Shopping for Portable Solid-State Drives

If you need fast, reliable local storage for your huge collections of files (perhaps the ones you've collected on your smartphone or camera), you may want to consider shopping for portable solid-state drives (SSDs). Unlike external hard drives, which mostly have moving parts, portable solid-state drives are more compact and better suited for travels and accidental drops.

Why Use Portable Solid-State Drives?

Unlike traditional hard drive arrays that store data on spinning platters accessed by moving magnetic heads, portable SSD drives use a collection of flash cells to save data. As a result, they offer faster access to your data and run on less power. Additionally, SSDs work more silently than hard drives because of the lack of mechanical parts.

How to Select an External SSD Drive

Choose a portable SSD with enough storage capacity for your needs so you don't run out of space. External SSD drives have storage capacities from 32GB up to 8TB. For even more storage, consider using several SSDs to create a solid-state array. If you'll be transferring huge chunks of data, then the transfer speed of SSDs is worth considering. External solid-state drives with modern connections such as Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1, and USB Type-C have faster transfer speeds for large amounts of data. Because you'll move around with your portable SSD, consider getting one with a rugged body for maximum durability. Some models come with plastic bumpers and waterproof features, and others have dust and shock protection cases. Choose an external SSD drive that's compact and lightweight for easy everyday transportation.

Whatever the storage capacity or features you're looking for, check out B&H Photo and Video to find a wide range of portable solid-state drives as well as internal hard drives from top brands such as Samsung, SanDisk, Dell, Sony, and Transcend.