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These are the storage devices you should buy this holiday season

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From SSDs to NAS to simple thumb drives, there are many different ways to store and secure your data. You’re on the right track if you’re consistently backing up your stuff at all, but not all storage tools are made equal. So to help get the most out of your file shifting, we dove deep into the storage market to find the best accessories for most people. Here’s where things stand.


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SSD: Samsung 850 Evo

samsung 850 evo
Amazon

It’s no secret that switching from a hard disk drive to a solid-state drive has immediate and noticeable performance benefits for any computer. If you’d like that boost, or if you have a higher-end notebook already and have run out of space on your old SSD, you should get the Samsung 850 Evo. It was widely lauded when it arrived late last year, and after a steady stream of price drops, it’s now become an excellent value too.

Without diving too deep into what TLC V-NAND flash architecture is, just know the the 850 Evo is faster and longer-lasting than just about every other SSD in its price range. It comes with a five-year warranty from a (relatively) reliable company, and, as of this writing, a 500GB unit costs a puny $0.32 per gig. (At the moment you can also get a free copy of the newest Assassin’s Creed game with a 500GB or larger model.)

It’s not going to be as impressive for super heavy workloads, but for the vast majority of people’s day-to-day activity, it doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses. The only potential issue is with Samsung’s Magician software; it makes setting up and maintaining the Evo a snap, but only on Windows. And even then, it only just started supporting Windows 10. It’s not a huge issue, but it’s an inconvenience for Mac users.

It’s worth noting that Samsung’s since launched a new 950 Pro SSD that uses a PCIe interface over the usual SATA. Put simply, that makes it very powerful in all circumstances. It’s impressive by all accounts, and a sign of the coming future, but it’s much more expensive. Unless your lifestyle calls for the absolute strongest, the performance levels and capacity for money of the 850 Evo keep it as the best value SSD for most users.

Samsung 850 Evo (500GB), $161.99, available at Amazon.


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Thumb drive: SanDisk Extreme

sandisk extreme
Sandisk

Everyone should own a USB flash drive. Chances are you already have a USB flash drive. But if you’re in need of a new stick to transfer and safeguard files on the move, get the SanDisk Extreme. Again, in terms of speed and pure value, it’s just about peerless. It moves files around very quickly, comes with a lifetime warranty, and offers a good chunk of space for not-outrageous prices.

You can find other USB 3.0 sticks from the likes of PNY for cheaper, but the drop in performance is palpable. And if you’re only concerned with getting the cheapest thing that’ll hold stuff, you might as well pick up a cheapo USB 2.0 stick instead.

The only potential pratfall with the Extreme is that it’s relatively bulky. If that’s a problem, give the SanDisk Ultra Fit a try. It runs fine if you want an extremely portable option, though it borders on being too small — good luck if you lose it in the laundry. Finally, if you need the most space possible, SanDisk recently launched a 256GB variant of its slower-yet-still-sold Ultra thumb drive, which now costs less than $100.

SanDisk Extreme (32GB), $24.95, available at Amazon.

Others to consider:
SanDisk Ultra Fit (64GB), $19.74, available at Amazon.
SanDisk Ultra (256GB), $92.15, available at Amazon.


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MicroSD card: Samsung Evo+

samsung evo+
Best Buy

More and more smartphones have abandoned microSD card support, which sucks. If you have a quality phone like the LG G4 or Motorola Moto G that does support expanded storage, though, and you want to take advantage of it, you should grab a Samsung Evo+ card.

This is the upgraded version of last year’s widely lauded Samsung Evo, effectively doubling the read speeds while, as of this writing, costing more or less the same — right now you can grab a 32GB card for $13, a 64GB unit for $22, or a 128GB unit for $60. It’s about the best mix of speed and capacity for the money either way. It comes with a 10-year warranty alongside that, and like past cards it’s totally resistant to water, temperature spikes, X-rays, and the like. Like the Samsung Evo SSD above, there’s just very little to complain about here.

Nevertheless, we should say that the latest SanDisk Ultra offers almost all of the same benefits of the Evo+, price included. It’s a pinch slower on the whole, but if you come across a major price dip, you can’t go wrong either way. There’s also heavier-duty cards like the SanDisk Extreme and Samsung Pro+, which’ll play nicer with larger files, but their price hikes are probably not worth it for most people.

Samsung Evo+ (32GB), $12.99, available at Best Buy.

Others to consider:
SanDisk Ultra (32GB), $12.49, available at Amazon.
SanDisk Extreme (32GB), $18.44, available at Amazon.


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Portable hard drive: Seagate Backup Plus Slim

seagate backup plus slim
Amazon

Finding the right piece of storage gear is a little more of an objective process than finding, say, the right tablet or headphones. If you want a more all-encompassing backup solution that’s still stashable, the Seagate Backup Plus Slim is just the best portable hard drive around in terms of overall quality for the price.

It’s thin and light, as its name suggests, but in that frame it manages to pack 2TB of space for $89 (as of this writing). That’s very affordable. The drive’s backup software is helpful and easy to follow, too, and Seagate now throws in a two-year 200GB subscription to Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage service with your purchase. Pick up one of its red or blue enclosures and it even looks nice. Most importantly, it’s consistently quick — not the fastest around, but close enough to the top for everything else it offers.

The downsides here are that it only has a two-year warranty instead of the usual three, its security features are lacking, and the fact that Seagate doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to hardware failure. The company does seem to be improving on that last point, however, and this particular drive has a 4.5 rating on Amazon (with 75% 5-star votes) after almost 5,500 user reviews.

If you want something close to a like-for-like alternative, though, the newest WD My Passport Ultra has comparable performance, similar prices, and greater security in a slightly less convenient package.

The LaCie Rugged, on the other hand, is great for anyone who needs a tougher and faster Thunderbolt drive, but that’s not the widest swath of people, and the whole thing is comparatively pricey.

The Samsung T1 is also pricey, and offers far less storage for a higher price, but since it’s an SSD drive, it’s exponentially faster than the other three. (Unless you opt for the even more expensive SSD version of the LaCie.) It’s a decent value for what it is, though a solid HDD should be fine for most portable hard drive use cases.

Finally, if you want a middle ground between faster-than-usual speeds and the affordable spaciousness of an HDD, try Seagate’s Backup Plus Fast. It’s not as portable as the Slim, but it’s about as quick as HDDs get while still offering 4TB of room at a low price per GB ratio.

Seagate Backup Plus Slim (2TB), $89, available at Amazon.

Others to consider:
WD My Passport Ultra, $86.49, available at Amazon.
LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt (1TB), $179.99, available at Amazon.
Samsung T1 (250GB), $124, available at Amazon.
Seagate Backup Plus Fast (4TB), $209.99, available at Amazon.


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External hard drive: Seagate Backup Plus

seagate backup plus
Amazon

Similarly, the Seagate Backup Plus is a worthwhile pick if you’d rather offload and backup data onto something that’ll live on your desk. Like the Slim, it has good enough speed, useful software — which, among other things, makes it easy to backup mobile files and media you upload to Facebook — free OneDrive storage, and a whole lot of space for the money.

The model linked above offers 3TB for $110, but if you’re a small business owner or your media collection is just absurd, you can go up to 8TB for $250. It’s large and needs to be plugged in to work, but that’s the case with most desktop HDDs. (It is stuck with the same two-year warranty as the Slim, though.) The likes of PCMag, CNET, and StorageReview have all commended it over the years.

As far as alternatives go, if you see a deal on the WD My Book, that’s comparable to the Backup Plus in just about every way. Or if you’d rather a no-frills option — for, say, expanding on a video game console — the software-less Seagate Expansion isn’t as quick, but provides a higher capacity for the money.

Seagate Backup Plus (3TB), $109.99, available at Amazon.

Others to consider:
WD My Book (3TB), $109, available at Amazon.
Seagate Expansion (5TB), $133.99, available at Amazon.


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Network-attached storage (NAS): Synology DS214

synology ds214
Amazon

A network-attached storage (or NAS) device isn’t for everyone, but if you have a particularly large media library or multiple computers’ worth of stuff spread out across your home network, they could prove useful. They’ll connect to said network and hold all your devices’ data in one spot, then stream those files back to you like a local server. They’re generally a more secure web-based solution than relying on an online service like Dropbox.

The best of these can get pretty expensive, but for most uses around the house, we like the Synology DS214. It’s relatively affordable, nicely built, fitted with a software interface that isn’t hard for NAS newbies to pick up, and fairly quick to shift files despite its modest-looking specs. (It only has 512MB of RAM.) It comes from what's probably the biggest name in the NAS space, and it’s gotten good reviews from Amazon users and outlets like StorageReview.

There’s no SD-card reader, and it’s not quite as quick as similarly priced NAS like the QNAP TS-251 (which is The Wirecutter’s current favorite), but it’s easier to use, and for most people it’ll be fast enough. It’s worth noting that an upgraded model called the DS214play is floating around out there for less, but that appears to have been discontinued in favor of a newer, more expensive NAS called the DS216play.

Finally, most people are better off with what’s called a two-bay NAS — without getting too technical, having at least two drive bays makes it easier to keep your files secure in the event of hardware failure. (More powerful models have more bays, but they're pricier, more complex to manage, and usually unnecessary for most people.) If you can do with a single-bay unit, however, Synology’s DS115j has been well-received in the past and is much more affordable. Generally, though, it’s worth paying for safety.

Synology DS214, $287.44, available at Amazon.

Others to consider:
QNAP TS-251, $299.99, available at Amazon.
Synology DS115j, $99.99, available at Amazon.


 

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