Best External Drives & Portable SSDs in Australia (2026)
Portable SSDs for speed, desktop hard drives for bulk backups — how to pick the right external storage in 2026, and the drives we'd buy on Amazon AU.
External storage splits cleanly in two: portable SSDs — small, fast, shock-proof, dearer per terabyte — and external hard drives — slow but cheap, perfect for backups that sit on a shelf. Most people want one of each.
Best portable SSD — Samsung T7 Shield
The T7 Shield is the do-everything drive: 1,050MB/s over USB 3.2 Gen 2, a rubberised IP65 body that shrugs off drops and dust, and wide compatibility across PC, Mac, Android and consoles. The 1TB model is the value sweet spot.
Worthy rivals — Crucial X9 Pro & SanDisk Extreme
Both trade blows with the T7 on price per terabyte — whichever is on special is the right buy. The SanDisk Extreme adds a carabiner loop that's handy for camera bags.
Best bulk backup — Seagate or WD desktop hard drive
For Time Machine, photo archives and "copy everything monthly" backups, a desktop external hard drive delivers many terabytes for the price of a 1TB SSD. Speed doesn't matter for an overnight backup — capacity does.
SSD or hard drive?
- Carried in a bag / edited from directly: SSD, no contest — no moving parts to break.
- Backups that live on a desk: hard drive — 4× the capacity per dollar.
- The 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies, 2 different media, 1 off-site. An SSD in the bag plus a hard drive at home covers the first two.
Filming on security cameras instead? See the high-endurance microSD guide.
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