Storage prices have gotten pretty ridiculous as of late. If you pull up the price history of pretty much anything that can save and store a file, whether that is an internal SSD or a portable hard drive, you’re going to see a huge spike at the beginning of this year. Much of these price increases can be attributed to AI data centers’ demand for storage and other forms of memory, resulting in consumers having to foot the bill even when just looking for a USB stick. This WD 5TB portable hard drive is not exempt from this, but right now might be the best time to grab one if you need one.
This 5TB portable hard drive from Western Digital has been listed at $285 for much of this year, but is right now marked down by 23%. That ends up taking the price down by $65, leaving you only paying $220. Now, this is still quite the leap from what it was selling for this year, but at least it is trending downward—for now. No telling if prices will ever return to the 2025-and-earlier levels, so if you’re in desperate need for some portable storage, this might be your best opportunity in the short term.
Slim, Durable Design in a Portable Form
This WD portable hard drive is small enough to fit comfortably in your palm. It measures across at just 3.21 inches by 4.33 inches. That means you can easily slide it into the pocket on your laptop messenger bag, purse, or a backpack. It has a robust construction so the occasional drop or scratch should not be a death sentence for your crucial files.
This hard drive makes for an excellent option for acting as a backup for your PC. It ships with backup software installed. With it, you’re actually able to just keep it plugged into you PC and schedule backups at specific times so you can easily stay on top of the archival of your important videos, photos, and other files without worry or needing to step in manually. The software also has built-in protections for your important applications, protecting your computer system against data loss caused by ransomware attacks.
Add an extra layer of security by adding password protection to your WD external hard drive. This will help safeguard your files against unauthorized access. Everything saved to the hard drive is also protected by built-in 256-bit AES encryption.