Let’s start with just the bog standard external SSDs. We’ve got two options here - WD’s Black P50 Game Drive and SanDisk’s Extreme Portable SSD. Both models are based around NVMe internals, meaning you can expect speeds to far outstrip what would be possible with a SATA-based solution (around 550MB/s). The P50 Game Drive, for instance, is rated for sequential speeds up to 2000MB/s, while the SanDisk Extreme manages up to 1050MB/s but costs far less. Both come in rugged cases to ensure their precious data cargo remains intact, with the SanDisk opting for a mesh barrier and the WD going for a metal design. I’ve tested both and came away impressed, so if the price looks right then I’d say go for it.
WD Black P50 500GB NVMe SSD Game Drive - £105 (was £150) WD Black P50 1TB NVMe SSD Game Drive - £170 (was £240) WD Black P50 4TB NVMe SSD Game Drive - £600 (was £858) SanDisk Extreme 1TB Portable NVMe SSD - £125 (was £153)
There’s also something… else. The WD Black D50 is the final boss of external SSDs, containing not only 1TB of extremely fast NVMe storage, but also a full Thunderbolt 3 dock. Plug it into the mains, then plug one USB-C cable into your Thunderbolt-equipped laptop or desktop. Over that one cable, you get up to 3000MB/s read speeds, five USB ports (USB-C and USB-A), gigabit ethernet, DisplayPort 1.4 and a 3.5mm headphone combo jack. Oh, and it has RGB underglow, with three programmable effects (including ‘off’). This is very obviously not a great value in terms of just the storage, but for an all-in-one gadget that can turn a laptop into a full desktop PC by connecting a single cable, it is pretty much unmatched by anything on the market.
WD Black D50 1TB SSD + Thunderbolt 3 Game Dock - £340 (was £430)
WD Black P10 (2TB) - £70 (was £95) WD Black P10 (4TB) - £95 (was £135)
