External SSD hard disk performance & benchmark tests
Here you can find detailed speed performance tests of external USB-C hard drives. You can also use them with a USB Type A plug via an adapter, but they will only reach a maximum of 5 Gbit/s (~450 MB/s). However, the HDDs tested here achieve 10 Gbit/s (~1000 MB/s) or 20 Gbit/s (~1,900 MB/s). If your USB interface is not fast enough, you can also upgrade it on a PC using a PCIe card. The card needs an ASM3242 chipset to deliver USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen 2x2) at 20 Gbit/s, and you also need a 15-pin SATA connector for the power supply. You can get such a card from the company IO CREST.
The following external hard drives were tested:
| Product | Image | Capacity | Read | Write | Score | Price | $/GB | Test | Shop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADATA Elite SE880 512GB |  |
512 GB | 2078 MB/s | 1822 MB/s | 1319 | 80 $ | 0,16 $ |  |
|
| ADATA SE900G 1TB |  |
1024 GB | 2057 MB/s | 2089 MB/s | 1838 | 85 $ | 0,08 $ | |
|
| Corsair EX100U 1TB |  |
1024 GB | 1584 MB/s | 1527 MB/s | 1220 | 68 $ | 0,07 $ | |
|
| Crucial X6 500GB |  |
500 GB | 854 MB/s | 773 MB/s | 795 | 43 $ | 0,09 $ | |
|
| Crucial X6 2TB | |
2048 GB | 828 MB/s | 818 MB/s | 959 | 99 $ | 0,05 $ | |
|
| Crucial X8 2TB |  |
2048 GB | 1052 MB/s | 1014 MB/s | 1083 | 115 $ | 0,06 $ | |
|
| Kingston XS2000 Portable SSD 500GB |  |
500 GB | 2075 MB/s | 1850 MB/s | 1144 | 62 $ | 0,12 $ | |
|
| Kingston XS2000 Portable SSD 1TB | |
1024 GB | 2081 MB/s | 1884 MB/s | 1231 | 96 $ | 0,09 $ | |
|
| LaCie Portable SSD 500GB |  |
500 GB | 1052 MB/s | 838 MB/s | 826 | 80 $ | 0,16 $ | |
|
| Lexar SL660 BLAZE Gaming Portable SSD 1TB |  |
1024 GB | 2076 MB/s | 1868 MB/s | 1229 | 130 $ | 0,13 $ | |
|
| Netac Z SLIM 1TB |  |
1024 GB | 561 MB/s | 512 MB/s | 588 | 80 $ | 0,08 $ | |
|
| Netac ZX20 512GB |  |
512 GB | 2073 MB/s | 1787 MB/s | 1263 | 67 $ | 0,13 $ | |
|
| ORICO MTQ-10G 1TB |  |
1024 GB | 1230 MB/s | 1240 MB/s | 1211 | 160 $ | 0,16 $ | |
|
| Samsung Portable SSD T7 500GB |  |
500 GB | 1091 MB/s | 918 MB/s | 861 | 67 $ | 0,13 $ | |
|
| Samsung Portable SSD T7 1TB | |
1024 GB | 1003 MB/s | 1017 MB/s | 889 | 80 $ | 0,08 $ | |
|
| Samsung Portable SSD T7 2TB | |
2048 GB | 1091 MB/s | 1031 MB/s | 908 | 130 $ | 0,06 $ | |
|
| Samsung Portable SSD T7 Shield 1TB |  |
1024 GB | 1085 MB/s | 1049 MB/s | 943 | 90 $ | 0,09 $ | |
|
| SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD V2 1TB |  |
1024 GB | 1092 MB/s | 1081 MB/s | 1116 | 82 $ | 0,08 $ | |
|
| SanDisk Portable SSD 1TB |  |
1024 GB | 930 MB/s | 654 MB/s | 962 | 63 $ | 0,06 $ | |
|
| SanDisk Portable SSD 2TB | |
2048 GB | 890 MB/s | 803 MB/s | 1273 | 111 $ | 0,05 $ | |
|
| SSK SD500 1TB |  |
1024 GB | 1230 MB/s | 1237 MB/s | 1035 | 66 $ | 0,06 $ | |
|
| Western Digital WD My Passport SSD 1TB |  |
1024 GB | 1090 MB/s | 1078 MB/s | 1119 | 74 $ | 0,07 $ | |
|
| Western Digital WD_BLACK D30 Game Drive SSD 1TB |  |
1024 GB | 935 MB/s | 841 MB/s | 874 | 109 $ | 0,11 $ | |
|
| Western Digital WD_BLACK P50 Game Drive SSD 500GB |  |
500 GB | 1954 MB/s | 1991 MB/s | 1631 | 130 $ | 0,26 $ | |
We are currently expanding the test of external hard drives; you will find more HDDs here soon.