Solid State Drives can be pretty significant game-changers. Not only do they help you wave goodbye to the days of waiting for backups and file transfers, but they can also speed up the load times and general experience of games and applications.

There’s some variation in the capacity of an external SSDs on the market, but we feel that 1TB is often a safe place for people to land.

This amount provides loads of room for data, videos and photos, and is also an amount that people might realistically use, rather than a yawning chasm of space that’s never actually going to be filled. To help narrow down the top choices, we’ve gathered together the best 1TB SSDs on the market for you.

That’s why we’ve gathered together the very best 1TB SSDs on the market, below, after testing their speed, durability and value – all as part of an extensive review process.

Our Top Picks

• Samsung T7 Shield

  1. Best overall

• ADATA SE900G

  2. Runner Up

• WD Black P50

  3. A Top Pick

• SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD

  4. Strong Contender

• G-Technology G-Drive Mobile SSD

  5. Also Great

Samsung’s external drives were already known for being some of the most reliable on the market, add to that IP65 water and dust resistance as well as rubberised drop protection, and you have the T7 Shield. A drive that offers the ultimate peace of mind, whether it be for your daily commute or treks out in the wilderness.

When it comes to data security, the T7 Shield is a winner, too. It may lack the biometric security of the T7 Touch, but it packs the same AES 256-bit hardware encryption, you’ll just have to type in your password instead. On the performance front, it’s no slouch either, offering speeds up to 1050 Mbps over USB 3.2 Gen 2.

The SE900G is a blazing-fast portable SSD that touts speeds up to 2000MB/s when used with a compatible USB 3.2 Gen2x2 port. It’ll blend well with a flashy gaming PC setup thanks to its flashy RGB illuminated lattice on the top panel.

You’ll have to be into the lighting, though, as there doesn’t seem to be a way to disable it. If you’re a seasoned gamer, or if you just want to stand out from the crowd, the SE900G might be right up your street.

This speedy drive from the good folks at Western Digital provides snappy performance with up to 2000MBs transfers over USB 3.2. It’s got a stylish and durable metal housing that looks ready for war and that’s combined with a shock-resistant design for complete peace of mind.

What’s more, it’s designed to work with the latest consoles without hindering load times, so you’ll be able to beef up your game library without worry. A very solid pick for gamers and non-gamers alike.

While the nature of an external SSD means it’s unlikely to be hugely heavy and bulky, especially at the 1TB size, there’s still something to be said for a drive that’s expressly designed around portability. That’s where Sandisk’s drive excels – it’s got water and dust resistance, though not to a high degree, and is extremely light and has a useful hook for fastening or carrying.

On top of that, you get the requisite excellent read and write speeds, meaning that transfers can hit up to 550MB/s, which isn’t the quickest on this list, although it’s still easily fast enough to have most people satisfied. In fact, it’s a level that was industry-leading until the most recent generation of SSDs arrived.

With transfer speeds of up to 560MB/s, this G-Technology drive is another that’s no longer going to win prizes for its speed, but we’re still pretty convinced it’ll exceed most people’s expectations, especially if they’re moving from the world of HDDs.

However, it’s one of the most rugged drives we’ve got on the list, with shock-absorbing rubber buffers around its body to make sure that it’s safe from drops and bumps. That makes it slightly on the bulky side, too, but if you’re looking for a drive that can take some wear and tear while still working perfectly out in the wild, this could be the one for you.

How to choose a 1TB SSD

There are plenty of factors you might want to consider as you go about choosing the right 1TB SSD for your needs – here are some key questions to ask yourself:

Do you need a full terabyte?

How much storage space do you really need? If you’re looking down the list of options that we’ve gathered and feeling like they’re all a bit out of your price range, the quickest way to slash those prices is to drop down to 500GB of space instead. It’s worth your time to work out how much material you need to store so that you can tell whether 1TB is really necessary.

Do you care about durability?

Some of the SSDs we’ve tested are rated for impressive degrees of punishment. You can drop them in lakes, out of windows, or leave them out in the rain, and your data will be secure nonetheless. If, though, you know with certainty that your SSD will be staying in a drawer its entire life, you can probably overlook that sort of detail.

How fast is fast enough?

Even the best drives out there have quite a wide range of transfer speeds at present. Our list has a few options that can move faster than the others, as well as one final choice that’s insanely quick. If you’re going to be moving files often, that’ll matter to you. Again, though, if you just want to back up your photos once a year, you’re less likely to care about speed, which will mean you can save a bit of cost.

Is security important?

Samsung’s latest SSDs offer a really impressive proposition in the form of biometric security, letting you lock your drive with a fingerprint. Don’t be misled, though – many SSD options come with software to password-lock them. This means that you’ve got a few options when it comes to keeping things secure, but it’s worth looking up each provider’s system so that you know you’ll be getting one you’re comfortable with.