Choosing the best hard drives for video editing can make the difference between peace of mind and frustration. As video resolutions go ever higher, so do your storage needs. If you shoot top-quality 6K video, you could be talking roughly 1 TB of storage per hour of video.
Size isn’t everything, of course. You need your files to be safe, and you want them to be quickly accessible. Few of us will have a computer that comes with enough storage. And so, we turn to external storage.
For this review, we looked at portable and desktop storage. And we have considered both hard disk drives (HDD) and solid state drives (SSD). See our buyer’s guide for more information about the pros and cons of both types of drive. We also look at a range of sizes from 1 TB (1,024 GB) to 48 TB.
Our top pick is neither the biggest nor the cheapest. But it is an attractive blend of speed, size (physical and storage capacity), and price.
Before we take an in-depth look at our recommended drives, here’s a summary of all our selections.
This review should help you decide what type of external drive you need for your video editing. Then you can narrow down those choices with our recommendations.
| Brand |
Brand
LaCie
|
| Drive Type |
Drive Type
HDD
|
| Capacity |
Capacity
5 TB
|
| Interface |
Interface
USB 2.0/3.0
|
| Max Read/Write Speeds |
Max Read/Write Speeds
130/130 Mbps
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
Rain-, drop-, and pressure-resistant
|
| Best For |
Best For
Anyone looking for a great value and rugged HDD
|
The LaCie Rugged Mini 5 TB External Hard Drive is definitely designed to go on the road with you. And it’s designed to withstand the knocks that might come its way, too. It looks the part as well, with a bright orange rubber bumper surrounding the metal drive enclosure.
LaCie claims that the Rugged Mini can withstand the pressure of a one-ton car. Or being dropped from 4 feet (1.2 m). And that it is rain-resistant. It’s rated to IP67, so that’s pretty impressive for an HDD. Remember that this is a mechanical drive, so there are moving parts and the possibility of damage. But still, it lives up to its name.
USB-C connectivity makes it safely modern for connectivity. But as an HDD, you won’t get the full value of that interface’s transfer speeds. A spinning disk is just not as fast as a solid state solution. Nonetheless, you get a lot of portability, storage, and ruggedness at an attractive price.
The LaCie Rugged Mini 5 TB External Hard Drive is a great choice for the active photographer. Sling it in your hiking backpack with your favorite hiking camera, and you won’t run out of space on your travels.
| Brand |
Brand
SanDisk
|
| Drive Type |
Drive Type
SSD
|
| Capacity |
Capacity
1 TB
|
| Interface |
Interface
USB 3.2
|
| Max Read/Write Speeds |
Max Read/Write Speeds
2,000/2,000 Mbps
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
IP55 rating, carabiner loop, and built-in encryption
|
| Best For |
Best For
Anyone looking for a light, portable SSD at an excellent price
|
The SanDisk Extreme Pro portable SSD packs an awful lot into a small package. They really are tiny but come with storage capacities up to 4 TB. The carabiner loop isn’t just for looks. You could easily hang this on your backpack or even belt.
Being portable is all well and good, but this drive also has everything most people need. The capacity is good. The transfer speeds are very respectable, even for video. And the drive is built for the realities of daily life.
Of particular note is its robust protection against knocks and harsh conditions. The drive is rated to IP55. This means that even being exposed to rain will not affect the drive. And dust will not negatively impact its performance. And it’s protected against drops from up to 6.5 feet (2 m). That gives you peace of mind.
Your data isn’t just physically safe, it’s electronically protected too. The SanDisk comes with built-in 256-bit AES encryption. So even if you lose your drive, its contents should remain private.
We think that this combination of features and a very reasonable price make the SanDisk Extreme Pro portable SSD the best hard drive for video editing.
| Brand |
Brand
LaCie
|
| Drive Type |
Drive Type
HDD
|
| Capacity |
Capacity
8 TB
|
| Interface |
Interface
USB-C, USB 3.0
|
| Max Read/Write Speeds |
Max Read/Write Speeds
440/440 Mbps
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
Hot-swappable drives
|
| Best For |
Best For
Serious desktop external drive storage
|
The LaCie 2big RAID 8 TB External Hard Drive is very far from portable. It is a big beast, and this 8 TB version is actually the smallest capacity. The biggest is a whopping 40 TB! This is a desktop unit that provides massive amounts of external storage for your files.
What you get with this unit is a fan-cooled enclosure for up to two hot-swappable enterprise-class hard drives. Hot-swappable means you can disconnect and replace them while the enclosure is running and connected.
With USB-C compatibility, you can access those files quickly. And the free five-year Rescue Data Recovery Service provides some peace of mind as well. This is also helped by the simple RAID configurations available. If you’re not familiar with RAID, it will guide you through the process.
There are three possibilities. You can have the two drives work together seamlessly as one. So, two 4 TB drives behave like one 8 TB drive. You can have them mirror each other—whatever is recorded to one is also recorded to the other. (Much like how most pro-level cameras can record the same photos on two different cards.) Or you can set them up as two separate drives. So you choose what to record to each.
This isn’t a cheap option. But the LaCie 2big RAID 8 TB External Hard Drive gives you massive and expandable storage. You can archive hard disks and replace them with new ones, thanks to the hot-swapping. We think it’s a great choice for big file storage solutions which makes it one of the best hard drives for video editing.
| Brand |
Brand
SanDisk
|
| Drive Type |
Drive Type
HDD
|
| Capacity |
Capacity
48 TB
|
| Interface |
Interface
Thunderbolt, USB-C
|
| Max Read/Write Speeds |
Max Read/Write Speeds
40/40 Gbps
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
Formatted for MacOS, twin Thunderbolt ports
|
| Best For |
Best For
Anyone needing lots of speed and capacity
|
The SanDisk Professional 48 TB G-RAID Shuttle 4 stands out in this review for at least three things. Its size, its capacity, and its speed. At 48 TB, it’s the biggest on offer. And it’s available with up to 72 TB. When you look at its specs, you’ll see why, and you’ll see its target audience.
This is aimed squarely at video creators who need to edit from their external drives. Typically that means you’re working in 6K or above, and your computer simply doesn’t have that capacity. This beast of an external drive can rattle along at 40 Gbps with its Thunderbolt 3 interface. This makes the (also available) 10 Gbps USB-C transfer speeds seem rather slow!
This is an enclosure for four HDDs. It is RAID compatible and comes configured for RAID 5. RAID 5 distributes all the data across all the drives but has tolerance for a single disk failing. If you prefer, you can select RAID 0, 1, 10, or JBOD. Raid 0 is the fastest option, as it spreads the data across all available drives. It’s fast, but there’s no tolerance for disk failure.
RAID 1 mirrors your data on two disks, offering a spare copy, but at a slower speed. RAID 10 makes use of the four disks, writing identically to two pairs. Finally, there’s JBOD. Believe it or not, this stands for “Just a Bunch of Disks.” Basically, you have an enclosure with four separately accessible HDDs.
There’s no doubt that the SanDisk Professional 48 TB G-RAID Shuttle 4 is a serious bit of kit for the serious videographer. And it will cost you some serious money. But it’s big, it’s fast, and it’s pretty adaptable. It earns its spot among the best hard drives for video editing as there are plenty that will see this as the perfect solution.
| Brand |
Brand
Toshiba
|
| Drive Type |
Drive Type
HDD
|
| Capacity |
Capacity
2 TB
|
| Interface |
Interface
USB 3.0, USB-C, infrared
|
| Max Read/Write Speeds |
Max Read/Write Speeds
150/150 Mbps
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
ExFat format for cross-device compatibility, USB-A and USB-C
|
| Best For |
Best For
Anyone looking for a compact, good value HDD
|
Although the Toshiba Canvio Flex 2 TB Portable External Hard Drive is an HDD, it is smaller than some. That’s because it uses a 2.5-inch disk rather than the more common 3.5-inch size. This means it’s quite a compact offering in this field.
It’s also one of the cheapest HDDs in our review, giving access to a large amount of storage for a very reasonable price. So if cost is your main concern, this could be a good choice. What you get is a simple enclosure with a USB-B connector and cables to connect to USB-A or USB-C.
What you don’t get is USB-C transfer speeds, as the drive is limited by the technology. But you do get decent speed for transfer, given the limitations of all that. Perhaps most attractively, you have a cross-platform device.
The HDD is formatted to work with MacOS and Windows. It’s also compatible with iOS and Android devices. This makes it a useful option for transferring across your various machines.
The Toshiba Canvio Flex 2 TB Portable External Hard Drive is a no-frills solution to external storage. It’s probably more suited to storing finished files than editing to and from. But it gives you lots of storage-per-buck value.
| Brand |
Brand
SanDisk
|
| Drive Type |
Drive Type
HDD
|
| Capacity |
Capacity
1 TB
|
| Interface |
Interface
USB-C, USB 3.1
|
| Max Read/Write Speeds |
Max Read/Write Speeds
140/140 Mbps
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
IP54 rain and dust resistance, 1,000 lbs (454 kgs) crush resistance
|
| Best For |
Best For
Anyone looking for a top-quality rugged HDD
|
The SanDisk Professional 1 TB G-DRIVE is aimed squarely at the pro on the go. It’s a pretty chunky, well-protected, stylish HDD. An aluminum case is protected by a rubber bumper. This has a fold-over flap to protect the USB-C port. All of this adds up to 1000 lbs (454 kgs) of crush resistance and an IP54 rating.
Perhaps of just as much interest to the video editor on the go are the transfer speeds. While this is always limited by the physical constraints of a mechanical drive, the G-Drive has a decent 5,400 rpm. This gives acceptable, if not stellar, speeds. An SSD will invariably beat an HDD on this count.
For keeping your data physically safe, the SanDisk Professional 1 TB G-DRIVE provides you with lots of reassurance. It is also one of the cheapest external drives in this review. This alone, given the physical protection, makes it well worth a look. It comes pre-formatted for MacOS but can be reformatted to your liking.
| Brand |
Brand
SAMSUNG
|
| Drive Type |
Drive Type
SSD
|
| Capacity |
Capacity
2 TB
|
| Interface |
Interface
USB-3.2, USB-C
|
| Max Read/Write Speeds |
Max Read/Write Speeds
1050/1,000 MBps
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
IP65 water- and dust-resistant
|
| Best For |
Best For
Outdoor photographers who take their storage out in the field
|
The SAMSUNG T7 Shield 2 TB Portable SSD is a bit of a step up in price. But it is also a step up in performance. It’s an SSD, so its read/write speeds of 1,050/1,000 Mbps are much more attractive to demanding users.
There is also no sacrifice in terms of protection. The drive is drop-resistant up to 9.8 feet (3 m) and has an impressive IP65 rating. That means dust has no chance, and even rain should have no effect. The enclosure has a special rubber compound to protect and keep the contents cool.
For video editors, it’s interesting to note that Blackmagic Design associates themselves with this drive, showing one attached to the top of one of their cameras for on-the-go storage. That should reassure anyone anxious about transfer speeds for video editing on this drive.
| Brand |
Brand
WD
|
| Drive Type |
Drive Type
HDD
|
| Capacity |
Capacity
12 TB
|
| Interface |
Interface
USB 3.0
|
| Max Read/Write Speeds |
Max Read/Write Speeds
N/A
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
Formatted for Windows
|
| Best For |
Best For
Anyone looking for a large-capacity drive with a small footprint
|
In the real world, the WD 12 TB Elements Desktop External Hard Drive should give you about 180 Mbps transfer speeds. But I challenge you to find official figures on the WD website. Those speeds are decent but not extraordinary.
What is notable about this drive is just how many size options there are. There are eight, ranging from 6 TB all the way up to 22 TB. So you have lots of choices. Western Digital is a respected brand, and this drive fits nicely into its product range.
Thanks to its design, it should also fit nicely on your desktop. It’s a vertical “tower” style drive, so its footprint is small. Some users have found that it is a little vulnerable to toppling over. So it might be a good idea to nestle it between other objects.
The WD 12 TB Elements Desktop External Hard Drive gives good value for large storage. This 12 TB model has a lot of capacity, but it’s still reasonably priced.
The two main things to note are solid state drives (SSD) and hard disk drives (HDD). The HDD is a rotating magnetized disc that is read and written to by a moving arm. It’s similar to a vinyl record player, except the speeds are in the thousands of RPM rather than 45.
The advantage of an HDD is the low cost per TB. This metric is gradually changing, and there are now some very affordable SSDs. Another advantage is that if the electronics fail, you still have a physical disk with your data written on it. So there’s some chance of recovery.
An SSD has no moving parts and is, therefore, less vulnerable to physical. But most HDDs have shock sensors that will protect the read/write head and prevent it from damaging the disk in the event of a shock. But an SSD should be much more resilient.
The biggest difference is in transfer speeds. Even at 7,500 rpm, there are limits to how quickly data can be read or written. It is a physical process, after all. With an SSD, you are limited by the speed of electrons and the design of the chip. So SSDs are able to fully exploit the up-to-5 Gbps capacity of USB-C, for example.
The downside is that an SSD is vulnerable in the same way any electronic circuit is. Repeated use, constant temperature changes, and incredibly fine production tolerances make them vulnerable. A tiny crack in a solder joint, for instance, can finish off your drive. And unlike an HDD, there’s no physical disk to remove and replace in a different housing.
The future is definitely with the SSD. But there are still attractive HDD options out there.
If you’re editing video, there’s a lot of data going back and forth. And the faster it transfers, the easier your workflow. So quick speeds are attractive. Transferring large files and backing up your original footage takes time. And time is saved by faster transfer speeds.
This is another area where the SSD is attractive, especially with USB-C or Thunderbolt interfaces. These give the best possible transfer rates. At the same time, there is usually a price to pay. So it’s a question of balancing your needs with your budget.
You’ll see some of these drives are ready to go for MacOS, some for Windows, and some for all platforms. If you’re a Mac user, it’s pretty simple to reformat a Windows disk using Disk Utility. If you’re going to be putting your finished video on a disk to show your client on your iPad, then obviously, a format that enables that is the best option.
Once you start looking for the best hard drive for video editing, you realize how many confusing choices there are. We think our recommendations will help you narrow down that search to a manageable number. There’s something for everyone in terms of capacity, OS, speed, and disk format.
