing defect, most warranties simply replace the drive and don't cover the cost of recovery services that attempt to rescue your data from the broken drive. The real value lies in what's on your drive, not the drive itself.
So, Which External Hard Drive Should I Buy?
Also know that you can find external drives that do way more than just store your data. Some include SD card readers to offload footage from a camera or drone in the field, while a few specialized models have built-in Wi-Fi and can double as a little media server, able to connect to more than one device at a time.
Best Budget Hard Drive 2018 Macbook Pro
To get you started in the right direction, below are the best external hard drives (platter-based models) we've tested of late, at a variety of prices and capacities. They're a fine starter mix for your research. Bear in mind that most of them come in a range of capacity options, so know that even if the specific model we tested is too big or small for your needs, the drive maker may well offer it in a more fitting size. And if you want to explore the best external SSDs, as well, click on the preceding link.