There are two main types of drives that are ideal for video editing – Solid State Drives (SSDs) or Hard Disk Drives (HDDs). While SSDs are more compact, portable, and fast, they are also more expensive and come in lower storage capacities. Hard Disk Drives, on the other hand, are slower and more fragile as compared to SSDs, but come significantly cheaper and with high storage capacities. But which one is the best external hard drive for video editing?
Well, there’s no definitive answer to this. It all depends upon your own use case. In this post, you’ll discover some of the best external hard drives for video editing (both HDDs and SSDs) available today.
So, let’s get started.
7 Best External Hard Drives for Video Editing (HDD/SSD)
Here are the seven best external hard drives for video editing (HDD/SSD):
#1. LaCie Mobile SSD
The LaCie Mobile SSD is a compact drive that weighs just 45 grams. It’s highly portable, and you can easily take it with you anywhere you go. Offering up to 540 MB/s of intense speed with USB-C, and USB 3.0, this drive is compatible with both Windows and Mac. It’s superb for video editing.
The LaCie Mobile SSD is available in capacities ranging from 500GB to 2TB, which is sufficient for most video editors. Even if you deal with RAW files that take up a lot of storage space, this drive is great.
#2. Toshiba Canvio Flex Portable External Hard Drive
- Designed for PC, Mac, and Tablet (check compatibility at Toshiba's Consumer HDD...
- Formatted exFAT for cross-device compatibility (2).
- USB-C ready, USB 3.0 compatible.
Compatible with PC, Mac, and tablets, the Toshiba Canvio Flex is a compact and highly portable external hard drive that offers you the convenience and flexibility for all your storage needs. This hard drive is highly affordable and is available in storage capacities ranging from 1TB to 4TB. That’s a great amount of space for video editors.
The 150 MB/s transfer speeds offered by the Canvio Flex are pretty great for an HDD that comes at this price point. But, please note that these speeds will slow as the drive’s cache fills up.
#3. SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD
- Save time storing and transferring data with powerful NVMe solid state performance...
- A forged aluminum chassis acts as a heat sink to deliver higher sustained speeds in a...
- Up to 2 meter drop protection and IP55 water and dust resistance (3), and a handy...
Featuring blazing fast read/write speeds up to 2000MB/s, the SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD lets you create top-tier content with USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 compatibility. It is highly compact and can easily fit in your pocket. The drive is highly durable, with up to 2-meter drop protection and IP55 water and dust resistance. Plus, the handy carabineer loop secures your drive for that extra peace of mind while you’re out and about.
The SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD is highly trusted by professional photographers and video editors. When it comes to available capacities, you get this drive in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB variants.
#4. G-Technology G-Drive Mobile Pro SSD
- Edit and Export faster with sustained transfer rates up to 2800MB/s; As used for...
- A shock resistant design to help protect your content anywhere
- Latest generation Thunderbolt 3 connectivity
The G-Technology G-Drive Mobile Pro SSD is designed for those who need super fast data transfer rates and portable storage for their photos, videos, music, documents, and more. It lets you edit and export faster with sustained transfer rates of up to 2800MB/s. The drive is highly durable, with shock resistance and an aluminum core for sustained performance.
The G-Drive Mobile Pro is especially ideal for video editors, as this SSD allows you to edit multi-stream 8K footage at full frame rate, quickly render VR projects and experience them at full resolution. What’s more, with the Thunderbolt 3 port, you can instantly edit footage on the go at incredible speeds.
#5. WD Elements Desktop External Hard Drive
- High-capacity add-on storage.Specific uses: Business, personal
- Fast data transfers
- Plug-and-play ready for Windows PCs
With USB 3.0 connectivity, the WD Elements Desktop is a highly reliable, high-capacity external hard drive that offers pretty good read/write speeds of up to 120MB/s. This HDD features a sleek design and a pre-formatted NTFS that makes it compatible with Windows systems. For Mac, you’ll need to format the drive first.
The one best thing about the WD Elements Desktop is that it comes in super high capacity variants – from 8TB up to a whopping 18TB capacity! And, it’s priced pretty reasonably too, if you factor in the cost per GB.
#6. LaCie Rugged Mini External Hard Drive
- Shock, drops up to 4 feet, dust and water resistant for all-terrain use.Specific...
- For Mac compatibility this Hard Drive requires reformatting. Refer to Application...
- Password protection built in
The LaCie Rugged Mini External Hard Drive is another great choice for those who need top-notch speeds for video editing. It lets you seamlessly connect to USB 3.0 computers and transfer content with some great speeds of up to 130 MB/s. This hard drive is highly rugged with all-terrain durability of drop, crush, and water resistance, so you can take it along anywhere you go.
The LaCie Rugged Mini External Hard Drive is fast enough to transfer 8K full-frame video. What’s more, it also offers long-term peace of mind with the included two-year limited warranty.
#7. SanDisk Professional G-RAID 2 HDD
- Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports and a single USB-C port
- Dual, 7200RPM Ultrastar hard drives inside
- Daisy chaining for up to 5 additional devices
The SanDisk Professional G-RAID 2 is another high-capacity hard drive ideal for home or in-studio use. Please note that it’s not suitable for outdoor use because it doesn’t have weatherproof features. This HDD is available in some huge storage capacities, ranging from 8TB up to 40TB. The drive features Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports and a single USB-C port.
The SanDisk Professional G-RAID 2 hard drive offers super-fast transfer speeds of up to 500 MB/s and is great for video editing as it can handle multi-stream 8K video with ease.
Which is The Best External Hard Drive For Video Editing?
Choosing the best hard drive for video editors is very different from choosing the best hard drives in general, simply because the speed and storage needs of those working on videos are much greater. While all the above-mentioned hard drives/SSDs are great for video editors, some are faster, while some others have more storage capacity. So, it all depends upon your own needs and preferences.
If speed is what matters to you the most, then I would recommend that you go for the SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD. The drive is super fast, durable, and highly reliable, overall. However, if you want a drive that’s highly capacious, then you should go for SanDisk Professional G-RAID 2 HDD. This hard drive is available in storage capacities ranging from 8TB up to a whopping 40TB.
Take a look at the 10 Best SD Cards for Recording Video (Up to 8k).
Thanks for reading!
I hope this guide helped you learn about what is the best external hard drive for video editing (HDD/SSD).
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