The fastest external SSD in 2024

In the realm of digital storage, finding the fastest external SSD is a game-changer for tech enthusiasts and professionals alike. 

Whether you're beefing up a top-tier computer or just looking for speedy file access, a high-quality SSD is crucial, especially when many devices fall short in storage speed. If you're asking, "what is an SSD?", it’s a faster, more reliable alternative to the traditional hard drive.

The challenge? Sifting through the vast selection to determine not only the fastest but also the best SSD. Though larger storage capacities might seem more appealing, the best portable SSD options, which are often the fastest, usually hover around the 2TB mark. But rest assured, this is ample space for the majority.

For the sake of this guide, we're zeroing in on external SSDs that adhere to either the SATA or NVMe standards. Our spotlight is on SSDs with USB or Thunderbolt connectivity, sidelining any internal or network-attached storage (NAS) drives. And, while the allure of HDDs might still linger for some, we're setting them aside – this guide is all about the SSDs. Curious about the difference between SSDs and the best external hard drive options? Our in-depth best SSDs guide provides a detailed breakdown.

So, if speed is your endgame and you're in pursuit of the best hard drive equivalent in SSD form, welcome aboard. Every product mentioned here is readily available for purchase, but remember: the swiftest SSD doesn't always equate to the overall best. Let's dive in!

The fastest external SSD in 2024

Below you'll find full write-ups for each of the fastest external SSD options on our list. We've tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.

The Fasest external SSD overall

Geared toward creative professionals and users with heavy workloads, the SanDisk Professional Pro-G40 SSD is the fastest SSD available at the moment. We recorded speeds of more than 3,150MB/s for reads and 2,700MB/s for writes in our testing using the 2TB model, which makes it the fastest Thunderbolt drive we’ve seen by some distance. Only the OWC Envoy Pro FX has come close.

There’s no beating the PRO-G40 for speed; in fact, it’s an exceptionally well-engineered piece of technology. But there are a handful of considerations to make, meaning it might not be the best option. Its maximum speeds can only be hit over Thunderbolt 3, and it’s limited to roughly 1,000MB/s over USB 3.2 Gen 2. The price, too, is exorbitant when you compare it with many more than suitable competitors – especially if you’re limiting yourself to a USB 3.2 Gen 2 connection anyway. However, if you’re looking to transfer, say, 8K footage in as short a time as possible, and budget is certainly not an issue, then it’s an ideal piece of kit. 

Read our full SanDisk Professional PRO-G40 SSD review 

The Fasest external SSD for Mac

Although the Samsung T7 portable SSD has been around for a few years now, with TechRadar Pro reviewing the Samsung T7 Touch in 2020, this family of hard drives has cemented itself as among the fastest money can buy. Competition has arisen in the form of the Crucial X8, but our internal benchmarking using CrystalDiskMark showed the Samsung T7 pipped its rival to the post, recording 1,032MB/s (read) and 924MB/s (write) speeds versus 914MB/s (read) and 930MB/s (write). 

There are four available capacities for the T7 – 500GB, 1TB, 2GB, and a recently released 4TB Sheild variety – with the technology based on NVMe, which powers USB 3.2 Gen 2 connectivity – compatible with Thunderbolt ports on Macs – offering far better performance than SATA-based SSDs. Weighing 58g, and stylish in appearance, there’s little beating it. 

Read our full Samsung T7 Touch external SSD review 

The Fasest budget external SSD

The Crucial X8 portable SSD only falls behind the Samsung T7 in our speed testing by a fine margin, proving itself as a blisteringly fast option in its own right. Given the speeds it can reach against options across the wider external SSD market, there’s little else that compares if it’s bang-for-buck you’re looking for. Although the Samsung T7 is faster by a slither, the 1TB variant of the Crucial X8 is available for a heavily discounted £55.98 at the time of writing, compared with the former, which you can grab for £69.00. 

We described the Crucial X8 as a robust and stylish SSD that outperforms many external SATA-based SSDs by some distance. The only caveat is you can only get those top speeds if you’ve connected the SSD to your device through a Thunderbolt 3 or USB 3.2 Gen 1 port. Otherwise, speeds are capped at up to 450MB/s for read and write speeds. Sure, it’s around the same as what you’d expect from many SSDs, but it’s disappointing if you’re expecting the highest speeds available.

Read our full Crucial X8 1TB Portable SSD review

The Fasest micro external SSD

The pocket-sized Kingston XS2000 is a delightfully small portable SSD, but don’t let its size fool you – it’s just as fast as the likes of the Crucial X8 and Samsung T7 and it’s built as robustly as you can ask for. The drive is water-resistant, dust-resistant, and shockproof with a rubber sleeve, and although misses out on a fully-fledged IP67 rating, it is IP55-certified. It’s also incredibly lightweight, weighing 29g, and its 13 x 31 x 67mm dimensions make it as small as you can get right now. 

Speed is key, here, and it reached 1,062MB/s read speed and 999MB/s write speed in our testing via CrystalDiskMark on a Thunderbolt 4 port. Kingston claims it can reach up to 2,000MB/s read and write speeds, but it needs to be connected to a machine through a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port. The Kingston XS2000 also isn’t the cheapest option – with the best value for money delivered by the Crucial X8. But it’s certainly worth going for if you’re looking for the most compact and fastest external SSD that money can buy right now.

Read our full Kingston XS2000 USB 3.2 Gen 2 x 2 external SSD review

The Fasest high-endurance external SSD

As the name suggests, this is the second incarnation of the Rocket Nano, and it provides up to 4TB of space in a very compact and well-engineered enclosure.

Milled from a solid aluminium block, the Nano V2 can withstand impacts and force that might destroy other drives. However, Sabrent hasn’t quoted any IP specifications for it, and they only offer a three-year warranty, less than the five years that most SSDs of this spec get.

More of an issue is that the Nano V2 has no supporting software applications ten months after it launched, not even a firmware updater. Most external SSDs come with some backup tools, but this one doesn’t. It offers 1500MB/s of throughput for those with a Gen 2x2 USB port, and it can sustain at least 800MB/s for substantial file transfers without overheating. Compared to other similar drives, like the Adata Elite SE880 and Corsair EX100U, this is a desirable aspect.

When matched against other options, like the Crucial X10 Pro and Kingston XS2000, the Nano V2 can be more expensive in some sizes, even if it can’t match the feature set of those products. If it were cheaper, around the same price as the Corsair EX100U, it might be a good choice, but currently, it costs more at all the available capacities.

Sabrent makes good quality hardware, and the Nano V2 is well-engineered but lacks the supporting software and standards approval that other brands offer.

Read our full Sabrent Rocket Nano V2 External SSD review

The Fasest small file external SSD

Adata has always pitched affordability over functionality as brands go, and the Elite SE880 is a competitively priced product for an external SSD with this quoted specification.

Available in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities, this is a globally available product that promises up to 2,000MB/s file transfers. The catch is that to achieve this performance level, you need a USB port that supports 3.2 Gen 2x2, and they’re not common, unlike Gen 2 ports.

If you have that port, this drive can achieve those speeds, at least on reading, as long as you don’t expect this level of performance to be maintained over the long run.

Therefore, the SE880 is more a sprinter than an express, which might be down to how much heat this small enclosure can effectively dissipate. It's disappointing that it can’t keep a high-speed read or write going when files exceed a specific size.

What you get for the investment is a robust design that comes with both USB-C and USB-A cables and a five-year warranty. What you don’t get is any pouch to carry the drive and cables, and it lacks hardware encryption. This is a cheaper option than the Crucial X10 Pro but doesn’t perform as well when writing large files.

Read our full Adata Elite SE880 review

The Fasest secure external SSD

The Crucial X8 is a highly influential and popular design that made the imminent arrival of the new X9 Pro and X10 Pro an exciting prospect. Once they arrived, we saw significant improvements over previous X-series designs that offer hardware encryption and superior environmental resilience. And, in the case of the X10 Pro, support for USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 for double the performance over external SSDs that only support Gen 2 interfaces.

The quoted maximum read speed is 2,100MB/s and write up to 2,000MB/s, even if those results aren’t typically what most users will experience. But, achieving any transfer boost requires USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 ports, and not many computers come with those.

The other downside to the X10 Pro is that it costs significantly more than its X9 Pro brother, and it’s a dramatic cost increase over the X8 for the same capacities. Crucial’s excuse is that the price of NAND has gone up, but this is a brand of Micron that makes flash memory and sets its price in a marking-your-own-homework sort of way.

Market forces will ultimately decide if the X10 Pro is overpriced, but at nearly double the cost per GB of the X8 it’s only worth considering if you need hardware encryption and have Gen 2x2 ports.

Read our full Crucial X10 Pro external SSD review