Western Digital has announced a new external drive joining its SanDisk portfolio. Offering one of the largest capacities you can get on an SSD solution, it aims to be your one-stop shop for personal and professional data backups.
Simply dubbed SanDisk Desk Drive, this external SSD series will be available in 4TB and 8TB capacities. The latter represents the brand’s highest capacity yet on an external desktop SSD. This capacity doesn’t come free, though; the drive is a bit bulkier than the widely available 1TB or 2TB models. If 8TB is still not enough for you, WD expects to launch a 16TB model next year.
Now, something that may dissuade some buyers is the separate power plug. I’d have preferred a single Type-C connection, but the brand reserves it for data transfer. Instead, the device uses a barrel-type connection to juice up. Worst case, WD could’ve opted for two USB ports for host PCs that don’t support high power delivery over USB. Maybe WD estimated that the latter was too convoluted.
When it comes to speed, the SanDisk Desk Drive isn’t the best SSD, and it doesn’t break any records. Though, with its advertised 1,100MB/s read speed, it should transfer your files fast enough for daily use. An upgrade to USB 3.2 Gen 2×2’s speed would’ve been a bonus but surely would’ve amped up the price. If your main use is to back up your files, videos, and photos or to watch movies directly from it, you should be OK.
I own an external drive rocking identical speed, and I back up a lot of things daily without feeling slow. I bet most won’t even notice a difference between it and many internal SSDs if you hide the speed meter. Don’t let the speed deter you; go for it if you like the capacity and price.
Talking of which, Western Digital is going head-to-head against some of the cheapest 8TB solutions from the likes of Samsung and VectoTech with a price tag of £663.99 / $699.99. However, the 4TB variant is a bit on the high side at £359.99 / $379.99 when the competition is much lower at around £250. Both models are backed by a three-year warranty.