As nowadays we are in the industrial revolution 4.0 generation, the external hard drive plays an important role in making your daily life a lot easier. Since that thing helps people do their work completely, you might be interested in getting one of the best external hard drives to serve you with your work too. Finding the right 4TB external hard drives can help you store files that you probably want to carry around with you no matter where you are. However, deciding on getting the best choice is a quite complicated task for you to accomplish.
While you are looking for the right external hard drive, you will soon know there are several brand options to choose from. It can be challenging to look for the external hard drive with the abilities to perfectly fill in the missing pieces of your daily basis. Therefore, we have organized a list of top 8 best 4TB external hard drives for you specifically for the purpose of helping out of this decision trap. Plus, we also guide you with the buying guide as well.
Table of Contents
List of Best 4TB External Hard Drive in 2023
8. Western Digital 4TB External Hard Drives My Passport
Starting off with the 8th ranking, we have an external hard drive from a company with the name of Western Digital or WD in a shortened name. This company has built trust from a number of people from all around the world. Moreover, it is very well-matched with almost all Windows PC or MacBook with an updated operating system. Besides, its glossy design makes your hand feel good, and feel cozy while holding it. Not to mentions, it is compatible with these two types of USB: USB 2.0, and 3.0. Talking about portability, this thing is quite compact, and it is really portable.
Now, you can just hang out with it by just putting it in your bag. This item comes with a manufacturing limited warranty from the company that will last for three years. Additionally, there are six different colors due to your preference. In case of having any technical issues, feel free to contact Western Digital about the warranty information. If you require this external hard drive to be protected and secure, then you can do it with the password protection encryption.
What We Like:
- Great Western Digital customer service
- 3-year warranty which is really helpful for the users if the product suddenly catches problems.
- It suits very well with PlayStation 4 And Xbox consoles
- This comes with a fast connection and files transfer.
What We Don’t Like:
- Includes USB Y which will take a long time to replace.
- It does not come with a long USB cable, but WD replaces it with a short one instead.
- The Click Of Death might potentially happen.
7. Seagate Expansion 4TB External Hard Drives
Another one, we have got one of the nicest looking desktop external hard drives. This interesting external hard drive will provide your desktop computer an enormous amount of space to store your privacies, such as photos, music, and videos in. You can use it with Windows computers without requiring any other software. Furthermore, you can connect it to your computer by using the USB 3.0 to USB Y cable that is provided with it in the box. Over and above, it comes with a power adaptor with the power of 18 watts. This external hard drive includes a limited warranty for only one year in case of us using it somehow, and it catches errors.
Now, let us get back to its look. This hard drive completely catches my eyes. Interestingly, the pyramid pattern design takes the design to the next level. It is not small, but you still can put it in your bag when going on a trip. The important thing is that it takes a little more space than the other small ones. If you are a person who likes to store files on a fast hard drive, then this is not a problem for you.
What We Like:
- Quick USB connection.
- Great for file backup usages.
- Works great with Playstation 4.
- A year warranty included.
- Nice design which can attract a lot of customers.
- You can use it with both Windows and macOS.
What We Don’t Like:
- SMR Technology overlaps file storage.
- Hard drive dying after a few months reported.
- Slow reading in the C Drive of a computer.
- Unable to connect to the Xbox console.
- It is not as portable as the other small ones.
6. G-Technology 4TB External Hard Drives, G-DRIVE USB 3.0
Coming up to the 6th ranking of the list, this is one of the greatest choices for you from G-Technology if you are looking for an external hard drive to use day-to-day. As this hard disk provides a capacity of 4TB, it is more than enough for you to store your music, photos, videos, and other files if you are the one who does normal work. Even if you are a video editor or a designer, it still does not matter because that is such a very huge amount. This thing is well-built because they use aluminum as a part of making it.
You can also use it with Time Machine to back up files for MacOS. It comes with USB type B 3.0, and a Kensington lock slot which allows you to securely encrypt it. You will be able to transfer data fast with its USB 3.0 cable. They also provide a 3-year warranty which is a really huge advantage for the users when their hard drive gets broken down. You can bring it with you as well because it is not very big.
What We Like:
- The file transfer is super fast.
- It is easy to access with a Mac.
- Very attractive appearance.
- Quite reliable
What We Don’t Like:
- Troubleshooting issues with reformatting.
- Randomly rejects the hard drive from the computer.
- It can potentially die after one month.
- It has disk errors pop-ups sometimes.
- Definitely not Windows-friendly.
- It does not use USB 3.0 Type-A.
5. LaCie Rugged Mini Portable HDD 4TB External Hard Drive
If you want a new hard drive with that can last long, this is obviously your choice. It comes with a rubber protective case. That helps you when you accidentally drop it. Even if you drop it heavily, it will still be fine. Furthermore, it is also resistant to water as well. You no longer need to be worried about raining or spilling the water on it. USB 3.0 allows this solid 4TB hard drive to deliver the files at a speed of 130 megabytes per second, and that is pretty fast for most users.
Windows and MacOS are all compatible with this hard drive. There is also a warranty that comes with this product which can be used for 2 years. If you have a problem with your hard drive, you can contact LaCie for information on the warranty. You can also use Creative Cloud by Adobe for 1 month too.
What We Like:
- It operates smoothly.
- This hard drive is quite useful for photographers and filmmakers.
- You can backup the files rather quickly.
- Connects greatly with a gold-plated connection cable.
- Use this easily with any problems.
- 2-year warranty which is a really good thing.
- Huge advantage from getting access to all apps plans with Adobe Creative Cloud for a whole month.
What We Don’t Like:
- Slow for the computer to read the hard drive at times.
- Lasting for about four months reported by some customers.
- Will disconnect from the computer with slight Bumps
- Unable to boot gaming files; requires a reboot
- Hard drive’s USB 3.0 port automatically unplugging reported by customers.
4. Toshiba Canvio Basics Portable External 4TB Hard Drives, USB 3.0
Toshiba is a company that is quite well-known for its computer components, such as hard drive, external hard drive, USB flash drive, USB card reader, and a lot more. But, today we have a 4TB Canvio Basics external hard drive from Toshiba. The finish of this product is very attractive thanks to its clean matte design in black color. There are a USB 3.0 port and a USB 2.0 port that can be used to copy files, such as photos, music, videos at a fast speed. You can use this with both Windows and MacOS.
However, to use with MacOS, you need to reformat first. There is also a year warranty to help you out when the hard drive catches issues. It does not need an AC power cord. The portability of this item is really nice. You can bring it anywhere with you since its size is the same as the wallet’s size.
What We Like:
- Strongly compatible for Windows.
- There is no consumption issue.
- Fast data transfers.
- Works really great with PlayStation4 and Xbox consoles.
- Clean design with a clean matte finish in black color.
What We Don’t Like:
- Requires a reformat before the first usage with MacOS.
- Gradually run slowly down from reading from the computer.
- Only lasting for three months reported.
- It may experience missing files at times.
3. WD Elements Desktop 4TB Hard Drives
WD can manage to get on their product to be on the list again with the 3rd ranking. There must be something good about this product which leads it to stand on the top 3 of the list. This external hard drive has a capacity of 4TB which helps you to store more images, videos, music, etc. No worries about transferring speed because it has a fast speed.
It fully supports Windows computers. Besides, a 2-year warranty also comes with this product as well. From this design, it looks really great, the vertical design also saves some space as well. Moreover, durability is also a nice thing about this external hard drive.
What We Like:
- It provides solid performance.
- You can move the file with a consistent transfer speed.
- Being able to save massive video archives.
- This external is very reliable
- Not obtrusive.
What We Don’t Like:
- It requires an external power adapter.
- The bootup process is slow.
- That thing produces loud noise while using it to transfer files.
- Failing to save files after four months of usage reported
- Not recommended for small business owners
- The size is too big which is not an easy thing to bring out with you every time.
2. WD Elements 4TB Portable External Hard Drive
For the 2nd ranking, we have got another great choice from Western Digital or WD. With this huge amount of storage, you can store tons of photos, videos, music, and other files. You are also able to use this to plug with USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports as well. These 2 ports have abilities to make the speed of transferring files a lot faster. It is also a big part of making your computer faster time by time because when your computer storage is almost full, you can store the files into this thing.
It is fully compatible with the Windows operating system. But, if you use it with MacOS or other operating systems, you might need to reformat once again. Because of this being very small, you can bring it with you whenever you want. A 2-year warranty is also one of the biggest advantages of this product for you.
What We Like:
- It works very well with Windows.
- It increases the PlayStation4’s storage space.
- Easy to set up to Xbox consoles.
- Small but fast.
- It is portable.
What We Don’t Like:
- It doesn’t work well with file history and system backup on Windows 10 operating system.
- The product can eventually be unrecognized by computer.
- Lasting only for one month.
- Not reliable for larger files.
- No sleep mode featured.
1. Seagate Portable 4TB External Hard Drives
To conclude this real quick, we would really like to show the best 4tb external hard drive of the list from Seagate. But, before that we also want to ask a question, can you imagine what the 1st ranking external hard drive looks like? This external hard drive looks pretty nice. In addition, they manage to make the clean design very well in black color. If you are a person who likes to travel a lot and likes to store your vacation photos on the hard drive, then this is the right choice for you.
What is more, this supports both Windows and MacOS. Just plug it into the computer, and it will recognize by itself. As a result, you do not need to install the software or driver. Just get access to the folder, and drag your files, such as photos, videos, documents, or music to this external hard drive, and there you have it. In addition, this item comes with an 18 inches USB cable which will be used with the hard drive.
What We Like:
- Increases the PlayStation4’s memory.
- Works well with Xbox consoles.
- Best for saving small files only.
- It is small which is easy for you to bring with you.
What We Don’t Like:
- Very slow reading speed.
- It will automatically delete files on its own.
- Reformatting doesn’t change anything.
Buying Guide to Choosing 4TB External Hard Drives
Consider The Size
This is the important thing that you need to think of. You should choose the one with the small size which will make it easier for you to bring with you when you go on a trip or vacation. If you choose the big one, you can only use it at home because it takes a lot of space, and it is pretty heavy.
Consider USB ports
You need to carefully choose the external hard drive because some hard drives come with the various types of USB ports like USB type-C, USB type-A, USB type-B, USB type-Y, etc. But, what we recommend are the USB type-A, and type-C because they are generally used nowadays.
Consider Transfer Speed
You must not want to wait for a long time when transferring files from the computer to the external hard drive, or from external hard drive back to the computer. So, you can choose the one with USB 3.0 technology which can transfer fast. Moreover, you need to choose the one with 140MB per second or above to not wait for it when transferring files.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is an external hard drive used for?
A: It is used to store the files, such as music, movies, videos, documents, photos, etc. This is used that way once your computer storage is full.
Q: How long can an external hard drive last?
A: An external hard drive can last for 3 to 5 years on average. However, it does not mean that all external hard drives will last that long. Sometimes, it depends on the durability of it, the quality of it, and how you use it. If you use it heavily by storing a lot of things in that hard drive, its life will be shortened time by time.
Q: Does using an external hard drive to help you with your computer speed?
A: Of course. When you move your files from your computer to the store in your external hard drive, it makes more storage space on your computer. When there is more space available on your computer, it will run faster, and smoother. That way your external hard drive can help with your computer speed.
Conclusion
In conclusion, our likely picks for the top eight best 4TB External Hard Drives of 2023. As we have to wrap this up, we have a few thoughts for you to consider. First off, it is uneasy to find the best external hard drive that would be suitable for your needs. This is because factual many external hard drives may eventually quit working after a short period of time. However, these external hard drives do come in handy for many needs. These hard drives are quite useful when you need to store files separately from your computer’s internal hard drive. All in all, every hard drive has a special purpose, and it is up to you what your purpose is for your next hard drive.