Sequential performance isn’t usually indicative of real-world performance, but that’s what’s most often advertised for external hard drives. As the name implies, sequential reads and writes happen in sequence, meaning the hard drive reads and writes information in blocks next to each other. Seq Q32T1: The first test is for sequential reads and writes.To fully understand what our numbers say, we’re going to provide a brief overview of each test. In total, there are four tests, each of which have two results, one for reads and another for writes. Our CrystalDiskMark test is set up to use a 4GB test file with five passes, running all of the tests available in the application. By ordering and paying for the external hard drive, we close any possible gap between our results and the speed you’ll experience. Instead of asking the manufacturer directly for a sample, we order the hard drive off Amazon to ensure we don’t test a cherry-picked sample. When it’s all said and done, we have two points to directly compare external drives.īefore testing, though, we need to actually acquire the external hard drive. There’s an actual benchmark - in this case, CrystalDiskMark - as well as a hands-on test, when we transfer a 2.3GB test folder filled with videos, music and photos. We use four benchmarks for testing external hard drives, two of which focus on speed. That way, you can view our results and choose the best external hard drive for your needs. External drives that made the list performed at or above expectations, given how they’re built.īefore getting to our picks, though, we want to talk a bit about how we tested each external hard drive, as well as how we analyzed the results. As we’ll talk about in a moment, speed wasn’t the only factor we considered, but it was the most important. Using our external hard drive reviews, we’ve narrowed down the five fastest external hard drives we’ve seen. In this guide, we’re going to run down the fastest external hard drives we’ve tested. Although you should factor in build quality, capacity and features depending on your use, the crux of what makes an external hard drive worthy of our best external hard drive guide is how fast it is. Speed is king when it comes to external hard drives. MP4 Repair: How to Fix Corrupted Video Files in 2019.Best Choice Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery.How to Create a Strong Password in 2023: Secure Password Generator & 6 Tips for Strong Passwords.How to Securely Store Passwords in 2023: Best Secure Password Storage.

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