Seagate produces the largest external hard disk drive on the market, the Expansion or STKP28000400, a 28TB behemoth. You can't buy it, though and there's evidence that hyperscalers and businesses are buying all high-capacity drives they can, leaving end users to feed on scraps.

I checked on Seagate, B&H Photo, Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, Microcenter and Newegg. All of these popular online retailers showed the item as being sold out, without any backorder option. In other words, they don't know when the 28TB Expansion will be back in stock.

But don't worry, if you really, really want one, scalpers are here to help at a price. This drive has a retail price of $570 and you could have bought it for $390 in January 2025. 18 months later, scalpers are happy to sell you for about $1,000.

A sign of the times?

Micron sacrificed its consumer-facing brand, Crucial, to divert precious components to the far more lucrative enterprise market and there has been a dearth of new consumer storage announcements as everyone’s attention is where the money is.

Seagate’s own page shows multiple high-capacity hard drives (internal and external) being out of stock, which would imply that stock allocation is patchy at best or weak for the foreseeable future in the direst of scenarios.

The outlook is better at Western Digital, Seagate’s long-time arch-rival. They seem to have an ample stock of the WD Elements 26TB external hard drive, the largest model available from the manufacturer.

You’re in for a shock, though as these are sold - direct from the manufacturer - for $1,390, that’s more than $53 per TB, a 4X increase over average prices just 12 months ago. But there’s worse.

Sold out

Earlier this year, Western Digital, which produces only hard drives (unlike Seagate), confirmed in February that it had completely sold out its HDD capacity for 2026. “And we’ve also established LTAs (Long Term Agreements) with two of them for calendar 2027 and one of them for calendar 2028”.

In other words, buy high-capacity drives while you can, they probably won’t be around for long. We can infer a few things from our observation.

The first obvious one is that prices have shot up by about the same amount, as GPUs and memory. And as for other component categories, it is impacting all SKUs. Prices are going up significantly across all capacities; it is only going up, and not coming down anytime soon.

The voracious, quasi-infinite appetite of hyperscalers and trillion-dollar AI ventures means that demand is significantly outstripping supply, forcing manufacturers to prioritize relevant product lines.

This explains why Seagate's share price has risen 600% since June 2025, while Western Digital has risen almost 10X over the same period, with others like Intel, AMD, and Broadcom enjoying smaller gains.

• I have reached out to Seagate to get an official statement on how they see the market evolving and will update the article when they reply.

Seagate FireCuda X Vault: 30-second review

The FireCuda X Vault is a first when it comes to desktop hard drives. It essentially brings bus-powered USB-C to a 3.5-inch external hard drive, something that is common with the smaller 2.5-inch portable HDDs that have been around for years, but as yet untried for the larger format.

A quick look at the drive shows it has been primarily designed for the gaming market; however, as I often find, its specifications and performance also make it a great option for creative professionals. The gaming aesthetic is very obvious, but it’s not over-the-top, and the drive is more minimalist than most gaming-themed peripherals; in fact, its styling matches well with my Asus ProArt desktop case.

What I really like about the drive is that it uses a single USB-C cable for both power and data, which is obviously unique in the market at present. Power is delivered via the USB cable, eliminating the need for a power brick. Aside from reducing cable clutter, it also simplifies moving the drive between machines, which is handy when transferring large quantities of files. During the test period, I utilised the drive on both a MacBook Pro M1 Max running Final Cut Pro X and Premiere Pro, and an Asus ProArt PZ14 also running Premiere Pro.

In the test, the drive performed well on both Mac and PC, with the Windows machine definitely having the edge in terms of speed and compatibility. Although that performance difference was partly due to the older M1 Max’s ability to decode the video codec from the Canon EOS R5 C. In use, the drive showed decent transfer rates of around 214 MB/s read and 207 MB/s write across CrystalDiskMark, ATTO, AS SSD, and AJA benchmarks. Importantly, these speeds reflected use across three days of video editing.

While the performance was generally excellent for an HDD, there are two points: the first is the initial transfer speed of the footage to the drive, and the second is the Mac-incompatible backup software. Offloading 1.5TB of 4K Canon EOS R5 C footage from CFexpress Type B took roughly two hours, compared with ten to twelve minutes via a portable SSD. Then there’s the Seagate Toolkit, which is included with the drive for backup management, but it only works on Windows. If you’re a Mac user, then you will need to use your own backup solution. For photographers and videographers, this drive still offers superb value for money.

Seagate FireCuda X Vault: Price & availability

The Seagate FireCuda X Vault 8TB is available direct from Seagate in the US for $270 and from the UK site for £280. Currently, the 20TB model isn't in stock in the UK (but it's listed as £486), and doesn't appear available in North America yet.

I've also seem the 8TB drive sold for $320 on Amazon.com. Over on Amazon.co.uk, the 8TB is £253 and the 20TB is £438 - although there appears to be a labelling error. However, shipping takes between 3 and 7 months, so I'd opt for the official site if you can get quicker delivery.

• Score: 5/5

Seagate FireCuda X Vault: Design & build

The FireCuda X Vault's gaming theme is obvious but thankfully restrained, and its aesthetics actually look perfectly at home in the studio. The black exterior breaks from the usual box design that so often accompanies this type of drive, and the plastic fin slats reflect the cooling vents that I’ve often seen on high-performance creative drives. However, the RGB cutouts along the top are clearly aimed at a gaming audience rather than a creative one. Aesthetically, I do quite like the effect, and overall, the design is more minimalist than most gaming-themed hardware.

The size and weight are more in line with what I would usually expect from a 3.5-inch external drive, weighing in at 2.84 lbs (1290g), and measuring 7.80 × 2.09 × 5.20in (198 × 53 × 132mm). While it is obviously larger than a portable drive, it doesn’t dominate the workspace, and the flat top panel, despite the design, means that if you do need to place things on top, you can.

What marks this drive out from others is that it draws power and transfers data through a single USB-C cable. The cable in the box is standard, 50 cm, which is long enough to position the drive beside a monitor or at the edge of a desk without a cable coil, though I did find occasions when a longer cable would be useful.

USB-C has enabled a huge change in the face of hardware development, and the fact that just one cable is used with no other power required is a major step forward, and actually surprising that this hasn’t been done before. Of course, in order for the drive to function, the USB-C port you connect to must supply at least 15W. This means that, unlike many portable HDDs, which are widely backwards compatible with USB-A ports, this drive won’t be.

On both the MacBook Pro M1 Max and the Asus ProArt PZ14, the drive powered up without issue, and when running the MacBook Pro on battery without a mains connection, battery life was slightly reduced but not dramatically, and, as this is really a desktop drive intended to sit on a desk, the laptop is almost always plugged in during use.

Data transfer stability during sustained video editing appears excellent. As the drive worked hard to supply the data required by a variety of applications, the 1,290g chassis stays in with minimal vibration or noise. During a long video editing session across three days, the drive produced barely any audible noise. I could, on occasion, hear the spinning mechanism, but it was so low that it was hardly noticeable, particularly once audio from the edit was playing through the monitors.

After an extended test period across multiple workstations, PC and Mac, the build quality has held up well; after all, it was really just being transferred from one desk to another.

• Design & build: 4/5

Seagate FireCuda X Vault: Features

The bus-powered USB-C design is the FireCuda X Vault's unique feature, and one that, as I started to use the drive, seems well overdue. The use of the USB-C cuts out the need for a power brick, meaning one less cable and ultimately freeing up a plug socket. It also makes moving the drive between a MacBook Pro and a Windows laptop simple, as you only need to unplug a single USB-C cable and plug it into the next machine.

During the test period,, I found myself shifting between a MacBook Pro M1 Max and an ProArt PZ14 for different applications, and this ease made the larger-capacity drive as easy to use in the studio as a portable option, just with far more storage for the price.

During the test, I used the drive formatted as exFAT, which was out of the box and ensured cross-platform compatibility between macOS and Windows without the need for reformatting. Setup on both platforms was instant: plug in, mount, start working. As an example, the single-cable transfer of a large Premiere Pro project between the ASUS and the Mac was notably easier than it would have been with a drive requiring a separate power connection, and is something I would usually do with small SSD drives.

One feature of the drive is its RGB lighting, which supports Windows Dynamic Lighting. This is a gaming-focused feature that proved to be a minor aesthetic addition rather than a practical one.

Another game-focused feature is the Xbox on PC certification, which includes a one-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which is aimed at gamers and is largely irrelevant for a content creation use case, though having the gaming library validation does offer some insight into the drive's intended use and the fact that it has been designed to handle sustained random reads.

An interesting addition is the Seagate Toolkit for backup management, which works well on Windows and lets you set up a backup schedule from a working footage folder to a NAS for long-term archive. It all seemed straightforward. However, Seagate Toolkit is not Mac-compatible, which is a notable gap for photographers and videographers working on macOS. Mac users will need to use Time Machine or a third-party backup solution for drive-level protection.

In this test, I’ve looked at the 8TB capacity, although there is a larger 20TB version. For a single drive option used as a working backup and rough-cut editing drive, 8TB provides a good balance for storing multiple concurrent projects over several months without needing to manage capacity.

The 20TB option would provide more headroom for longer-term archiving; however, managing 20TB on a single spinning drive introduces its own risks. The drive proved reliable, and if you have a 20TB backup drive, then why not? For photographers who shoot stills and moderate video, 8TB is a very workable starting point.

• Features: 4/5

Seagate FireCuda X Vault: Performance

Getting started with the drive is fast; it’s essentially plug-and-play on both Mac and PC systems, and once the USB-C cable is connected, you’re ready to go. On the Mac, the drive icon appears on the desktop, and on Windows, it can be found alongside other drives in the OS.

To start testing the drive, I went straight to benchmark performance tests and found that across CrystalDiskMark, ATTO, AS SSD, and AJA System Test, the results were consistent. Read speeds across all four tools ranged from 202 MB/s to 214 MB/s, and write speeds ranged from 197 MB/s to 207 MB/s. This essentially shows reliable performance with minimal variation across test methods and, therefore, across the different real-world applications, file sizes, and formats you’re likely to use. More importantly, these speeds remained consistent throughout a three-day video editing test, with no thermal throttling or audible performance reduction.

To double-check the results, I left each AJA System Test Lite running for several hours without any real effect on the final result.

A large part of the real-world test was conducted while editing 4K video; the test footage was from a Canon EOS R5 C, and the files were recorded in 4K UHD (3840 × 2160) at 50 fps, in Canon XF-AVC Long GOP, YCC422 10-bit, in MXF format.

On the MacBook Pro M1 Max in Final Cut Pro X, there were occasional moments during editing when the timeline required the machine to catch up, primarily a codec-decoding issue on the older Mac rather than a drive-throughput problem.

I then tested a similar project in Premiere Pro on the ProArt PZ14 and found that it the edit was significantly smoother. For 1080p content and lighter 4K workflows, the FireCuda X Vault is a workable primary editing drive. For high-bitrate 4K with multiple grades and tracks, an SSD remains the better option, especially the LaCie Big8, which I was also reviewing at the same time.

One of the early indicators of speed was the initial transfer of files from a CFexpress Type B card to the drive. Transferring 1.5TB of Canon EOS R5 C footage from a CFexpress Type B card to the FireCuda X Vault took approximately two hours. The same transfer via a portable SSD took 10 to 12 minutes, just to highlight the difference between an HDD and an SSD.

I’ll also note that this is not an issue with the FireCuda X Vault; it’s working exactly as a 215MB/s spinning drive should, it’s just that SSD is that much faster. If you do look at it from that perspective, in speed terms, then the drive is better suited as a first backup destination after an initial fast offload to an SSD, rather than as the primary offload destination from a card.

Of course, as this drive is designed for gaming, I had to test it with a few Steam titles. After transferring the storage from my machine to the drive, it was time to load up a few games. The first was Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and this, along with several other Steam titles, loaded from the FireCuda X Vault at speeds comparable to the Asus machine's faster internal SSD, showing that 215MB/s is more than adequate for game loading and save data, and that the gaming library certification is backed by genuine ability.

Noise levels throughout the test were minimal; to be honest, the noise from the video and games drowned out any noise, and it was so slow that I didn’t notice. Even under the sustained seek-and-write loads of a multi-hour video edit, the drive produced only a faint mechanical hum, inaudible over the monitor speakers.

• Performance: 4.5/5

Should you buy the Seagate FireCuda X Vault?

The Seagate FireCuda X Vault 8TB, with its bus-powered USB-C design, is genuinely innovative, and it’s hard to see why this hasn’t been done before. It essentially makes the drive simpler with fewer cables, and while it's larger than a portable hard drive, it’s far cheaper for the capacity. After testing on a MacBook Pro M1 Max and an Asus PZ14, the single-drive design and ease of moving it around were obvious advantages over traditional desktop drives.

While the performance was significantly slower than that of an SSD, it was consistent, especially for the capacity and price. In the benchmark tests, the drive offered roughly 214MB/s read and 207MB/s write across multiple benchmarks and maintained those speeds in real-world tests. For photographers, this makes the FireCuda X Vault a great option as a working and backup drive, essentially offering a price per terabyte that external SSDs cannot match.

For videographers, the drive can handle 1080p and light 4K editing, but when it comes to high-bitrate 4K workflows, the limits are pushed, and as I discovered, the CFexpress Type B offload speed was approximately 2 hours for 1.5 TB, versus 10 to 12 minutes via a portable SSD. For video-heavy workflows, while far more expensive, a fast large-capacity SSD, such as the LaCie Big8, would be a better choice as the primary editing drive, then the FireCuda X Vault as an 8TB accessible project archive sitting on the desk.

Seagate Toolkit's lack of Mac compatibility is a clear gap that Seagate should address. Mac users make up a significant portion of the creative professional market that I think this drive will appeal to, although more creative users are moving away from Mac-based workflows due to the prohibitive costs.

At $270 / £280 for 8TB, this is exceptional value, and thankfully, as the gaming theme is restrained, the drive sits comfortably on a creative workstation without looking out of place. The FireCuda X Vault is a great desktop drive for PC gamers who want high-capacity game storage, and also a good choice for photographers who need accessible bulk working storage, and a useful archive and rough-cut editing drive for videographers, as long as your primary editing workflow runs on a faster internal or external SSD.

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

For more storage options, we've tested the best portable SSDs around.

There are bound to be many people reading this review and wondering why something that should have been covered a decade ago has resurfaced on our site.

And, it is true that Seagate launched the IronWolf 8TB model in 2016, hardware that is hardly considered current in 2026.

But this review isn’t covering the mechanism that Seagate launched then, the ST8000VN0022, thankfully. Instead, it is the one that came after that in 2019, the ST8000VN004.

For complete transparency, they released a newer option, the ST8000VN002, in 2021, but during my review, I’ll explain the differences and why you might want one over the other.

OK, I accept that this model has been around for 8 years, almost, but we’re exceptionally busy here at Tech Radar Pro, and we get to things eventually.

The fundamentals of the 8TB IronWolf have been remarkably stable across the past decade. Every generation has used CMR recording, which matters. IronWolf drives feature CMR technology and AgileArray firmware, ensuring smooth RAID performance, reduced vibration, and efficient power management. The 180TB per year workload rating, the RV sensors, the three-year warranty, and the bundled Rescue Data Recovery Services have all persisted as defining features of the consumer tier.

The EHA (European Hardware Awards) named the Seagate IronWolf portfolio Best Hard Drive for 2025, which suggests the brand has maintained its reputation well.

However, there is one significant blot on this landscape, and that’s the price increases that this drive, and others have experienced in the past six months.

An IronWolf 8TB costs about 95% more than it did in 2025, depending on the region it is sourced from, and prices still show an upward trend. Admittedly, this isn’t as bad as the price increases we’ve seen in memory and SSDs, where some items have quadrupled in cost, but it’s a shock to a market that expected cost reductions over time.

Is it the right time to buy Seagate IronWolf drives? That depends on how flexible you are about timescales, and if you believe that the AI crash is just around the corner or that the price pad today will be a fraction of where it might end up going. Whichever side of that line you fall, there was probably a better time that has since passed.

Seagate IronWolf 8TB NAS drive: Price

You can’t get the ST8000VN004 on the Seagate site, but the company still makes it, and it can be found on Amazon (and other online retailers) for $299.99 on Amazon.com, or £283.94 on Amazon.co.uk. The price across the rest of Europe is €317 via Amazon.

To put that in perspective, in October of 2025, the same drive would cost you £145 in the UK, making it 95% more expensive in just a few months.

But Seagate’s competitors have pulled the same rug up under their customers, with the Western Digital 8TB WD Red Plus being $314.99, and the Toshiba N300 8TB NAS is close to $400.

The only cheap alternative I’ve seen is from a brand called MDD or MaxDigitalData, which sells an 8TB drive for $238.95, but I have no experience with this brand.

Excluding that option, Seagate is the cheapest option for 8TB 7200rpm NAS drives.

However, if we break down the current Seagate IronWolf drives, there is an important trend that we need to understand. As a side note, I’ve not included one of the 10TB models, since these don’t seem to be readily available at this time. All these prices are from Amazon, but you might get a better deal elsewhere.

As you can see, based on cost per TB, the most expensive IronWolf or IronWolf Pro are the 4TB capacities, and the sweet spot is the 12TB IronWolf. The 8TB IronWolf isn’t a bargain, but it's cheaper than the IronWolf Pro 8TB. Counterintuitively, the larger the drives get, up to 24TB, the cost goes down per TB.

Where things get weird is with the larger IronWolf models, as they approach their 18TB zenith. Due to poor availability, the 16TB IronWolf costs the same as the 16TB IronWolf Pro, and the 18TB model is actually more expensive.

Seagate IronWolf 8TB NAS drive: Design

As a reviewer of hard drives for at least the past thirty years or more, one of the critical selling points that makers often highlighted was the number of platters and heads.

And some brands still detail this in their product overviews, but Seagate does not.

Part of this coyness is down to the maker wanting to change the number of platters in existing product lines without generating a user backlash.

However, as storage technology has advanced, which allows for greater data density on each platter, the makers can reduce cost (and increase profit) by reducing the number of platters but retaining the same total drive capacity.

Curiously, the 8TB IronWolf is a classic example of this in action.

The first version in 2016, the ST8000VN0022, had six platters and twelve heads, at roughly 1.33TB per platter. Then came the ST8000VN004 that replaced it, which I believe had five platters and ten heads, which works out to 1.6TB per platter.

And finally, in 2021, the ST8000VN002 arrived, and it is suspected that it has just four platters, making each 2TB.

Note that the N004 is a 7200 rpm drive, whereas the more recent N002 is a 5400 rpm unit. They both use CMR recording technology, have the same 256MB of cache, and have a 3-year warranty. But the N004 uses 7.8W of power in operation, where the N002 uses less than half of that at 3.4W.

The faster rotation speed does translate into some extra transfer speed, 210MB/s versus 202MB/s, but even in an array with up to eight disks, that extra performance still doesn’t justify the extra power consumption for a system running 24/7. And, since power generally turns into heat, a system using the N002 drives might run cooler, too.

Seagate IronWolf 8TB NAS drive: Understanding the price hikes

As I mentioned at the start of this review, prices for all hard drives, not just NAS-specific ones, have increased in the past six months. Why is that?

• AI Data Centre Demands
• Supply Constraints
• Component Shortages
• Production priorities

Clearly, the biggest impact is being felt on those drives and drive types that are used in an AI data centre. Which is slightly odd, because while many companies have laid out ambitious plans to build massive gigawatt-consuming AI facilities, the number of these that have actually been built, or even broken ground, is remarkably small.

So, where did all the hard drives from the channel go? Mostly into warehousing, where they’re being held for the companies with the big plans. Some have gone into data archival solutions created by major cloud suppliers, expecting a huge increase in demand, but most are sitting waiting for AI to call them to action. For the drive makers, the idea that all this pre-sold stock might suddenly end up back in the channel if the AI bubble bursts must be a truly terrifying one.

While it doesn’t impact the 8TB model covered here, drives above this one, 10TB and up, are impacted by shortages in helium supply, which is necessary for high-capacity drives, and has hampered production output.

What has exacerbated the situation is that, wishing to cash in on the AI boom, drive makers have focused more heavily on the larger capacities, all of which need helium to work.

Prior to the AI era, there was a general transition underway from physical hard drives to SSDs. But since SSDs are now stupidly expensive, that has propelled system builders back towards the humble HDD, increasing demand.

Reacting to this, drive makers have focused on data centre, enterprise, and high-capacity consumer drives (IronWolf/EXOS), which are being prioritised, leading to shortages of general consumer models. And, in the context of the wider market, drives like the IronWolf 8TB are considered both business and consumer, further increasing demand for them.

In short, this is a perfect commercial storm in which market forces are aggressively driving prices, and the outlook is uncertain.

If it's ever been the right time to shop around, then this is it. Or, wait out the storm and hope that the AI bubble bursts and releases lots of stock into the market, forcing prices down.

For anyone working on a major NAS or server deployment in the near future, this news is not positive.

Seagate IronWolf 8TB NAS drive: Final verdict

The IronWolf ST8000VN004 is a mature, well-understood drive at this point. The core technology is not new, but that is not necessarily a weakness. CMR reliability at 8TB is proven, the compatibility list with NAS vendors is extensive, and Seagate's IHM integration is now embedded across most major platforms, including Synology and QNAP.

For home users or small businesses, the IronWolf 8TB is an option, but its 12TB brother offers better value. If you specifically want 8TB drives, then use the 5400rpm ST8000VN002 instead. It’s technically a little slower, but it has half the power consumption, impacting the cost of ownership.

But there might be better alternatives with higher-capacity drives, where the overall spend on drives isn’t substantially different.

Let’s imagine we have a six-bay NAS, and the plan is to use RAID 5 with a hot-swap drive ready to handle any failure. Using 8TB drives that would give 24TB of usable space and would cost approximately $1800 in drive expenditure.

Switching to 12TB drives, getting 24TB of usable capacity under RAID 5 requires only three drives, and even with a hot spare available, you have two free bays and a total outlay of $1644. And, some additional savings could be made on the NAS, getting a four-bay model.

There is an argument that an array with five active drives will perform better than one with three, and it will. But many NAS use SSDs for caching, and unless you use 10GbE networking, the roughly 630MB/s that the 12TB drives can shift won’t seem slower than the 1000MB/s that the 8TB could transfer.

Internally, there might be a difference in transfers, but to LAN-connected users, the performance benefit of having more drives in the array isn’t apparent. There is also good logic that the more drives you have, the greater the statistical chance that one of them will fail, though smaller drives also lead to a faster rebuild in the event of a drive failure.

So would I buy the 8TB IronWolf? Neither model has a compelling argument at these price points. There is a better argument for the 12TB, or the Pro 12TB.

My concern is that because people are spending company money in many cases, they’ll just pay what drive makers are asking, encouraging them to make even fewer drives, forcing prices even higher. Eventually, the businesses currently reaping massive profits (like Samsung and Micron) will cook their golden goose completely, if they haven't already

For more top performers, we've tested out the best NAS drives you can get.

• Seagate Mozaic 4+ platform ups hard drive capacities from 30TB to 44TB
• It's the world's first and only HAMR-based platform
• Two unnamed hyperscalers are already using it at scale

Data storage giant Seagate has revealed its next-generation Mozaic 4+ platform, unveiling a range of higher capacities per single hard drive.

Seagate boasts Mozaic 4+ is the industry's first and only heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR)-based storage platform that's been deployed at scale, and that it's been qualified by two unnamed "leading hyper scale cloud providers" in configurations up to 44TB.

And this looks to just be the start, with the company looking to increase from today's 4TB per disk to 10TB per disk, resulting in capacities of up to 100TB.

Seagate's HAMR storage gains extra capacity

Speaking about increased demand from cloud and data center activity globally, CEO Dave Mosley said: "Seagate’s HAMR-based Mozaic products deliver the scale, performance, and efficiency customers need to unlock the full potential of their data."

Though Seagate's latest-gen technology is currently being positioned as "critical" for data center infrastructure, training data and historical archives, only time stands between now and this sort of high-capacity storage becoming more democratized for consumer and small-scale commercial use.

"Whether for large-scale model training or sophisticated fine-tuning, companies who build and use these AI models have found that high-capacity hard drive innovations like HAMR have become critical to quality and speed of their outputs," TECHnalysis Research President Bob O’Donnell added,

As for the upgraded platform, Seagate claims around a 47% infrastructure efficiency improvement in 1-exabyte deployment compared with standard 30TB drives, resulting in around a 100 sq ft reduction in data center footprint. It also means customers can unlock up to 0.8 million kWh in annual energy savings in this example.

The unnamed hyperscalers are already receiving Mozaic 4+ drives "volume" and Seagate is planning to scale production for broader availability from here on in.

• Seagate and Western Digital dominate reliability rankings across massive real-world datasets
• Annualized failure rate falls to 1.36% across 344,196 drives
• Vibration emerges as the suspected cause behind the sudden reliability collapse

Backblaze has released its 2025 drive reliability data, offering one of the clearest large-scale snapshots of HDD performance in active data centers.

The cloud storage and data backup firm examined 344,196 drives that collectively operated for 115,638,676 days during the year, finding 4,317 drives in the pool failed, resulting in an Annualized Failure Rate (AFR) of 1.36%.

Despite the failure, the figure is an improvement over the previous year’s 1.57% and continues a gradual decline from earlier results - and every model in the fleet recorded at least one failure, which reinforces that no HDD is immune to wear or operational stress.

Drive reliability trends show steady improvement

However, several drives stood out for exceptionally low failure counts. The Seagate ST16000NM002J 16TB recorded just one failure across the year.

Western Digital WUH722626ALE6L4 26TB also logged a single failure, though it was deployed for only one quarter.

Toshiba’s MG09ACA16TE 16TB followed with three failures, while the Seagate ST12000NM000J 12TB and HGST HMS5C4040BLE640 4TB recorded four and five failures, respectively.

While those results support Seagate and Western Digital models as strong performers in this dataset, the same report identified drives with elevated quarterly failure rates.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the HGST HUH728080ALE600 8TB posted a 10.29% failure rate, marking the first double-digit figure for that model.

Backblaze investigated potential environmental causes, including temperature and airflow, but ruled them out.

Vibration is now considered a possible factor, although these units are roughly 7.5 years old and already scheduled for retirement.

Other drives with notable fourth quarter rates include the Seagate ST10000NM0086 10TB at 5.23% and the Toshiba MG08ACA16TEY 16TB at 4.14%.

Toshiba’s figure represents a significant drop from 16.95% in the prior quarter, following a firmware update intended to correct the issue.

The rate remains higher than the fleet average, but further normalization is expected as updated firmware deployment continues.

Beyond reliability metrics, the report also reveals that storage economics keep shifting as HDD capacity continues to increase.

However, the cost per gigabyte had been trending downward before supply disruptions in late 2025 affected memory and storage components.

Despite remaining cheaper than SSDs and RAM on a per — gigabyte basis, HDD prices have risen with the Seagate Barracuda 24TB now selling for $389.99 on Newegg, a 56% increase from its $249.99 price tag a few months ago.

These results suggest that reliability gains are incremental rather than dramatic, and that drive age, workload, and environment remain critical variables.

While the aggregate AFR improved, individual model performance still varies significantly.

Therefore, there is a need for careful deployment decisions that consider workload demands and even CPU-level data handling patterns.

Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink: One-minute review

The Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink could be one of the best SSDs for PS5 but, at least for the moment, the pricing is out of control. The 1TB model is difficult to find, while the 2TB and 4TB variants come in at an eye-watering $365 / £220 and $599 / £539.99 respectively at third party sellers on sites like Amazon and Newegg.

This makes it almost impossible to recommend at these prices, especially when alternatives like the WD Black SN850P and Lexar NM790 with Heatsink are in stock cheaper. Of course, this is entirely being driven by the ongoing RAM shortage (which also affects SSDs with DRAM chips), so I will look to update this review if and when they come down to more reasonable rates.

Pricing aside, the Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink is a solid, if somewhat unremarkable, PS5 SSD. With quoted read speeds of up to 7,400 MB/s read and 7,000 MB/s write (for the 1TB model) it’s one of the fastest models on the market on paper - though I found its performance to be less impressive in the real world than these figures would suggest.

The 2TB model that I tested scored an underwhelming 6,030MB/s speed on the internal PS5 storage benchmark putting it behind both the WD Black SN850P and Lexar NM790 with Heatsink, not to mention the company’s own officially licensed Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5. Still, it’s comfortably above the 5,500 MB/s speed recommended by Sony and doesn’t increase loading times in any noticeable way.

As you would expect for a model marketed towards PS5 owners, the Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink comes with a chunky heatsink fitted out of the box. It’s very similar to the one found on the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD - albeit with a colorful orange line graphic rather than a blue one. As is the case with that drive, I found it to be perfectly effective.

As a result, the Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink could be a great pick for the right price. At the moment, I wouldn’t rush to add it to your basket though given the inflated rates.

Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink: Price and availability

• 1TB is $130 / £145 / around AU$290, 2TB is $365 / £220 / around AU$440, 4TB is $599 / £539.99 / around AU$1080
• Prices vary and are hard to pin down
• Stock is hard to find in the US and UK

In the US the Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink costs around $130 for the 1TB model - though I wasn’t able to find any retailers carrying stock of that variant at the time of writing. 2TB and 4TB models are easier to find though with stock available at Newegg. There, 2TB goes for $365, while 4TB is $599. Both of these prices come from a third-party seller and are disproportionately high, so I would avoid buying them for now.

In the UK it’s even harder to find, as it’s currently out of stock at Amazon. Historical price data shows that the 1TB model cost around £145, while the 2TB was £220 when both were in stock. The 4TB model is currently available at Overclockers UK, where it costs £539.99.

Seagate told me that a 1TB model of the drive is currently meant to cost $114.99 / £158.99, while 2TB and 4TB are supposed to be $194.99 / £271.99 and $394.99 / £516.99 respectively - though the representative was careful to clarify that “SSD prices are currently very volatile” and “can change daily” (that latter part was even in bold for emphasis).

Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink: Specs

Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink: Design and features

• Chunky heatsink fitted out the box
• Readily PS5 compatible
• Good warranty coverage

The Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink looks remarkably similar to the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5, though with some small aesthetic differences. For starters, the chunky heatsink of the FireCuda bears a little ‘FireCuda’ logo print and a subtle orange decal. Despite the size of the heatsink, this model easily fits into the PS5’s storage bay.

It comes well-packaged in a plastic tray with a little foam insert to keep the pins safe and a little pack of documentation. In there you’ll find an advert for Seagate’s Rescue data recovery service, a basic manual with some general advice on fitting the SSD, and information about the drive’s warranty.

In applicable regions you get five years of limited warranty coverage here, which should be enough to see you through the rest of the PS5’s lifespan and is on par with what’s offered by the competition. The drive’s quoted 5,050 TBW durability is also excellent.

Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink: Performance

• Underwhelming benchmark score
• Decent real-world performance
• Heatsink seems effective

Despite the lofty quoted speeds, the Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink achieved quite an underwhelming result in the PS5’s internal storage benchmark coming to just 6,030MB/s which is on the lower end of the results for SSDs that I’ve tested. Still, this is more than fast enough for the PS5 and in my testing didn’t impact playing in any noticeable way.

While the substantially cheaper Lexar NM790 with Heatsink caused occasional stutters in demanding games like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink was silky smooth in every title that I tested.

Its performance in my usual real-world file transfer tests was also decent. Copy to the SSD from the PS5’s internal storage, 68.75GB of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 took just 44 seconds to transfer. The drive performs very well with even larger file sizes too, with the 86.33GB Ghost of Yotei copied in just 45 seconds. A combination of both games totaling 154.7GB only took 1 minute and 24 seconds.

Smaller titles were a little bit slower, with the 16.85GB Wuchang: Fallen Feathers taking eight seconds and the tiny 1.2GB C Smash VRS taking just two.

Copying from the SSD back to the console, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Ghost of Yotei were ready in 4 minutes and 41 seconds and 6 minutes and 5 seconds respectively, while both at once took 10 minutes and 17 seconds. Finally, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers was ready to launch after 1 minute and 13 seconds while C Smash VRS took 13 seconds. These figures are all perfectly adequate, though realistically more dependent on the PS5’s internal write speed than anything else.

There was no noticeable slowdown throughout my testing, which would indicate that the chunky heatsink does its job well and curbs thermal throttling.

Should I buy the Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider...

After some alternatives to the Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink? Here are two to consider.

How I tested the Seagate FireCuda 530R with heatsink

• Tested for a week
• Tried with multiple games
• Compared to other PS5 SSDs

I tested the Seagate FireCuda 530 with heatsink for a week, fitting it to my personal PS5 console. During that time I evaluated its performance with a range of copy tests, in addition to recording the console’s internal benchmark score and trying it with a range of installed games to determine whether the SSD would cause any impact on smoothness.

Throughout my time with the SSD I compared the experience to my hands-on testing of other models including the Samsung 990 Pro with Heatsink, WD Black SN850P, Lexar NM790 with Heatsink, Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5, Lexar Play 2280 and more.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed January 2026

• Hard drives still matter where capacity, cost efficiency and durability outweigh raw speed
• Most modern hard drives are built for data centers, servers and specialized storage roles
• Consumer hard drives are now rare, while enterprise, NAS and video drives dominate

Hard disk drives are often written off as legacy tech, but a closer look at what is still on sale tells a different story.

After compiling a detailed list of 167 of the best hard disk drives worth buying, six clear points emerged about who is still making HDDs, what they’re building, and who they’re actually for.

The first thing which stands out relates to brand. Western Digital has more drives on the list than anyone else, with 66 models spanning consumer, NAS, enterprise, and specialist categories. That range stretches from WD Blue consumer drives to WD Gold and Ultrastar models designed for data centers.

Today's best hard disk drive deals

8TB is the new baseline

My second takeaway concerns capacity. Seagate is the king of the high end drives, offering six models above 30TB, including multiple Exos M and Exos X variants that go far beyond what most people associate with spinning disks.

No other manufacturer comes close. While HDDs have disappeared from many consumer devices, capacity growth at the top end is still hugely important.

Capacity clustering tells its own story. 8TB is the most common size on the list, appearing 21 times, followed closely by 12TB with 20 entries.

These capacities show up repeatedly in families like WD Red Plus, Seagate IronWolf, and Toshiba N300. Drives below 8TB are now all but obsolete in new 3.5-inch models.

The fourth finding likely won’t come as a huge surprise. Almost half of the models, 80 in total, are enterprise drives designed for data centers and large-scale storage.

Product lines such as Seagate Exos, WD Ultrastar, and Toshiba MG dominate this category, and it's where most HDD development effort is now focused, rather than on everyday desktops.

The fifth takeaway reveals a more focused audience. There are 43 NAS-specific drives, including Seagate IronWolf and IronWolf Pro, WD Red Plus and Red Pro, and Toshiba’s N300 range. These are built for always-on systems in home servers and small businesses.

Surveillance drives are far less common, with only 17 models dedicated to video workloads, such as WD Purple and Seagate SkyHawk AI.

Interestingly, only 10 drives on the long list are aimed at mainstream consumers and Toshiba is the only manufacturer still treating hard drives as performance hardware. If offers 15 models in its X300 and X300 Pro lines for high-performance desktops and workstations rather than everyday PCs.

It’s clear that while HDDs haven’t disappeared, as SSDs took over speed-driven tasks, spinning disks have now settled into roles where capacity, durability, and cost per TB matter the most.

A quick note on the list. It excludes all hard disk drives below 8TB, which are now all but obsolete in new 3.5-inch models. It also only includes 3.5-inch drives, not 2.5-inch ones. Drives from professional refurbishers or relabeled models sold under brands like HP or Dell were left out. Where multiple SKUs of the same drive existed with minor differences such as cache size, encryption, or formatting, only a single representative model was counted.

• Seagate prototypes achieve 7TB per platter, the highest density for HDD research
• Ten-platter drives enable experimental HDDs to reach 70TB total capacity
• HAMR uses localized heating to write data on smaller magnetic bits

Seagate Technology has announced plans to commercialize a 3.5-inch HDD with a total storage capacity of 70TB.

This follows research-level prototypes achieving 7TB per platter, the highest areal density reported for an HDD prototype.

The company presented these results at a symposium organized by the Japan HDD Association and a seminar hosted by the National Institute for Materials Science.

Technology behind ultra-high capacity

According to Seagate, this achievement is a critical step toward reaching 10TB per platter by 2028.

The prototype drives rely on a combination of heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) and shingled magnetic recording (SMR).

HAMR uses localized heating to write data on smaller magnetic bits, while SMR partially overlaps tracks to increase storage density.

These innovations build on perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR), which has been used for roughly two decades to improve areal density but is now reaching practical limits.

Additional supporting technologies include granular ferromagnets made from iron-platinum, glass substrates for platters, and multi-sensor magnetic heads with two read heads.

Together, these innovations allow prototypes to reach densities near 8TB per platter, with projections suggesting up to 10TB per platter once HAMR and SMR are fully optimized.

Seagate’s development roadmap shows steady improvements in platter density over the past decade.

Capacities increased from 3TB per platter in 2018 to 6TB in 2024, largely driven by successive generations of HAMR technology.

At the same time, increasing the number of platters in high-capacity drives has contributed to total storage growth.

Ten-platter drives are now common for experimental ultra-high capacity HDDs, positioning them to become the largest HDDs commercially available by the late 2020s.

Combining these innovations with optimized read/write technologies also makes these drives among the fastest HDDs currently in development.

HAMR technology has steadily increased areal density from 1.3 Tbit/sq inch in 2017 to 3.7 Tbit/sq inch by the first half of 2025 when combined with SMR.

Projections indicate that 10TB per platter drives are theoretically feasible within a few years.

Beyond that point, achieving 15TB per platter will require breakthroughs such as full bit-patterned media to isolate magnetic bits completely.

Seagate’s research indicates a realistic, although still experimental, path toward the best HDDs in terms of capacity.

While 70TB drives may now appear achievable by late 2025 or early 2026, the timeline for commercially available 10TB per platter drives remains uncertain.

Via PC Watch (originally in Japanese)

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday now firmly in the rear view mirror, you may be looking around for ideas of what to gift the gamers in your life as we edge nearer to Christmas and the holidays.

And I am here to help by suggesting gaming hard drives like Seagate's Astro Bot Limited Edition external Game Drive for PS5, which you can now order for $159.99 at PlayStation Direct.

It's got exclusive artwork, a wonderfully apt Astro-blue LED, and a plug-and-play USB connection that makes it both a brilliantly useful PS5 accessory but also one that's bound to be well-received by any PlayStation collector or enthusiast.

Here's why.

More room to breathe

On a practical note, any PS5 external hard drive can be extremely practical gift for PlayStation 5 users - particularly those on the OG console or PS5 Slim - who have a huge game library and need some more space for lots of games.

And that's likely to be a good chunk of people, especially those who were keen PS4 and PS5 players, and have taken a library of PlayStation 4 games over to S55.

As storage solutions go, it might not be as fast as the best PS5 SSDs or external SSDs like the Seagate Game Drive External SSD for PS5 I use, but it's got a simple USB plug-and-play functionality, a huge 5TB of virtual shelf space for games, and is not pretending to be anything that it isn't: it's a straightforward, visually attractive storage option.

A design worth gifting

Moving beyond the relentlessly practical side of things, limited edition products like this also have huge potential as gifts due to their, well, limited edition nature.

These are quasi-unique products with aesthetics that can give off more than just a design, and can spark some joy in a player, and take them back to playing a game instantly (Astro Bot in this case).

I've talked a bit about this kind of concept when it comes to limited edition PlayStation DualSense controllers, too, and I think, for enthusiasts and collectors at least, it really does ring true: there's something extra special about having nice things that are of, by, about, or feature your favorite gaming brands, series, and characters.

With more than five years of the PS5 generation under our belts now, too, it's also possible that limited edition gear is more attractive than ever for enthusiasts and PlayStation fans. With whatever Sony has planned next on the horizon, it's the perfect time to stock up on nostalgic memorabilia from this console generation.

This is even more so the case for things like the Limited Edition Seagate Astro Bot external HDD if a player already has the two Astro Bot limited edition DualSense wireless controllers, for example, and adding to those will only enhance the collection.

As a result of all the above, and much like Seagate's other excellent gaming hard drives and storage solutions, the Limited Edition Astro Bot external Game Drive HDD for PS5 will make a perfect gift for any PlayStation gamer this Christmas and holiday season.

• Seagate says it has achieved 6.9TB platters in its laboratory using HAMR technology
• Outgoing 30TB drives use ten 3TB platters for maximum storage
• Intermediate 4TB, 5TB, and 6TB platters will enter production in 2027–2029

Seagate has announced it has successfully developed 6.9TB platters in its laboratory, marking a significant milestone in future hard drive technology.

The company says these experimental platters more than double the capacity of those used in current commercial drives.

Outgoing models, such as Seagate’s 30TB HAMR hard drives, use ten 3TB platters to reach maximum capacity.

HAMR technology and storage density

With the new 6.9TB platters, a single hard drive could achieve between 55TB and 69TB while maintaining the same physical form factor.

This level of storage density has not yet been implemented in consumer or enterprise products, but it demonstrates the physical limits of modern HAMR technology.

The high-capacity platters rely on Seagate’s heat-assisted magnetic recording, or HAMR, which applies heat to reduce magnetic coercivity during the write process.

This allows data to be stored more densely than on conventional hard drives.

In current drives, HAMR is combined with techniques such as Mozaic 3+ to reduce the media grain size and improve recording precision.

By applying these advances to larger platters, Seagate has created the potential for drives that could store more than twice the data of existing models without increasing size or weight.

Seagate has indicated that 6.9TB platters will not be used in official products until around 2030.

Before then, the company is developing intermediate platters of 4TB, 5TB, and 6TB, with production expected in 2027, 2028, and 2029, respectively.

Beyond 2031, Seagate projects even larger platters ranging from 7TB to 15TB, suggesting the possibility of petabyte-sized hard drives before 2040.

Despite the rise of SSDs, hard drives remain crucial for large-scale storage due to their superior capacity per dollar and long-term reliability.

The AI boom has intensified demand, resulting in extended backorders for enterprise-class drives.

While consumer-focused storage solutions like USB drives and smaller SSDs are gaining popularity, high-capacity hard drives remain a backbone for data centers and archival storage.

Via TomsHardware

• High speed 18TB Seagate Exos 2X18 HDD narrows gap with SATA SSDs
• Dual actuator Mach.2 technology delivers 554MBps reads at enterprise friendly capacities
• Drive suits workloads needing fast spinning media rather than pure capacity

The Seagate Exos 2X18 hard drive is available to buy from Insight priced at $659.99 - and while it isn’t exactly the Black Friday bargain of the year, that’s $19 off the usual price of $679.

Aimed at data center and enterprise workloads, this 18TB model stands out for more than just raw capacity – it’s fast.

The Exos 2X18 uses Seagate’s Mach.2 dual actuator design, which splits the drive’s mechanics into two independent actuator assemblies that work in parallel. The result is quoted sequential transfer rates of up to 554MBps for reads and 528MBps for writes, roughly double a typical 7200rpm enterprise HDD.

Near SATA SSD speeds

On paper, that puts this hard drive in the same territory as many SATA SSDs such as the Samsung 870 QVO, at least for large sequential transfers.

A SATA SSD is still far quicker for random access and latency sensitive work, but for streaming data or backup jobs the Exos drive narrows the gap far more than standard spinning disks.

The Exos 2X18 uses a 3.5 inch form factor with a SAS 12Gb/s interface and 256MB cache. Average latency is listed at 4.16ms and spindle speed at 7200rpm, backed by a claimed MTBF of 2500000 hours and a five year limited warranty.

The drive is listed at 304 IOPS for 4KB random reads and 560 IOPS for 4KB random writes. Power draw ranges from 8W at idle to 13.5W during sequential reads.

Helium filled construction, PowerBalance and Power Choice features are all aimed at keeping thermals and energy use predictable in dense racks.

Seagate Secure support can help with hardware based data protection in managed environments, although that will naturally depend on host integration.

This kind of performance comes at a steep price for a single 18TB drive. For buyers that only need capacity, slower nearline disks or high capacity SATA SSDs will work out cheaper per terabyte.

For workloads that are still bound to spinning media but benefit from higher throughput, the Exos 2X18 offers an unusual middle ground between traditional HDDs and entry level SATA SSDs.

• Seagate Exos 4U100 delivers multi-petabyte capacity for demanding AI and ML workflows
• HAMR technology powers the Exos 4U100’s density and long-term storage durability
• Edge environments benefit from the Exos 4U100’s ability to ingest continuous data

Seagate has unveiled its new Exos 4U100 and 4U74 JBOD systems, designed to handle the rising data demands of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The flagship Exos 4U100 enclosure delivers a maximum capacity of 3.2 petabytes, combining density and performance aimed at both data centers and edge environments.

Seagate’s Mozaic HAMR technology lies at the core of this release, engineered to support high-volume data throughput while reducing power consumption.

Innovation built for the edge

Seagate says its HAMR tech is capable of keeping pace with the scale and speed required in AI-driven workflows.

The company presents the Exos 4U100 as a solution for environments where data is generated and processed outside central cloud systems.

The system targets AI workloads which depend on rapid updates and local analysis and supports model checkpointing, long-term data retention, and continuous ingestion.

Seagate claims the Exos 4U100 achieves 70% more efficient cooling and consumes 30% less power than the previous generation, with flexibility for both SAS and SATA configurations.

However, as with all dense enclosures, efficiency claims will depend heavily on real-world workloads and how effectively systems maintain stability under sustained data operations.

SSDs dominate high-speed caching, and flash drives remain useful for mobility, however, HDD-based systems like the Exos 4U100 continue to offer unmatched capacity for long-term storage at a lower cost.

For AI workflows, where data is constantly generated, trained, and archived, such hybrid approaches are becoming critical.

The challenge lies not in raw capacity but in maintaining efficiency and security across diverse storage layers.

Seagate includes secure boot, Redfish management, and its proprietary Seagate Secure certification to protect against unauthorized access.

These safeguards are essential as data sovereignty regulations and privacy expectations evolve.

Yet, while security is emphasized, the question remains whether such large enclosures can remain manageable within fast-changing AI environments.

The Exos 4U100 represents Seagate’s confidence in mechanical storage’s continued relevance even as SSD and flash technologies advance.

“The Seagate Exos 4U100 JBOD marks the beginning of a bold new chapter in edge storage innovation—engineered to meet the evolving demands of data creation, storage, replication and analysis at the edge,” said Melyssa Banda, SVP Edge Storage and Services at Seagate.

Isn't old data just big data in new clothes?

AI innovation is driving exponential growth in the volume and value of data. More specifically, Generative AI is finally delivering on what big data promised – turning information into actionable intelligence.

But here’s the real shift, those insights don’t just come from yesterday’s data. They come from everything an organisation has ever captured. Every byte could hold the next breakthrough.

That’s why companies are rethinking data as a long-term strategic asset, not something to discard. Big data gives you the “now.” Historical data gives you the “why.” Together, they fuel intelligence.

Why is old data so important (AI, ML) and where is it mostly located? (tape? old hard drives? paper?)

AI doesn’t exist without data, and the most powerful models are built on patterns that span time. Historical data gives AI context, transforming predictions into precision and ideas into innovation.

Think of it this way, humanity has always preserved information – from clay tablets in Mesopotamia to punch cards for the U.S. Census. The difference today is that the stakes are higher. AI thrives on volume and diversity. More data means better results, giving organizations a competitive edge.

As for where that data lives, the vast majority of it, roughly 87% in large-scale deployments, is stored on HDDs. Modern AI workloads demand scalable, high-capacity hard drives optimised for sustained throughput and durability. It’s no longer just about speed, it’s about handling massive volumes, ensuring long-term retention, and doing so at scale.

Maintaining old data carries a cost. What can happen if businesses decide to delete old data altogether?

Deleting data isn’t cost savings, it’s erasing potential value. Every byte erased is a missed opportunity to train better models and build proprietary insights.

In industries like finance, healthcare, and manufacturing, historical data is essential for anomaly detection, predictive maintenance, and trend analysis. Without it, AI becomes less accurate, less transparent, and less trustworthy.

There’s also a compliance aspect. Regulators increasingly demand auditability in AI decision-making. If you can’t trace your training data, you can’t prove accountability.

Deleting historical data is like erasing institutional memory. You lose the raw material for innovation. Once it’s gone, its value is gone.

Years ago, customers asked, “Why are we storing all this data?” Today, they’re asking, “Why are we deleting it? Help us store it.”

What solutions can reduce the OPEX of storing old data?

The goal isn’t just to store data cheaply, it’s to store it intelligently. Many organisations are shifting to tiered storage architectures, where frequently accessed data sits on high-performance systems, while older or less-accessed data moves to cost-optimised tiers.

This approach ensures businesses aren’t paying for performance they don’t need. In short, store smarter, not just cheaper.

In a statement, you/Seagate said organizations must rethink data lifecycle management - but with technology moving as fast as it currently does, is it actually possible?

AI has redefined the value of data, which means data lifecycle management can no longer mean archiving. It’s about building flexible, scalable infrastructure that adapts as workloads evolve.

The old “store and forget” model doesn’t work anymore. Think of data as capital, it's dynamic, and so is the technology that powers it. Organisations that rethink lifecycle management today aren’t just keeping up, they’re building a foundation that scales with them.

• Seagate and Sony have revealed an Astro Bot Limited Edition external Game Drive
• The design is based around the PlayStation mascot, and even features his iconic robot eyes
• You can pre-order the 5TB hard drive at PlayStation Direct for $159.99 right now

Huh. It appears we all might have missed the announcement of a new Astro Bot PS5 external hard drive from Sony and Seagate. I know I did, at least.

Perfect for any PlayStation or Astro Bot fan, or PS5, PS5 Pro, or PS4 gamer, looking for some extra external storage with flair, the Astro Bot Limited Edition Game Drive offers a whopping 5TB of external HDD storage space contained within a beautiful limited edition shell.

The superb news is - for US folks, at least - that you can pre-order it right now ahead of its December 11 release date: it's going for $159.99 at PlayStation Direct. Seagate has told me that the drive is definitely coming to the UK, too, and will be priced at £169.99 - but there's no facility to pre-order in that region just yet.

Featuring exclusive artwork, a very apt Astro-blue LED glow, and a plug-and-play USB connection, it's another simple but effective solution from Seagate, and one that will have collectors like me champing at the bit to get into their collection.

Now that we're five years on from the PS5's launch, there's no doubt that this kind of release is more for collectors and mega fans than anyone else. That limited edition artwork is the main attraction, and I, for one, can't wait to line it up next to my other limited edition gear.

As a hard drive solution, it's sizeable and easy to use, yes, but it won't offer the same speeds as the best PS5 SSDs or external SSDs like the Seagate Game Drive External SSD for PS5 I have. But that might not matter to you - it wears its main characteristics on its sleeve and it's not pretending to be anything that it isn't, from a technical perspective.

However, whichever way you look at it, it's got appeal for fans, and will look great alongside the two Astro Bot limited edition DualSense wireless controllers. It'll be very practical for anyone sporting a massive PS4 game library or someone who wants to keep dozens of PS5 games in close reach.

With games requiring more and more storage space than ever, and the actual consoles themselves not really having much to spare, PS5 gamers are using SSD storage accessories to streamline their experiences. The Seagate Game Drive External SSD for Playstation is a great option for those who find themselves constantly having to delete and then redownload software, as it's much faster to just move games between an SSD and the PS5 console.

Thankfully, the Seagate Game Drive External SSD for Playstation in both its capacities is available for value-busting prices at Very in the UK right now. The value is particularly good on the 2TB version, which should be more than enough for a decent collection of PS5 and PS4 games.

The discount takes the 2TB model down to £187.99 at Very, which is a couple of quid shy of its lowest ever price, and the best price cut we've seen since June. The 1TB model is also available at Very for only £119.99. You can see more details on the deal below.

Today's best PS5 external SSD deal

It's worth remembering that an external hard drive can only store PS5 games (perfect for transferring, though, as an alternative to redownloading), but they can store and play PS4 games, making it perfect for those with a last-gen backlog.

When we reviewed the Seagate Game Drive External SSD for PlayStation, we praised the product's compact and slick design, as well as its reliable performance. If you're someone with low download speeds, you can easily move games to the SSD, and then bring them back on later on. This will skip long download times, and with PS4 games, you can launch directly from the SSD.

If you're outside of the UK, then check out the latest and lowest price on the Seagate External SSD for PS5 below, wherever you are in the world.

And if you're looking for some more PS5 gaming inspiration, we've got you covered...

• Seagate is already testing its 40TB HAMR drives, while Toshiba eyes 2027 launch
• Toshiba’s drives use 12-disk stacking technology and Microwave-Assisted Magnetic Recording
• Seagate is planning 44TB models for when Toshiba’s 40TB models arrive

Back in May 2025, we reported that Seagate had shipped limited units of its 40TB HDDs built on its Mozaic HAMR platform. These drives use Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording to store 4TB per platter across ten platters, setting a new benchmark at the time for mechanical storage density.

Full-scale production is planned to begin in the first half of 2026, once extensive customer testing is complete.

At Seagate’s recent Investor and Analyst Conference, company CEO Dr. Dave Mosley explained that the ten-disk configuration offers better fleet-level efficiency for data centers, while also serving as the foundation for the company’s roadmap.

One dozen platters

Seagate said then it expected to move beyond 40TB in the coming years, with 44TB models penciled in for 2027 and 50TB drives by 2028.

Fast forward to now, and Toshiba has announced it has verified 12-disk stacking technology for hard drives, a first for the storage industry.

Its design combines the firm’s mechanical engineering experience with Microwave-Assisted Magnetic Recording (MAMR) to reach 40TB capacities in a 3.5-inch format. Toshiba plans to launch these drives in 2027.

The new design adds two disks to the ten-disk nearline format and also replaces aluminum substrates with glass, which results in thinner platters, higher precision, and greater durability.

This can reportedly increase storage density without sacrificing either stability or reliability.

Toshiba’s engineers are also studying how this 12-disk configuration could work alongside HAMR, suggesting a hybrid direction for future products.

The company says that ultimately its goal is to provide data centers with larger capacities while maintaining a lower TCO as data demands continue to grow.

Still, by the time Toshiba’s drives reach the market, if Seagate’s roadmap comes to pass, the competition may already be moving well beyond 40TB, leaving Toshiba playing catch-up.

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• These are the fastest hard drives on offer today
• And these are the largest hard drives you can buy right now
• Toshiba unveils 28TB hard disk drive to compete with WD and Seagate

• LaCie Rugged SSD4 can transfer a 4K movie in seconds
• USB4 promises 4000MB/s read speeds, raising questions about real-world performance
• Pricing ranges from $134.99 to $479.99 across three models

Seagate’s LaCie brand has introduced the Rugged SSD4, its first USB4-based portable SSD, aimed at professionals who need speed in difficult environments.

The launch is notable because it comes at a time when the tech industry is shifting attention toward Thunderbolt 5, yet Seagate has chosen to focus on USB4.

LaCie’s Rugged SSD4 USB4 interface supports 40Gbps bandwidth, and promises read speeds of up to 4000MB/s, fast enough to copy a full 4GB 4K movie in just about one second.

A new chapter for LaCie’s rugged storage line

This SSD supports iPhone’s USB-C ProRes 4K 120fps video recording, a feature that might appeal to creative professionals who shoot high-resolution footage.

It is also promoted as IP54 dust and water resistant, drop-proof from three meters, and capable of withstanding one-ton pressure.

While these specifications sound impressive, only extended real-world testing will confirm whether this rugged SSD performs as consistently in demanding conditions as advertised.

LaCie’s products have historically straddled a balance between design and durability, rather than focusing only on raw price-to-performance ratios.

The Rugged SSD4, created by designer Neil Poulton, continues this tradition with its distinctive appearance.

The drive features a bright orange rubber bumper that wraps securely around the body.

This rubberized casing is more than just a visual trademark, it provides shock protection, allowing the device to withstand drops, heavy pressure, and rough handling.

At the center, a brushed metal plate with the LaCie logo reinforces the professional identity of the product, offering a durable surface that contrasts effectively with the orange exterior.

The company released three versions of this device, including a 1TB model retailing for $134.99, a 2TB model selling for $249.99, and a 4TB model for $479.99.

LaCie, founded in France in 1989, has been known for external storage devices that often combine striking industrial design with fast data transfer technology.

After its acquisition by Seagate in 2014, the company was absorbed into the larger storage ecosystem but retained its distinctive identity.

LaCie’s product lineup has traditionally included external hard drives, RAID systems, and network-attached storage (NAS), and many of its products leaned heavily on Thunderbolt and USB-C interfaces.

However, its shift to USB4 seems like a lean back, and with Thunderbolt 5 already appearing on some systems, this product risks arriving half a step behind in interface innovation.

Via ITHome (originally in Chinese)

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• Seagate commits £115 million to expand Northern Ireland research in Mozaic and photonics
• Investment supports push toward 100TB hard drives with new jobs and supply chains
• Partnership with Invest NI deepens university collaborations through Smart Nano NI Consortium

Seagate is expanding its long-running research presence in Northern Ireland with a five-year program focused on advancing hard drive technology.

The company said the initiative, supported by Invest Northern Ireland, will develop new photonics-based recording systems designed to push storage capacities toward 100TB.

The total funding amounts to £115 million (approximately $135 million), made up of £100 million from Seagate and a £15 million grant from Invest NI.

The road to 100TB

The investment is centered at Seagate’s Derry/Londonderry site, one of the region’s largest private employers with over 1,300 staff, where ongoing work on Mozaic heat assisted magnetic recording technology aims to scale drive capacities beyond 60TB and ultimately to 100TB.

John Morris, chief technology officer at Seagate, said, “In today’s AI-driven world, data volume isn’t just growing, the value of data is evolving as organizations rethink what it takes to train AI models and retain new, highly valuable data.”

The facility currently produces more than a quarter of the world’s recording heads and plays a critical role in laser research that underpins next-generation drives.

“To unlock data’s full potential, we need storage solutions that are not only massive in capacity but engineered for reliability, durability, and scale,” Morris added.

Kieran Donoghue, chief executive of Invest NI, described the move as a continuation of a three-decade collaboration.

“Through ongoing engagement and support, we have helped the facility here to evolve into a world leading manufacturing and pioneering R&D centre. We are delighted to support the Seagate team with this latest project and secure the development of the new recording heads and laser technology in the North-West,” he said.

Seagate says the program will create new skilled jobs in both R&D and production, while at the same time strengthening supply chains via local sourcing of materials and services.

Seagate is also increasing collaboration with universities under the Smart Nano NI Consortium, which focuses on nano-photonics research and innovation.

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• And these are the largest hard drives you can buy right now
• Seagate claims its flagship hard drives could last more than 7 years

• Nearly 700 counterfeit Seagate hard drives were seized in a major Malaysian raid
• Counterfeiters converted desktop HDDs into fake surveillance drives for profit
• Thousands of dollars were generated monthly through counterfeit hard drive sales

A large-scale raid in Malaysia has revealed the extent of manipulation in the hard drive market.

Seagate, working alongside the Ministry of Domestic Trade, traced suspicious online offers to a warehouse near Kuala Lumpur.

The raid uncovered a counterfeiting workshop that not only handled its own hard drives but also those from Western Digital and Toshiba.

Discovery of altered storage devices

This is not the first time old Seagate HDDs have been modified and sold as new. The Chia cryptocurrency case and other reports show Seagate drives are susceptible to counterfeiting.

In this latest case, nearly 700 Seagate units, some with capacities reaching 18TB, were seized.

Evidence suggests that devices were taken from the secondary market, scrubbed clean, fitted with new labels, and then sold as though they were fresh from the factory.

A striking case involved a desktop HDD being converted into a so-called "new" surveillance HDD, highlighting the deceptive practices being used.

The operation came to light when a sales manager noticed unusually low prices on e-commerce sites such as Lazada and Shopee.

Further investigation showed that the fraudsters reset SMART values to mask the age and use of the drives.

Reports indicate that the sales volume was large, with thousands of US dollars being generated each month.

Many of these products were listed as high-capacity options, making them attractive to customers seeking affordable storage, whether in desktop systems, portable HDD setups, or NAS HDD configurations.

Seagate believes the used equipment may have originated in China, although tracing the precise supply chain remains difficult.

The challenge now lies in finding out how large the network is and who is ultimately responsible for channeling used parts into counterfeit goods.

The raid demonstrates that organized groups are capable of reshaping the appearance of drives so effectively that unsuspecting buyers may only realize the problem once failures occur.

In response, Seagate has strengthened its partner program, demanding that distributors commit to sourcing exclusively from authorized suppliers.

Global Trade Screening is being emphasized as a mechanism to block purchases from companies that appear on sanctions lists.

These steps are designed to reduce the chances of counterfeit drives entering legitimate markets, although it remains to be seen whether this will make a lasting difference.

The discovery is not isolated. Other brands have been affected, as shown by counterfeit UnionSine external devices circulating on Amazon’s marketplace without effective intervention.

Despite alerts, sales continued, and this shows how porous the global distribution chain has become.

For buyers, the risks associated with unusually cheap listings remain, and unless enforcement intensifies, counterfeit devices may continue to slip through unchecked channels.

Via computerbase (originally in German)

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Seagate Exos Mozaic+ M 30TB: 30-second review

The Seagate Exos M is squarely aimed at enterprise, hyper-scale environments, such as cloud providers, AI data clusters, or large backup systems, where huge amounts of data capacity are required. In this review, I've taken a look at the drive in isolation and installed it in an ASUS Prime Z890-P and Intel Core Ultra 7 desktop workstation designed for creative use, specifically for editing video and images. In this scenario, I used the drive as an archival solution for footage rather than using an external NAS that I usually rely on, although I also have two 8 TB HDD installed in a RAID 1.

Getting started with this huge capacity drive is exactly the same as any other: simply plug it into your power supply, then connect the cable to your motherboard. Plug and switch the machin on and go through the Windows 11 Disk Management application, and you'll see the unformatted drive appear, ready for use. In this case, I'm just using it on its own so I can format it in NTFS and make the disk usable for the test.

Once the drive has been formatted, it's accessible in exactly the same way as any other drive installed in your system. At this point, if I were going to use this full-time, I would definitely purchase two so I could set them up in RAID 1 to ensure redundancy in case one fails. However, as this is a review I'll be running it in isolation and solidly for over a week, and as it's designed to run 24/7, I left some of the benchmarking tests running for several days to test the integrity of the drive. This will also be a great test for my machine.

While I've become used to the speed of the latest NVMe SSDs, falling back on a traditional HDD and that drop in speed of transfer can really be seen, topping out at close to 300 MB/s. However, as this drive isn't going to be used as a working drive and is purely archival, the data transfer rate is still better than when I transfer over to my NAS, and therefore, archiving directly to a drive within the workstation is a far faster process. Something that I do as a tempory back-up as a matter of course, when editing video.

I used the drive with Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Adobe Premiere Pro, and DaVinci Resolve for archiving files. It's apparent that the drive is exceptionally reliable and fast considering its capacity and having that stored within my workstation rather than on an external device has made me rethink using external systems. Realistically, I can get a very decent and reliable RAID setup within my workstation, offering a huge 30 TB of data in a much neater and tidier environment.

Seagate Exos Mozaic+ M 30TB: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? $618
• When is it out? Now
• Where can you get it? Widely available

As this drive is made by Seagate, one of the largest storage manufacturers, it is widely available either as an individual unit or as multiples. It can also be bought through many B2B suppliers and, of course, through Amazon.

• Value: 5 / 5

Seagate Exos Mozaic+ M 30TB: Design

There are three different ranges within the Exos series, including the X, E and M series, that I'm looking at in this review. The difference between each really comes down to their maximum capacities and the build technology, with the E series having a maximum capacity of just 10 TB and typically being aimed as a budget enterprise system, the X going up to 24 TB and featuring a more involved technological build to help reduce wear, and designed for both data centres and NAS, and the M that I'm looking at in this review, with a maximum capacity of 36 TB.

As the drive is a standard 3.5-inch, it has been designed to fit into most desktop machines as well as NAS and servers so that wide compatibility is assured, and these are pretty much standardised.

When it comes to the data and power connection, these are all standardised, with the SATA III interface being 6 GB/s, using a standard 7-pin SATA data cable. It's also hot pluggable in AHCI mode. For input, it just requires the typical 15-pin SATA power plug. They connect directly to your power supply, so actually installing them into the system is extremely quick and easy, and it features all the usual screw holes so you can secure it in place.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

Seagate Exos Mozaic+ M 30TB: Features

While hard drives have been around for many years and have been a staple for large-scale storage, even in the event of NVMe SSDs becoming mainstream for most desktop PCs, the likes of the Mozaic+ Exos M offer something well beyond the latest technology. While the transfer speed might seem relatively limited, the main reason for going for such a large capacity drive is, of course, storage. Here, Seagate has really worked at enhancing the technology, mainly that reliability. With three different capacities available, the 30 TB I'm reviewing, 32 and 36 TB, there's plenty of choice. When you have the other two ranges in the Exos series, which might be more affordable, you'll certainly find something that should fit your price bracket.

Even by HDD standards, 30 to 36 TB of data is a huge amount for a single drive, and this is made possible due to the breakthrough Areal density and HAMR (Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording), which enables 3 TB per platter and makes it a great option for many of the new AI-driven data centres. If you're a small to medium-sized business and looking for large-scale backup, then the reliability of these drives is definitely going to be of interest. When coupled with the huge capacity and price point of these drives, they become even more appealing, enabling mass storage on a very small scale. While the drives offer huge capacity, they are also some of the most efficient drives on the market, and Seagate states they're about three times more power efficient per terabyte than typical drives of this type.

When it come to the technology used Seagate has invested in the development of storage media, this includes the Superlattice Platinum-Alloy Media that offers a higher magnetic coercivity making the high storage density possible. There's also a news plasmonic writer that heats that material quickly at 800º Fahrenheit, which then cools again in less than two nanoseconds. While there has been some debate about this technology, through the test it proved to be reliable.

When it comes to reasding the data it uses a Gen 7 Spintronic Reader which features complex technology to read from those high density platters and enables the transfer rates that I recorded through the benchmarking tests.

Of course, with this capacity, reliability is a huge issue, especially if you're going to be using this drive in isolation. Here, Seagate reassures enterprise-class reliability, and, after all, these drives have been designed for enterprise and business, where Seagate's reputation has been trusted for many years.

• Features: 4.5 / 5

Seagate Exos Mozaic+ M 30TB: Performance

Getting started with the Exos Mozaic+ is exactly the same as you'd expect with any standard HDD: simply install it, plug in the SATA and power connectors, power on your PC, then go into Disk Manager and format the disk with the file system you require. The whole process takes no more than five minutes.

However, the design of this disk is not really to be used in isolation but rather as part of a larger system. On a smaller scale, in a large capacity NAS, it could be a perfect solution for any home office, freelancer, or small business. Essentially, you have enterprise-grade HDDs perfect for configuring in a RAID setup for mass storage all your company's data. The fact that each drive is of the standard 3.5-inch form factor and will fit any standard drive bay adds to the versatility and compatibility.

Once in place, you can then set up whichever backup software you use or configure your machine to back up to the 30 TB drive and then out to an online backup service such as Backblaze.

Through the test, the drive performed well, reaching almost 300 MB/s read speed in almost every test, and likewise not too far behind on the write speed, which actually means you could potentially utilise this as a working drive for many applications that don't require fast transfer rates.

When I tested it out with Photoshop and Lightroom, showing 300 MB/s works relatively well and means you can have your libraries stored securely onto this archival drive and be able to quickly navigate and select images much faster than you would through a NAS system.

When it came to bulk backups, getting the whole machine and my external drive configured to back up directly to the 30 TB drive was fast and easy enough using Acronis True Image. Likewise, getting that 30 TB drive backed up to Backblaze was a simple step, although the upload process is ongoing.

When it came to overall performance at 30 TB, there is very little that I can fault about the drive. With a drive like this, it's more about the longevity rather than the speed. It can't be expected to keep up with the demands of the fastest SSDs, but it also remains close to 100% reliable.

In my test, it worked without a glitch, and even when running benchmarking tests for three days solid, there was no letdown in the speed of the drive, highlighting that, at least in the short term, it was as reliable as you can get.

• Performance: 5 / 5

Seagate Exos Mozaic+ M 30TB: Final verdict

When it comes to testing a hard drive of this nature, it's really designed for enterprise use, and popping it into a workstation allows for a good test using benchmarking software, utilising it to archive and back up external drive data, and performing performance tests. The interesting points about the Exos Mozaic+ M HDD are its overall reliability alongside capacity.

Running a benchmark for three days put the drive under a lot of pressure, and it was able to dissipate the heat relatively well in the Asus ProArt case with ASUS Prime Z890-P and Intel Core Ultra 7. It gave me a good understanding of how it might perform in the long run. Ordinarily, my internal HDDs are WD Reds configured as two 8 TB drives in a RAID 1 array, a very simple but effective solution. Whilst 8 TB drives are perfectly good, I am quickly running out of storage and have another two 8 TB drives stacked with video content, so having a 30 TB drive would take up far less space and could all be contained within my desktop solution.

That's where the key selling point of this HDD comes into play: it's not so much about speed but about reliability and space. The fact that it uses Areal density to store 3 TB of data per platter means you can have a standard 3.5-inch HDD with 30 TB of data. Obviously, that one HDD takes up far less space than my 16 TB backup, a UGREEN NAS, consisting of four 8 TB drives.

When it comes to large-capacity solutions, the Exos Mozaic M is an excellent choice and considering the price, it is exceptionally well-balanced.

Should I buy a Seagate Exos Mozaic+ M 30TB?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

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Seagate IronWolf Pro 30TB HDD: 30-second review

An initial look at the Seagate high capacity HDD range can be a little confusing, with two almost identical products, the Exos Mozaic 3+ M 30TB HDD and the Seagate IronWolf Pro 30 TB, both offering very similar hardware and capacities but with a few distinct differences.

In this review, I'm looking into IronWolf and why this drive is recommended for home and small office use as a NAS systems solution. It's not that the IronWolf is more reliable than the Exos version, but there are greater safeguards for integrity built into the firmware, making it better for self-managed systems. This firmware, IronWolf Health Management (IHM), enables it to communicate with certain NAS systems OSs to relay information about the health of the drive.

In this review, I've installed the IronWolf firstly into a desktop machine to test its speed and reliability in isolation before moving it over to a Ugreen NASync DXP4800 Plus and coupled it with an Exos drive.

Overall, the performance was exceptionally good and that 30TB of capacity as a drive on its own is extremely spacious, enabling you to back up or archive plenty of work documents, images and video securely.

Obviously, when you're running this scale of data, having a NAS is the ideal option to ensure that you're not going to lose any data if the unimaginable happens and your drive does go down.

Getting started with the drive inside my desktop machine based around the ASUS PRIME Z890-P WIFI motherboard running an Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU, the drive was instantly recognised within drive management and reformatted into the NTFS file system. From then on, the performance was good, matching if not exceeding other HDDs that I have installed, with one notable difference being that the drive was accessible faster than some of my older hard drives.

Switching over and installing into the UGreen NASync DXP4800 Plus, of which the IronWolf hard drives are actually one of the drives that the company suggests, the support for the IHM (IronWolf Health Management) system integrates fully with UGreen NAS and includes smart diagnostic tools that monitor the drive's health in the background.

Whilst there's nothing to specifically say that integration is happening on drives that aren't compatible with this type of integration, you don't get the depth of insight that you do with the IronWolf, showing it's a great option for the UGREEN systems. It should also be fully compatible with TerraMaster and Asustor NAS as well, with full details listed on the NAS manufacturer's websites under the suggested storage solutions.

At the end of the test, I was, of course, impressed with the huge compatibility that the drive had across multiple devices, being used as a standalone within a desktop machine, as well as being partnered with an Exos Mozaic 3+ in the UGreen NASync DXP4800 Plus system.

If you're looking for a potential extremely high-capacity NAS hard drive for your home or office, then the IronWolf Pro 30 TB version is a great option, although I do consider that at the cost per unit, you are going to be looking at a considerable outlay for a standard four-disk array.

Seagate IronWolf Pro 30TB: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? $670 / £750
• When is it out? Now
• Where can you get it? Widely available

As this HDD is one of the best-known compatible drives on the market, it will be widely available with an estimated street price of around $670 / £750, meaning that if you want to fill the UGreen NAS with a full four drives, you will be looking at around US$3000 / £3000.

• Value: 5 / 5

Seagate IronWolf Pro 30 TB: Design

The Seagate IronWolf Pro follows the standard tried and tested 3.5-inch HDD form factor and has been specifically designed for 24/7 use, offering reliability in home and office NAS systems. While 30 TB is the largest of the capacities for this particular model, there are plenty of other options running from 2 TB all the way through to this largest capacity that I'm looking at in this review.

As the IronWolf follows the standard dimensions, it measures 26.11 mm x 101.85 mm x 146.99 mm, so it will fit into almost any NAS system that you want. when it comes to weight, due to the number of platters within the drive, it is relatively heavy at 695 g, so a fully loaded NAS system is going to be rather weighty.

Seagate, with years of experience, has essentially created an HDD that has been optimised for multi-bay NAS systems and has firmware with the IronWolf health management software built in that integrates with many NAS OSs so that drive health monitoring can be seen through the NAS software, in the case of this review, that is the UGreen NASync DXP4800 Plus and the UGOS software.

The drive mechanics incorporate vibration sensors, low power and heat output sensors, and general attention to the build quality that ensures this drive runs quietly, even compared with other Seagate drives.

Physically, it features all the usual screw holes that you need to mount this within a caddy system into the NAS, and when it comes to data connectors, it features SATA 6 Gb/s data connector and SATA 15-pin power connector, so should easily fit into almost any consumer NAS model.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

Seagate IronWolf Pro 30TB: Features

Taking a look at the feature set of the IronWolf Pro 30 TB and it these highlight that it's been designed for home and small office use. So if you are a small video or photographic studio, then this scale of capacity is going to be extremely valuable and even for other business uses; just having that amount of data storage that you can configure and manage yourself on a UGreen NASync DXP4800 Plus, Synology or QNAP NAS system has to be very appealing.

While the 30TB version is rather expensive, and for a basic NAS setup you're going to need at least four, the cost could be slightly prohibitive, but with versions of this drive starting at 2 TB, for a lot less money and ranging all the way through to the massive 30 TB, there's plenty of options depending on your budget and you can always buy a lower capacity option, then upgrade in the future.

A nice feature is that the drive supports hot-swapping, so if a drive does go down in your NAS system and your NAS system also supports hot-swapping, then you don't need to power down the machine, just remove the drive, pop in a new one and hopefully that drive will then safely re-populate.

When it comes to the technology behind the drive, it uses all CMR (conventional magnetic recording), and as this has been around for a long time, it's a tried and tested technology, so whilst it might not be the fastest, it's certainly known for reliability.

When it comes to reliability, as all the technology is well tested, Seagate states that it's good for up to 550 TB a year workload rating, which is about 2.5 million hours of MTBF, and it comes with a five-year limited warranty, which gives you peace of mind. Further reinforcing just how confident Seagate are about the reliability of this drive, they have bundled a complementary three-year licence and Rescue Data Recovery with the cost, and the software, from personal experience, is very good at recovering data from damaged drives.

One of the features that I've already spoken about is the IronWolf health management. This is integrated into the drive but needs other software in order to communicate. It's basically a link to your NAS system software from the drive and enables your NAS system software, in the case of the UGreen option, that's UGreen UGOS, where, under the health option, you can see just how well the drive is doing.

One of the other big features of the design of the drive is that it has been optimised for NAS and uses an AgileArray with workload balancing. This essentially offers time-limited error recovery (TLER) and rotational vibration (RV) sensors, which all help deliver reliable performance in most multi-bay environments.

• Features: 4.5 / 5

Seagate IronWolf Pro 30TB: Performance

In this test, I approached the IronWolf Pro 30TB in two different ways. The first was just to install it into a desktop machine and utilise it as a large capacity drive within my desktop video editing machine that's based on the ASUS PRIME Z890-P WIFI motherboard with Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU. After right-clicking on the Windows icon, selecting drive manager and reformatting the drive into the NTFS format, the drive was ready to use. Although speeds aren't huge compared with your average SSD, at over 200 Mb per second, it was absolutely fine for video and image data.

One thing that impressed me was the access speed of this HDD was far faster than some of my other large-capacity HDDs. Whilst it wasn't instantly ready as an SSD is when it's on standby, the speed of access to the drive was still impressive. Likewise, the transfer rates, as highlighted in the benchmarking tests, show once the disc is active, it could actually be perfectly well used for the likes of Lightroom and Photoshop as a working drive, and although those transfer speeds might seem relatively slow in comparison with the SSDs of today, in reality for this type of work, this speed is still more than adequate.

In the next test, and as part of the Seagate Exos Mozaic 3+ test, I created a SoftRAID within my desktop machine using the two drives, and they worked perfectly together, creating a fast RAID 0 internally in my machine and, to be honest, if you want to cut out the need for a large RAID system and just want something very simple, then this approach actually works surprisingly well.

Switching over and popping the two drives into the UGreen NASync DXP4800 Plus and using the OS to initiate the two drives, as the capacity of the two sets of drives was different, I had to separate them as different pools, with one of the 30 TB drives in one pool and the two 8 TB drive in the other. In this situation, the drives were perfectly providing huge amounts of capacity and also that peace of mind that the data was secured on a RAID system, so if there was a drive failure, then I wouldn't lose all that data.

Accessing the NAS was always fast, although not quite at a network working standard; I have no doubt that for large-scale archiving, this drive would definitely keep up with the pace. Also, the ability to log on and actually be able to monitor the health of the drive is also a huge advantage, and this was all done through the UGreen NAS UGOS, which I find is an easy option.

Used both as a standalone high-capacity HDD within a desktop machine and also as its intended use possible for NAS, the IronWolf Pro 30 TB capacity HDD really stands out as a decent option, but what reinforces this reliability for me is the integration of the health firmware with compatible NAS systems that would make me look at this as a viable option for upgrading my own NAS System.

• Performance: 5 / 5

Seagate IronWolf Pro 30TB: Final verdict

If you run a small office and don't have an IT department to rely on, then an option like the IronWolf Pro HDD is a great choice and gives you just a little bit of extra feedback that's important over the Exos Mozaic 3+ 30 TB drive that I've also tested.

While the Exos Mozaic 3+ is excellent, it is more designed for high-end enterprise situations so compared to the IronWolf Pro, it doesn't feature some of those health checks the smaller systems that are self-managed would need.

Should I buy a Seagate IronWolf Pro 30TB?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

For more high-end storage solutions, we've also reviewed the best NAS devices around.

• Seagate’s 30TB Exos M is helium-filled and built for data centers, not home PCs
• 2.5 million hours MTBF sounds great until you realize how specific this use case is
• The IronWolf Pro HDD targets NAS users, not hyperscale cloud infrastructure like Exos M

A new listing for Seagate’s 30TB Exos M hard disk drive has appeared online, offering what is currently the largest HDD available for under $600. Both Newegg and Walmart list the drive at $599.99 while B&H Photo has it at $679.

Seagate’s Exos M (model ST30000NM004K) - which has been launched earlier today - is a helium-sealed 3.5-inch internal hard drive built around conventional magnetic recording (CMR) technology.

Enterprise-grade capacity at an unexpectedly low price

With a 7200 RPM spindle speed and a 512MB multi-segmented cache, it delivers a sustained data transfer rate of up to 275MB/s.

The drive supports a SATA interface and is hot-plug capable. According to Seagate, it is designed for high-capacity use cases including hyperscale data centers, enterprise backup systems, and distributed file storage frameworks like Hadoop and Ceph.

The manufacturer also reports a mean time between failures (MTBF) of 2.5 million hours and an annualized failure rate of just 0.35%, suggesting this model is meant for non-stop, 24/7 operation.

Additional features include PowerBalance and PowerChoice technologies for more efficient energy management, and RSA 3072 firmware verification for security.

These specifications strongly indicate that the Exos M is tailored toward enterprise infrastructure, not the typical desktop setup.

Another Seagate 30TB drive also appears in listings and shares many of the same core specifications. Provantage lists the IronWolf Pro ST300000NT011 HDD for a slightly higher $669.69, still an affordable price for a drive of this capacity.

Although they share similarities (30TB, CMR, 7200 RPM), their firmware, vibration tolerance, and workload optimizations will likely differ because Exos is tuned for hyperscale environments, while IronWolf Pro is optimized for NAS workloads.

Despite the attention-grabbing capacity, calling Seagate Exos M the best HDD depends entirely on context.

For cloud infrastructure and archival storage, it may represent strong value, particularly at this price.

But for everyday users, its 3.5-inch form factor, 7200 RPM speed, and enterprise-oriented feature set make it impractical.

Ultimately, the Seagate Exos M is a highly specialized product, but its pricing makes it look accessible.

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• Seagate 36TB Exos M hard drive is large enough to store over 1,440 single-layer Blu-ray discs
• New model ships alongside refurbished versions at nearly the same price
• Designed for AI, cloud, and data-heavy workloads with lower power use

The Exos M ST36000NM003K is Seagate’s newest and largest SATA data center hard drive to date. It follows the 32TB model launched in late 2024, which itself came nearly a year after the company’s 30TB release.

We wrote about the 36TB version back in January 2025, and now it’s gone up for preorder at ServerPartDeals.com, priced at $799.99 (which equates to $22.22 per terabyte, if you’re wondering).

What’s intriguing is that, alongside the new drive, manufacturer-recertified and seller-refurbished models are also being offered at slightly lower prices.

Refurbished and recertified

The 3.5-inch drive runs at 7,200 RPM and uses the SATA 6Gb/s interface. It introduces a new areal density milestone of 3TB per platter, reaching high capacity without changing the form factor.

Seagate combines its latest Mozaic 3+ technology with 90% of components used in earlier models. Designed for cloud services, big data, and AI infrastructure, the Exos M offers higher capacity in the same physical footprint.

It claims to deliver three times the power efficiency per terabyte compared to traditional drives, helping lower data center operating costs.

Seagate says the Exos M uses more recycled materials and renewable energy than any of its past products.

Recertified and refurbished versions of the 36TB model are already available to preorder now, priced only slighter cheaper that the brand new version.

The manufacturer-recertified version is listed at $789.99 ($21.94 per TB), while the seller-refurbished model is available for $779.99 ($21.66 per TB).

That used units are being offered for preorder alongside the new models is interesting and possibly linked to testing or early returns.

Aside from availability shortages, I can’t imagine many people are going to rush to buy one of those models just to save $10-$20 per drive.

Each new unit comes with a 3-year warranty. That drops to two years for the recertified version and to just 90 days for the refurbished model.

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• NVMe brings storage consistency, but SAS still holds its ground in raw performance terms

Seagate Technology demonstrated a prototype hard drive at Computex 2025 that utilizes NVMe, a storage protocol typically found in SSDs.

According to PCwatch, the demonstration featured a combination of NVMe SSDs and HDDs using NVMe-oF (NVMe over Fabrics) to communicate over Ethernet.

While the hybrid interface showcased potential for data centers, it remains unclear whether this shift will be feasible for personal computers.

NVMe integration marks a shift in storage interfaces, not performance

Colin Pressley, Seagate's Head of Customer Success, noted, “We have already natively integrated PCIe into our HDD controllers,” signaling a major architectural shift.

The prototype drive supports both NVMe and SAS connections, offering flexibility during what could be a lengthy transition.

However, Pressley was quick to manage expectations: “There are almost no benefits in terms of performance. The latest SAS provides sufficient performance, and just because it becomes NVMe doesn't mean that there is a major improvement.”

For consumers searching for the best HDD, or even the fastest external HDD, NVMe support offers little immediate benefit.

The real promise lies not in speed, but in unification. With SSDs already running on NVMe, bringing HDDs under the same protocol simplifies driver requirements and software architecture.

Importantly, the NVMe-compatible HDD is not based on a proprietary standard. Instead, it follows a formalized version of the NVMe specification, which now includes commands tailored to mechanical drives, such as spin-up protocols.

This adherence to open standards increases the likelihood of broader industry adoption, especially in enterprise environments where consistency is crucial.

However, NVMe HDDs are unlikely to become available to the general public anytime soon. According to Pressley and Seagate, it may take five to ten years for hard drives to fully transition from SATA/SAS to NVMe.

That timeline mirrors previous transitions, like the shift from IDE to SATA, where new standards gradually replaced legacy interfaces.

While this progression seems inevitable for data centers, consumer desktops and laptops are a different story.

Most consumer systems today still rely on SATA for bulk storage, often pairing the largest HDD available with a faster SSD for boot and application performance.

Until motherboard chipsets eliminate SATA support altogether, a shift not expected for at least another decade, NVMe HDDs are unlikely to become mainstream in home PCs.

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• Seagate’s HAMR roadmap could deliver 150TB hard drives - but not before 2035
• Mozaic platform now enables 4TB platters, paving the way to 10TB disks by 2028
• Mozaic 4 to ship in 2026, while Mozaic 5 aims for late 2027 qualifications

At Seagate’s recent 2025 Investor and Analyst Conference, CEO Dr. Dave Mosley and CTO Dr. John Morris outlined the company’s long-term roadmap for hard drive innovation.

This hinted at the possibility of 150TB hard drives, the largest HDD ever, by groundbreaking 15TB platters, but cautioned that this milestone remains at least a decade away.

The foundation of this future lies in Seagate’s HAMR (Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording) technology, currently being deployed through the company’s Mozaic platform.

10TB per platter on track for 2028

“We have high confidence in our product roadmap through Mozaic 5. And notably, the design space for granular iron platinum media that's in Mozaic 3 looks very viable to get us up to 10 terabytes per disk,” said Dr. Morris

That 10TB-per-disk benchmark is expected to be reached by 2028. “We do have confidence that we can provide a path to 10 terabytes per disk in roughly this time frame,” Morris added, explaining that spin-stand demonstrations of new technologies typically take five years to reach product qualification.

Looking beyond 10TB, Seagate is exploring how to extend the capabilities of its Iron Platinum media.

“We believe that there's another level of extension of that granular iron platinum architecture that could theoretically get as high as 15 terabytes per disk,”

Such an achievement would pave the way for 150TB hard drives by stacking 10 platters per unit. However, he warned, “beyond 15 terabytes per disk is going to require some level of disruptive innovation.”

Seagate’s CEO, Dave Mosley, echoed this long-range vision, noting, “We now know how we can get to 4 and 5 and beyond. As a matter of fact, we have visibility... beyond 10 terabytes of disk with the HAMR technology.”

“It’s not going to be easy, but I’m convinced that’s going to keep us on a competitive cost trajectory that no other technology is going to supplant in the next decade, probably beyond.”

The company’s confidence is backed by recent milestones. Mozaic 3, which delivers 3TB per platter, is now in volume production, and Mozaic 4 (4TB per platter) is scheduled to enter customer qualification next quarter.

Seagate expects to begin volume shipments of Mozaic 4 drives in the first half of 2026. Meanwhile, Mozaic 5, targeting 5TB per platter, is planned for customer qualification in late 2027 or early 2028.

Still, Seagate made it clear that 150TB drives based on 15TB platters are not imminent. As Morris emphasized, “This is just one other element in the work that we do to underpin our strategy... it will take time. There’s still a lot of work in front of us to get there.”

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• Seagate quietly ships 40TB HAMR drives, setting the pace for the next storage next
• Mozaic HAMR tech crams 4TB per platter, promising massive boosts in storage efficiency
• Data center expansion will dictate how fast these record-breaking 40TB drives hit the mainstream

At the recent Seagate’s Investor and Analyst Conference, the company revealed it has delivered limited units of its new 40TB hard drives based on its Mozaic HAMR platform.

These 40TB drives use Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) to achieve 4TB per platter across ten platters, marking a shift toward Seagate’s Mozaic 4+ platform.

While these are not yet broadly available, full-scale production is slated to begin in the first half of 2026 following extensive customer qualification testing.

Full-scale production to commence next year

“We have shipped limited 40 terabyte engineering samples to our customer already. We do plan to initiate quals next quarter, and we'll continue quals into 2026, where we'll be bringing over a wide portion of our customer base to the Mozaic 4 platform,” said Dr. John Morris, Seagate’s CTO.

Volume readiness will depend on how data centers integrate and validate the drives. However, the goal is to move a significant share of Seagate’s exabyte shipments to HAMR-based drives, which promise higher capacity and data center efficiency.

As CEO, Dr. Dave Mosley explained, “10 disks would get you to 40 terabytes... this gives better efficiencies in the data center. At the fleet level, this is how our customers think.”

Seagate's long-term plan involves rolling out even larger capacities, including 44TB drives by 2027 and 50TB drives by 2028.

The delay from its original 2017 projection for 50TB drives by 2026 underscores the complexities of scaling HAMR technology. Yet, the 40TB development still positions Seagate in the race to offer the largest HDD on the market.

Rival companies are following different strategies. Western Digital (WD) continues to expand capacity through ePMR and OptiNAND, reserving HAMR for its own 40TB launch expected in late 2026.

“Other companies have started adopting HAMR with 30TB HDDs, but we believe HAMR’s true potential begins at 40TB. Until then, we'll continue using technologies like OptiNAND and UltraSMR to increase the capacity of existing HDDs up to 40TB,” said Kimihiko Nishio, WD's sales manager in Japan.

Toshiba, another key player, has been developing its technologies, such as Microwave-Assisted Magnetic Recording (MAMR).

The company aims to release its first 35TB HDD based on HAMR before 2026. Toshiba's strategy involves combining MAMR with future HAMR implementations to achieve these capacities.

These drives won’t appeal to average consumers looking for the fastest HDD or even the best HDD for home use, their development is closely tied to the AI-driven cybersecurity arms race.

Seagate’s early shipments of 40TB drives suggest technical leadership in the race to develop the largest HDD, but the path to commercial reality is winding, and the cautious stance of competitors implies the challenges are considerable.

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• Sustainability is recognized, but cost is still more important
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A new report from Seagate has revealed just how much of an effect artificial intelligence is having on the amount of storage required by data centers, which presents a major sustainability challenge.

It found 94.5% said AI had increased their data storage needs, with even more (97%) anticipating AI’s growth to impact storage demand even further.

However, despite widespread acknowledgement and consideration for the environment, companies are struggling to prioritize it amid rising costs, which tariffs, government objectives and the sheer scarcity of some materials have influenced

Data centers are facing a major sustainability headache

Nearly 95% of respondents are concerned about environmental impact, says Seagate, but only 3.3% prioritize it in purchasing decisions with many focusing on the total cost of ownership and purchasing costs.

Among the key factors putting data centers at risk are high energy consumption (53.5%), raw material requirements (49.5%), physical space constraints (45.5%), infrastructure costs (28.5%) and acquisition costs (27%).

“Data centers are under intense scrutiny – not only because they support modern AI workloads, but because they are becoming one of the most energy-intensive sectors of the digital economy," said Seagate SVP of Cloud Marketing, Jason Feist.

Seagate envisions energy-efficient technologies playing a wider role in the decarbonization of data centers, reducing energy requirements and hitting other targets at the same time.

Although SSDs promise to be quicker and more efficient, Seagate’s HAMR-based Mozaic 3+ platform (for HDDs) can deliver up to three times more energy density while reducing embodied carbon by over 70% per terabyte and lowering cost per terabyte by 25%.

The report also embodies the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ motto by highlighting the importance of both extending product lifespans and then repurposing decommissioned equipment to reduce its environmental burden.

Sharing accountability through cooperation across the supply chain also helps to reduce emissions from Scopes 1, 2 and 3, enabling a wider effect.

“Sustainability cannot be solved in isolation. A holistic approach spanning infrastructure, life cycle management, and industry-wide accountability could ensure that the growth of AI and data center operations does not come at the expense of the environment,” Feist added.

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Seagate Ultra Compact SSD: 30-second review

Today's ultra-compact USB flash drives resemble standard USB stick drives, but with the capacity and speed of portable SSDs, it's no wonder they're becoming increasingly popular. These drives due to their size are easy to slip into a pocket or attach to a keyring, and they're robust enough to carry with you at all times, meaning you'll always have storage when needed. The big difference with this new generation of USB flash drives are the transfer speeds of up to 1000MB/s, with capacities up to 2TB; as is the case with the review sample. It does make you wonder if there's any place for a more traditional portable SSD.

I put the Seagate Ultra Compact SSD 2TB through its paces on photo and video shoots, backing up data files as I went. Because of the small size and compact design, it was perfect to keep in a jacket pocket, ready to go whenever needed. With the added bonus that with the small tether, it was easy to secure onto a loop into a bag or jacket so it wouldn't get lost.

The design is tough, with a solid aluminium build for the main drive, plus a rubber sleeve for added durability. While it isn't fully waterproof, it comes with a decent IP54 water rating and is drop-resistant up to 3m, so it can survive most things short of full submersion.

Through testing, it was dropped, thrown, and caught in light seasonal spring drizzle. It handled everything well, needing only a quick wipe when damp. Overall, the design is good, with my only reservation being the rubber cap protecting the USB Type-C contact. It's fully removable, and although I tried to keep it with the drive during use, I did leave it behind a couple of times by mistake, and I had to return it to collect it to keep the connector clean and safe.

Another point is that, unlike a portable SSD that utilises a USB Type-C cable, which is very slim, this drive is more than twice the width. If your laptop has closely spaced connectors, the drive will block adjacent ports.

Design aside, the performance was exceptional. Although it didn't hit the 1000MB/s claimed when tested on the MacBook Pro M1 Max via Thunderbolt 4, it still managed high 800s and low 900s without issue.

Used as a working drive with Premiere Pro and Adobe Photoshop, it handled HD and 4K footage on edits up to 15 minutes long without issue. I did remove the rubber sleeve during intense tasks to keep it cool.

Transferring files from a shoot was quick, and moving images and video from a CFexpress card showed how fast the drive really was. So overall, this compact USB flash drive is ideal for carrying around, making sure you've always got storage ready to go. The design is nice, though the cap could be easier to keep track of. But in terms of performance and physical design, as well as the software that comes bundled with it, it's one of the best portable SSDs for business creatives and anyone needing to move large files on a compact drive.

Seagate Ultra Compact SSD: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? £189/$189
• When is it out? Now
• Where can you get it? Directly from Seagate.com

The Seagate ultra-compact SSD is widely available and can be purchased directly through the seagate.com website or alternatively through many online retailers, including Amazon.

• Value: 4/5

Seagate Ultra Compact SSD: Specs

Capacity: 1TB and 2TB
Connector: USB 3.2 Gen 2
Transfer speeds up to: 1000MB/s
Dimensions: 70mm x 20.4mm x 12.5mm
Weight: 24g

Seagate Ultra Compact SSD: Design

The Seagate Ultra Compact SSD takes on the USB stick design, which means it's got a very simple rectangular body with a USB Type-C connector on the end that plugs directly into your laptop or computer. It utilises a USB 3.2 Gen 2 connection, enabling transfer rates up to 1000MB/s—more than most people will need on a compact drive like this.

Along with that speed comes a huge capacity. The review sample I'm looking at is the 2TB version, though there's also a 1TB version available.

The physical design of the drive is small and compact, measuring 70mm x 20.4mm x 12.5mm and weighing a very light 24g. It's worth pointing out that these are the dimensions and weight quoted by Seagate, and it's nice to see that they include the rubber sleeve in those measurements rather than just the drive itself. If, for whatever reason, you did want to remove the rubber sleeve, the drive then measures 66mm x 8mm x 18mm and weighs just 18g.

However, if you use it like that, there's nothing to protect the delicate connector at the end—so at the very least, you can pop on the little rubber cap to keep that connector protected, in which case the whole thing weighs 20g.

One odd thing about the design is the rubber cap. First, it's not attached to the rubber sleeve, which makes sense if you want to use the USB drive without the sleeve, but I'm not sure why you would want to do that. Then there's the fact that oddly the rubber cap only fits onto the connector one way. I only realised this after a bit of use. If you quickly grab the drive and pop the cap on the wrong way round, it will fit on the connector—but if it's in your bag, it will work loose. Likewise, if you've got the sleeve on and do the same, it won't sit properly and can fall off.

Once you've done this a couple of times, you get used to it, and it's not really an issue again. There's also a lanyard loop on the base, with a short cord in the box which feeds neatly through the rubber sleeve and out through a slot at the bottom. This enables you to tether it in a jacket pocket or bag, which is a feature I really like, just adding that extra bit of protection to what is already a solid drive.

With the rubber sleeve, cap, and lanyard all in place, it makes an extremely light and neat unit. When it comes to design, although I do worry slightly about losing the rubber cap, I have to say it's one of the better premium USB flash drives I've looked at so far.

• Design: 4 / 5

Seagate Ultra Compact SSD: Features

When it comes to pure simplicity, the Seagate Ultra Compact SSD is essentially a long bar with a USB Type-C connector at the end. Likewise for features, while limited, it does pack in a few more than many other flash drives of this type.

Firstly, it's compact and light, which means that when it's in the rubber sleeve, it'll easily attach to a keyring, tether, jacket pocket or backpack—so it's always there when you need it. To show that the drive is tough, it comes with IP54 dust and rain resistance, and with the rubber sleeve, you also get durable 3-metre drop resistance. I have to say, the rubber sleeve also makes it much more tactile and easy to handle.

Thanks to the USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface, you can transfer large files up to 1000MB/s. The drive also offers great compatibility with Windows, Mac, and mobile devices—including Android, iOS, most tablets, and gaming consoles.

One drive feature that really stood out is the Seagate Toolkit; this incorporates backup, sync, and image management software. While there are some subscription costs for some features, it is still a great addition. Part of the tool kit is a six-month Dropbox Backup plan and Mylio Photos subscription. These are also the Rescue Data Recovery Services, which are there to help recover the drive if the worst happens; the service is limited, but it's far more than most manufacturers offer and gives you peace of mind.

The only obvious omission from this tool kit is a proper security application, although you can still rely on your OS's default options.

• Features: 4.5 / 5

Seagate Ultra Compact SSD: Performance

The drive has been designed to be ultra-portable, so a large part of the test I carried out was to see how durable it was when attached to a set of keys and carried around in a pocket. On this front, the Seagate Ultra Compact SSD impressed.

Testing durability—I had to see if it would survive being dropped? And if it could withstand a bit of precipitation? On both counts, there were absolutely no worries. I started off the test by keeping the SSD attached to my keys in my pocket so that I had the drive ready and available whenever I needed it. I don't travel with too many keys, and having the SSD weighing just 24g didn't add much. Over the week of having it in my pocket, there were no issues with the durability, but it did highlight that you do need to be careful with that rubber cap.

In real-world use—attached to a keyring or inside a jacket or bag—the drive performed perfectly well with no issues. The next test was to push it further: throwing it around, dropping it on the floor, and even stepping on it. The solid metal build held up well, and even when kicked around in the dirt and exposed to a bit of drizzle, it only needed a quick wipe down before being inserted back into my machine. Transfer speed and reliability were completely unaffected.

The final test was to check how fast the drive's full capacity could be accessed. I plugged it into my MacBook Pro M1 Max and transferred files from an Lexar CFexpress Type B card, that had been used with a Canon EOS R5 C. The transfer speed was exceptionally fast—I was able to move 6GB of data in less than 10 seconds.

As a standard drive, there isn't a great deal that's different from many others, but what I really like is the bundled software. This is the extra step some manufacturers take to make their products stand out, and Seagate has done this well. On the drive, you get a launcher application to access Seagate's Toolkit software, enabling you to back up your data easily. If you want to mirror folders from your Mac or PC and automatically download them to the drive, then the simple-to-use sync application enables you to do this.

There's also the Mylio Photos app, which enables you to organise, create, and protect your images using the Seagate drive. There's also cloud backup via Dropbox, with a six-month free trial. This lets you back up all your drive files to Dropbox, so if you lose the physical drive, you've still got your files stored in the cloud—which is something I really like.

The only thing missing is built-in encryption. It doesn't need to be more than what's already offered by your OS, but better integration with the included software would have been a useful step forward.

The drive itself is exceptionally good. I realise the rubber cap could get lost if you're not careful, but when it's in place, it fits securely and won't easily come loose.

Overall, this is one of the best USB flash drives I've used, and the convenience of being able to plug it directly into your machine without a cable cannot be underestimated.

The bundled software, especially the sync tool that enables you to back up your folders, is also a great addition and just helps to make this drive stand out against the competition.

• Performance: 5 / 5

Seagate Ultra Compact SSD: Final verdict

I really like the Seagate Ultra Compact SSD. The drive itself is very simple, with a clean, stylish design, and the rubber sleeve adds that extra element of protection. My only slight issue, as mentioned a few times in this review, is that the cap is fully removable. This means you need to be a bit more mindful to avoid losing it and also make sure it's put on the correct way—otherwise, it could come off if you're particularly unlucky.

However, for most people, this design strikes a good balance. You can use the rubber sleeve if you want to, or if not; you still have the rubber cap to protect the drive on its own. There's also the lanyard loop at the base, which lets you tether it to jackets, pockets, or a key fob—so it's always with you, and that tough build means it's robust enough to withstand everyday use.

Yes, it's good, and yes, it offers a solid amount of storage—but in terms of performance, it's much the same as many other compact flash SSDs out there at the moment. So, while it does perform well, it doesn't stand out massively in that respect. Archiving large files is quick, with transfer rates around 800–900MB per second, which is consistently maintained until the drive is full during testing. I used it to back up the image and video files on the Canon EOS R5 C, and it handled this reliably. I also pushed the internal SSD further by using it as a working drive for editing in Premiere Pro and CapCut. In both cases, it handled the files with no issues. I edited a 15-minute 4K video in Premiere Pro—while the drive did get warm, it remained perfectly usable. So, for most people, if you're looking for a fast working drive that won't set you back a huge amount, this will do the job perfectly well. It's also a strong option if you need a large-capacity drive while out on site.

Where it does stand out is the bundled software. As it stands, this is one of the most comprehensive offerings I've come across, giving you sync, cloud backup, and photo organisation in one place. The only thing I feel is missing is built-in encryption.

When it comes to USB flash drives, they're exceptionally handy—especially if you're a creative working with large files that are sometimes just too big to transfer over Wi-Fi or the internet quickly. In that case, this is a solid option, and with all the included software extras—even if you do need to pay a little extra for some of the subscription services—it's a great choice.

Should I buy the Seagate Ultra Compact SSD?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

For more storage solutions we reviewed the best external HDDs around.

• Seagate has debuted a new NVMe hard disk proof of concept
• Prototype system pairs NVMe HDDs, SSDs, DPUs, and AIStore for AI workloads
• NVMe HDDs use less power, with better efficiency, and reduced storage costs

In late 2021, Seagate unveiled a proof-of-concept hard disk drive that used the NVMe protocol and a PCIe interface - two technologies typically reserved for solid state drives.

Demonstrated at the Open Compute Project Summit in a custom JBOD enclosure with twelve 3.5-inch drives, the NVMe HDD featured a proprietary controller that supported SAS, SATA, and NVMe natively, without the need for a bridge.

Seen as a way to simplify data center infrastructure by unifying storage devices under a single interface, the drive promised performance improvements, lower TCO, and considerable energy savings.

Combined

Fast forward to GTC 2025, and Seagate has demonstrated a new proof-of-concept system combining NVMe HDDs and SSDs with Nvidia’s BlueField 3 DPU and AIStore software to show how NVMe can help address common storage challenges in AI environments.

While other vendors are reportedly exploring similar such concepts, Seagate appears to be the only firm showing off a functional system.

Working with customers and partners

“Unlike SAS/SATA-based hard drives, NVMe hard drives remove the need for HBAs, protocol bridges, and additional SAS infrastructure, making AI storage more streamlined,” Seagate says.

“These drives allow AI workloads to scale seamlessly by integrating high-density hard drive storage with high-speed SSD caching in a unified NVMe architecture.”

The prototype Seagate showcased featured eight NVMe hard drives, four NVMe SSDs for caching, Nvidia BlueField DPUs, and AIStore software, all housed inside a hybrid array.

The team demonstrated that direct GPU-to-storage communication, via NVMe hard drives and DPUs, reduced latency in AI workflows. Eliminating legacy SAS/SATA overhead also simplified system architecture and improved storage efficiency.

“By using NVMe hard drives alongside SSDs, organizations will be able to optimize cost while maintaining performance, reserving SSDs for active datasets and using hard drives for long-term AI training data retention,” Seagate says.

From a design perspective, adding NVMe to HDDs potentially only requires a few changes, such as a PCIe interface and firmware updates, while retaining the familiar 3.5-inch form factor.

Compared to SSDs, Seagate says NVMe hard drives offer 10 times more efficient embodied carbon per terabyte, four times more efficient operating power consumption per terabyte, and lower cost per terabyte.

When, or indeed if, these drives will reach the market is anyone’s guess. Seagate says it is “working with customers and partners to explore how NVMe hard drives can fit into next-generation AI storage solutions,” but there’s no timeline for it as yet.

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• It is available now in the US, with a UK launch later this year

Storage giant Seagate has announced a partnership with MiHoYo to introduce a new Genshin Impact limited edition external SSD.

The 1TB SSD drive is an officially licensed piece of Genshin Impact merchandise and is designed to commemorate the upcoming version 5.5, or 'Day of the Flames Return', game update. It features an eye-catching purple print with some cute art of the character Cyno, plus bright matching LED lighting.

It's a great looking drive and definitely one of the coolest models I've seen from Seagate yet. With a 1TB capacity, it's far from the biggest model around but should be more than sufficient for most game libraries - especially considering its blazing fast PCIe Gen4 transfer speeds.

The Seagate Genshin Impact Limited Edition External SSD is compatible with PC and mobile in addition to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S - in short, all major platforms where you are able to play Genshin Impact.

It is currently available as a Seagate web store exclusive for $139.99 in the US and is set to launch in the UK for £139.99 in May this year.

In addition to the limited edition SSD, an 18in / 45.7cm USB-C 3.2 cable is included in the box, plus a quick install guide, 3-year warranty, and 3-year Rescue Data Recovery Service.

Seagate is known for making not only some of the best Xbox Series X hard drives, but also a number of the best SSDs for PS5 and best PS5 external hard drives. While the design is definitely a winner, hopefully the performance of this new product will live up the company's lofty reputation.

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• Despite predictions, HDDs are here to stay and increasing in capacity
• Seagate recently sold one exabyte of HAMR storage to two hyperscalers
• The "tens of thousands of drives" likely cost between $33 and $35 million

Although the likes of Pure Storage, IBM, and Meta believe the writing is on the wall for hard drives, the technology doesn’t look like it will be going away any time soon.

Seagate and its main rival Western Digital are working on magnetic recording methods that will allow the drives to continue increasing in capacity, helping them maintain a clear advantage over SSDs when it comes to storage density.

The main technology leading this charge is HAMR, or heat-assisted magnetic recording, which could see HDDs hitting incredible 100TB capacities. HAMR works by briefly heating the disk surface with a laser to make it easier to write data at higher densities. HDMR - short for heated dot magnetic recording - is HAMR’s likely successor and could lead to even larger drives by focusing the heat and magnetic energy into smaller, more precise areas for even denser data storage.

Not an unreasonable outlay

In a recent The Wall Street Journal article, John Keilman wrote an article covering Seagate’s “fight to store the world’s data”, and mentioned something which caught my attention. “Seagate said two large cloud-computing customers have each ordered one exabyte’s worth of HAMR storage, which works out to tens of thousands of hard drives.”

Keilman didn’t name names - Seagate wouldn’t have told him who the buyers were - but we can narrow the list of suspects down to the usual big US hyperscalers, including Apple, Oracle, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta. It’s possible that Chinese hyperscalers could have come shopping for the drives, but that seems unlikely to me.

Keilman doesn’t say what capacity drives were sold, but we can assume they will have been Seagate’s highest commercial HDD, the Exos M, which ranges from 30TB (CMR) to 36TB (SMR), with a breakthrough 3TB-per-platter density. Based on timing, it’s likely we’re talking about the 30TB models, as the 32TB drive was only added to the range in December 2024, followed by the 36TB model just a month later.

Assuming the hyperscalers in question paid bulk pricing of around $500 per drive (refurbished models of Seagate's Exos 28TB HDD can currently be purchased for as low as $365), their combined bill likely came to somewhere between $33 and $35 million. For a full exabyte of cutting-edge, high-capacity storage, $16 billion or so isn't an unreasonable outlay.

Seagate previously revealed that a 60TB drive was on its way, and the firm recently announced plans to acquire Intevac, a HAMR specialist, which could help it achieve that 100TB capacity goal faster, as well as ramp up HAMR drive production.

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• Seagate Exos and IronWolf Pro HDDs are prime targets for scammers
• Scammers alter QR codes and even drive serial numbers
• Toshiba and Western Digital are not as targeted as Seagate — why?

The controversy of fraudsters modifying used Seagate hard drives to appear unused despite having been powered on for thousands of hours rages on.

Exos HDDs were initially targeted, but new evidence from Heise (via ComputerBase — both originally in German) suggests IronWolf and IronWolf Pro NAS drives with capacities between 8 TB and 16 TB are now also being drawn into the scam.

Preowned units of the fastest hard drives can appear new if key data such as SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) parameters are tampered with.

How scammers manipulate hard drive data

Some of these drives have been found to have logged over 27,000 operating hours. However, users can verify a drive’s true condition using tools like smartmontools to retrieve hidden operational data.

Scammers also alter product labels and QR codes to bypass Seagate’s warranty verification system. Instead of directing users to a page displaying accurate product details, these modified QR codes redirect to Seagate’s warranty check but do not provide the serial number or storage capacity.

Another method used is serial number manipulation, wherein fraudsters take serial numbers from newer drives and attach them to old units, tricking Seagate’s system into displaying an extended warranty period.

However, this system often calculates exactly five years of warranty from their supposed production date, which is a potential red flag that worried customers can investigate.

Experts suggest that potential buyers can check certain logs - such as Self Test Logs or SATA Phy Event Counters - to determine if a drive has been previously used.

Seagate has acknowledged the issue, confirming that fraudulent practices are affecting IronWolf and Exos HDDs. The company is currently investigating the matter to address these concerns.

In the meantime, buyers are advised to be cautious when purchasing Seagate hard drives from unofficial sellers and to verify product details using multiple sources before making a purchase.

So far, there have been no confirmed reports of similar scams involving Toshiba or Western Digital (WD) hard drives. This raises the question: why is Seagate the primary target?

One possible reason is that Seagate’s verification system relies on data that fraudsters find easier to manipulate; unlike Seagate, WD and Toshiba do not use the same FARM value system.

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Seagate is charging ahead in its quest to produce super-sized HDDs. Towards the end of January 2025, the world’s largest hard drive vendor introduced a 36TB model - arriving just a month after it debuted a 32TB one - and it revealed at the time that a 60TB drive is on its way.

Now, the firm has announced plans to acquire Intevac, a company known for making sputtering systems that apply ultra-thin layers of material, such as an iron-platinum alloy (FePt), to HDD platters. This advanced deposition process allows for the creation of magnetic layers with higher uniformity, improved signal-to-noise ratios, and fewer defects, potentially resulting in denser data storage. Over 65% of the world’s hard disk output is produced using Intevac’s systems, which works out to more than 50 million disks per month. The technology is considered essential for Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) and Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR).

HAMR, which lowers magnetic resistance by heating the drive, allows data to be written in smaller, more stable bits and will likely to be a key factor in HDDs reaching 100TB capacities. By buying Intevac, Seagate has potentially scored a big win over its rivals. Seagate is Intevac’s primary customer, but Western Digital is one too, and it, along with Toshiba, has HAMR drives in the works.

Unanimously approved

The definitive agreement will see Seagate acquire Intevac in an all-cash transaction for $4 per share. Intevac will also pay a one-time special dividend of $0.052 per share (bringing the aggregate consideration to Intevac stockholders to $4.052 per share). Separately, Intevac’s Board of Directors has declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share, which will be paid on March 13, 2025, to Intevac stockholders.

As a result of the move, Intevac will no longer hold its earnings call, which had been set for February 25.

Intevac’s Board of Directors has unanimously (and unsurprisingly) approved the transaction and recommended that all stockholders tender their shares in the offer.

The acquisition is expected to close in late March or early April 2025, although, as Blocks and Files points out, “Western Digital or Resonac [which counts Toshiba as a customer] or both could object to the deal on reduced competition grounds, which could delay its completion or even prevent the transaction from taking place.”

That's unlikely of course - Seagate wouldn't have moved forward with the acquisition if its lawyers were anticipating problems of that magnitude.

Seagate will be able to increase HAMR drive production following the acquisition, but the move could hamper Western Digital and Toshiba’s efforts in that department, as it would mean buying the sputtering tools they need from Seagate, a major rival.

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Seagate’s new portable SSD is small but mighty, and may well mark another nail in the coffin for flash drives.

The firm’s new Ultra-Compact SSD, which is available in both a 1TB and 2TB format, boasts a small, sleek design that more closely resembles a thumb stick or top-of-the-range flash drive than a portable SSD.

Complete with a USB-C port, the SSD includes a single-piece aluminum shell and measures in at 2.7 x 0.7 x 0.34 inches. Notably, Seagate had sustainability in mind during development, with the drive made up to at least 35% recycled materials. From a durability perspective, it can also take a slight beating, being rated for drops up to three meters while featuring IP54 dust and water resistance capabilities - so how does it match up to other industry counterparts?

Under the hood of the Seagate Ultra-Compact SSD

As mentioned, the drive comes in both a 1TB and 2TB options. Both of these offer sequential read and write speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps.

PCMark 10 trace-based testing by Tom’s Hardware showed it wasn’t quite up to scratch with other options available on the market, however. On transfer rates, the drive also “fails to impress” - particularly on read speeds.

Its write speed of 512 Mbps did rank it in fourth place behind the Silicon Power DS72 (1TB), Silicon Power MS70 (1TB), and the PNY Pro Elite 3 (1TB). Tom’s Hardware further noted that with a mixed-file read speed of 570 Mbps, this still remains quite an impressive performance for such a compact drive.

One particular area that users may find appealing are the backup recovery options, though. The SSD ships with Seagate Rescue Data Recovery service, covering users for up to three years.

All told, the SSD is an impressive bit of kit for your everyday user. Capabilities may be lacking in some areas, but its compact design will likely be a draw.

There is one major detail that might put customers off, though: the pricing. The 1TB option comes in at £90.99, making it a middling option compared to other drives available. The price jump to the 2TB version - priced at $179.99 - might be jarring.

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If you’re looking for a high-capacity hard drive, Seagate’s Exos range will definitely appeal to you. The largest internal drive you can buy in retail right now is Seagate's Exos 28TB HDD - when launched in 2024 it overtook the previous record holder, the Western Digital Gold, which maxes out at 24TB.

Seagate doesn’t disclose pricing for the Exos 28TB HDD, but we’ve noticed refurbished versions of the drive on sale for a fraction of what you might expect to pay. This isn’t the first time these cheaper CMR drives have appeared online, and the same warnings we issued about buying them before apply now.

The drives that you’ll find online at the likes of Amazon ($379.99), ServerPartDeals ($364.99), eBay in the UK (£578), as well as other third-party retailers, are all recertified models. That means they are either previously used or customer returns that have been inspected, tested, and restored to full working condition by either Seagate or an authorized third party. In other words, they aren’t brand new, but they have been verified to meet functional standards.

Linked to the Chia scandal?

In the case of Seagate's recertified Exos 28TB, it means you’re getting a tested and refurbished enterprise-grade HDD at a significant discount, but with potentially lower warranty coverage. The drives we’ve found on sale have “Factory Recertified” printed on them, so you know what you’re getting, and (depending on where you buy from) they could come with up to a two-year warranty. That’s interesting, as Seagate does offer an official data sheet for the recertified Exos 28TB drive, which states it only offers a limited six-month warranty.

There’s no question the recertified drives available to buy are attractively priced, and they should be absolutely fine, but if reliability is your top priority, you might be better off picking up a brand-new unit.

Quite where all these recertified drives have come from is something of a mystery, but it wouldn’t surprise us if at least some – if not most – of them originated in China.

Heise.de recently reported a number of its readers had purchased Seagate drives that were supposedly new but had, in fact, been used previously - potentially for thousands of hours. Further digging suggested at least some of the drives originated from Chinese cryptocurrency mining farms that used them to mine Chia several years ago. We’re not suggesting that the recertified Exos 28TB drives have been used for crypto mining, but it’s always a possibility.

When drives are refurbished and factory-certified by Seagate, the Field Accessible Reliability Metrics (FARM) usage time is reset to zero. Heise.de reports that some readers with recertified drives discovered their purchases had been used for at least 15,000 hours, which, as Tom’s Hardware points out, suggests “that these drives were used, refurbished by Seagate, used again, and then resold as freshly refurbished models.”

If you do decide to buy one of the recertified Exos 28TB HDDs, make sure you buy from a reputable reseller, even if it means paying a little extra.

Towards the end of January 2025, Seagate added the 36TB Exos M model to its growing family of data center hard disk drives, making it the largest HDD currently available, albeit not one that you'll be able to buy (for now). Seagate's CEO, Dave Mosley, also revealed at the time that the company had successfully trialed platter capacities of over 6TB, meaning 60TB drives could be on the horizon.

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• Buyers can check Seagate HDD usage history using relevant tools.
• Retailers are offering some sort of compensation.

Seagate hard drives that were previously used in Chinese Chia cryptocurrency mining farms have been resold as new by unsuspecting retailers.

An investigation by Heise indicates large quantities of high-mileage drives have surfaced in the market, particularly in Europe, Australia, Thailand, and Japan.

These drives, often datacenter-grade Seagate Exos models, have been found with thousands of operational hours despite being marketed as brand new.

Chia farms and the flood of second-hand drives

At the peak of the cryptocurrency boom, mining operations required vast storage capacity, leading to a surge in demand for high-end HDDs. However, as the profitability of Chia mining declined, many farms shut down and sold their hardware. These hard drives were then repackaged and reintroduced into the market, deceiving customers.

Concerned buyers can verify the true usage history of their Seagate HDDs using special diagnostic tools. While SMART parameters can be reset to hide prior use, the FARM (field-accessible reliability metrics) values provide a more accurate record.

Users can check these values by running the command smartctl -l farm /dev/sda in Smartmontools version 7.4 or higher or by using Seagate’s own Seatools software to inspect the drive’s operational history.

Seagate has stated it only distributes genuine hard drives through official channel, and it suspects these used HDDs entered the secondary market before reaching consumers.

Nevertheless, It has also launched a full-scale investigation and has urged affected buyers to report any suspicious purchases to fraud@seagate.com.

Affected retailers are firefighting the issue, with Galaxus creating online help pages for affected customers, while Proshop is offering free returns and replacements. Alternate, a German retailer, denies prior knowledge of the issue but has encouraged customers to report used drives. Wortmann, on the other hand, insists on verifying HDDs before offering compensation.

Via TomsHardware

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• It includes Seagate's Data rescue service should the drive fail to work
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Best Buy has listed the Seagate STKP28000400 desktop hard drive as part of its well-known Expansion series, featuring an impressive 28TB capacity.

The size of this drive is noteworthy, and though it does support the slightly retrograde USB-A interface, it should be enough for most use cases, ensuring hardware cross-compatibility and high transfer speeds. It is a shame though that there's no plan to have a Type-C connector that wouldn't require a separate power connector.

Built-in data recovery support

The STKP28000400 includes Seagate’s Rescue Data Recovery Services, offering users an extra layer of security by assisting in recovering data if the drive encounters issues.

Priced at $389.99, the STKP28000400 is currently available from Best Buy and Provantage on preorder. It provides one of the lowest per-terabyte ratios on the market, costing about $14.22 per TB. HDDs from its rivals like the WD Red Pro (24TB) cost $23.75 per TB while the WD My Passport 6TB HDD costs $24.99 per TB.

Seagate has a long history of releasing large-capacity hard drives, and recently unveiled the Exos M, the world’s largest hard drive with a 32TB capacity.

Desktop hard drives are often cheaper than internal HDD at the same capacity and that's because of economies of scale. A lot of DIYer have resorted to shucking external HDDs in order to extract hard drives and use them in NAS devices.

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• Launch of 36TB Exos M happens a month after a new 32TB model emerged
• Seagate is now comfortably ahead of arch-rival Western Digital
• For the first time, 10TB-per-platter technology has also been mentioned

Seagate added a 36TB Exos M model to its growing family of datacenter hard disk drives, making it the largest hard disk drive currently available. The yet-to-be-named device is based on the company's mature Mozaic 3+ platform and has been shipped to select customers, most likely hyperscalers like Microsoft or AWS.

The US storage company added a 32TB Exos M in December 2024, almost a year after it added its previous largest drive, a 30TB model. Rival Western Digital has a 32TB HDD in its line up but unlike Seagate, uses 11 platters (rather than 10) to reach this capacity. The same goes for Toshiba; the Japanese firm tested 31TB and 32TB models with 10 and 11 platters.

Platter capacity is something Seagate has been keen to tout as a unique selling point; its press release mentions it is the only data storage company able to achieve areal densities of 3.6TB per platter with a pathway to 10TB in the future. That's a whopping 100TB hard drive in the pipeline.

60TB HDDs coming soon

Seagate's CEO, Dave Mosley, also disclosed that the company has successfully demonstrated platter capacities of over 6TB per platter in lab environments. This means 60TB hard drives are within reach and should arrive before the end of the decade (or as in marketing lingo, depending on market conditions).

"CMR & SMR are different to HAMR, even with HAMR we still use CMR & SMR and we have not moved away from it," a Seagate spokesperson told us.

"Both CMR & SMR are the way in which [sic] we place data on the platters, conventional (CMR) or shingled (SMR), whereas HAMR is a technology used to write the data with Heat compared to previous methods."

Heat-assisted magnetic recording, Seagate says, enables a 25% cost reduction per TB and a 60% decrease in power consumption per TB. This relentless drive towards cheaper storage is what will keep HDD relevant despite SSDs supremacy on performance, storage density and power consumption.

122TB SSDs are expected to go on sale later in 2025, targeting the same lucrative datacenter market but different tiers. At an estimated cost of $80 per TB, they would still be 4x or 5X more expensive than one 36TB HDD but will appeal to certain specific customers.

In a statement, a Dell spokesperson noted large capacity, affordable HDDs will play a significant role in AI workloads, supporting use cases such as retrieval augmented generation (RAG), inferencing and agentic workflows.

The 36TB HDD is unlikely to ever go on sale in retail for the foreseeable future due to enterprise demand; the largest internal hard disk drive you can buy is a 26TB Western Digital Gold Enterprise HDD with larger capacities usually available only via partners or system integrators.

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AI energy consumption is becoming an increasingly hot topic, with industry stakeholders and critics voicing concerns over the environmental impact of the technology.

But a recent survey from Seagate points toward more pressing concerns for IT leaders, claiming energy usage ranked bottom of the agenda behind regulatory considerations, the viability of LLMs, and network capacity.

Notably, security and storage were among the key focus points for business leaders looking ahead, with nearly two-thirds (61%) of respondents who predominately use cloud storage to host AI workloads said their cloud-based storage will increase by over 100% in the next three years.

Cost effective storage is key

This sharpened focus on AI adoption is expected to prompt a surge in demand for data storage, with hard drives emerging as the “clear winner,” said Roger Entner, founder and lead analyst of Recon Analytics, which carried out the survey.

“The survey results generally point to a coming surge in demand for data storage,” he said. “When you consider that the business leaders we surveyed intend to store more and more of this AI-driven data in the cloud, it appears that cloud services are well-positioned to ride a second growth wave.”

A key factor in this push is the cost efficiency of hard drives, the study found, which offer better scalability and improve per-dollar-per-terabyte cost.

Another contributory factor to the appeal of hard drives is data retention, the survey found. Organizations embracing AI typically hold data for longer periods of time to train and optimize AI models.

This lengthy data retention practice plays a critical role in ensuring accuracy when training models, with 90% of respondents already using AI believing that holding onto data for longer helps improve outcomes.

“With the vast majority of survey respondents saying they need to store data for longer periods of time to improve quality outcomes of AI, we’re focused on a real density innovation needed to increase storage capacity for each platter in our HAMR-based hard drives,” Entner said.

“We have a clear pathway to more than double per-platter storage capacity over the next few years.”

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LaCie, Seagate’s premium brand, has launched the Rugged SSD Pro5, a high-speed external drive designed for creative professionals.

The Thunderbolt 5 drive will be available in 2TB and 4TB capacities, offering high-speed data transfer rates which make it ideally suited for demanding creative workflows like direct editing of 6K and 8K RAW video files.

The Rugged SSD Pro5 delivers ultra-fast read speeds of up to 6700MB/s and write speeds of up to 5300MB/s with a 50GB cache, allowing faster rendering, backups, and media transfers. LaCie says that once the cache is exceeded, the drive will deliver speeds of up to 5000MB/s for reading and 1800MB/s for writing.

Price matched

Created by award-winning Scottish designer Neil Poulton, who has worked on many of LaCie’s previous products, the Rugged SSD Pro5 measures 0.669in x 2.559in x 3.858in (17mm x 65mm x 98mm) and weighs 0.331lb (150g). It retains the brand’s signature rubberized enclosure for durability and is drop-resistant for up to three meters. Its IP68-rating for dust and water resistance makes it suitable for use in extreme environments. LaCie says the enclosure is constructed from at least 45% recycled materials.

LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5 is compatible with Thunderbolt 5, Thunderbolt 4, and USB-C devices supporting speeds up to 40Gbps and it comes with a five-year limited warranty and Seagate’s Rescue Data Recovery Services for added data protection.

It will be available globally in January 2025, priced at $399.99 for the 2TB model and $599.99 for the 4TB version, which incidentally is the same price as OWC’s Envoy Ultra SSDs in the same capacities.

“Storage demands of creative professionals have spiked, especially for those incorporating generative AI in their routine,” said Lance Ohara, VP, Endpoint Marketing at Seagate.

“The LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5 is equipped to handle those demanding workloads and data-intensive applications. This makes it an invaluable tool for experts seeking the unmatched transfer speeds and editing power.”

This is only the second TB5 portable SSD launched on the market after Other World Computing (OWC) launched its rugged Envoy Ultra in October 2024. That device promptly sold out, but OWC says it is expecting new stock to arrive later this month.

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• ST32000NM003K is part of the Exos M range and uses SMR which is more complex to run and manage
• Reveal comes weeks after Western Digital launched its own 32TB HDD
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Seagate has launched its largest-ever hard drive, a 32TB model in the Exos M series, just weeks after Western Digital unveiled its own 32TB HDD.

The new Exos M is available in two capacities, a 30TB, model ST30000NM004K, which uses Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR), and a 32TB, model ST32000NM003K, which uses Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR). The latter's overlapped write tracks are the reason for the increased capacity and WD's drive employs the same recording technology.

This release comes nearly a year after Seagate introduced its previous largest drive, a 30TB model in the Exos range.

Stop, HAMR time!

The drives, which feature a SATA III interface with data transfer rates of up to 6 Gbps, are built on Seagate’s slightly controversial Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) platform combined with Mozaic 3+ technology.

This combo allows the drive to deliver 3TB per platter, maximizing storage density while maintaining the industry-standard 3.5-inch form factor for seamless integration into existing server setups.

Seagate says the new drive offers three times the power efficiency per terabyte compared to typical models, reducing operational costs and supporting the company’s sustainability goals. The Exos M series is also constructed using more renewable energy and recycled materials than any previous Seagate product.

The drive blends what the company calls proven components from previous generations with next-generation enhancements. Approximately 90% of the components are carried over from earlier models.

There has long been skepticism surrounding HAMR technology, which Seagate took over a decade to perfect, with concerns about its readiness, quality, reliability, and compatibility.

However, Seagate insists that these concerns are unfounded. The rated mean time between failures (MTBF) for Seagate Mozaic 3+ hard drives and Exos enterprise hard drives is reported to be 2.5 million hours.

While development experienced numerous delays, Seagate states it has now passed qualification testing for its HAMR-based Mozaic drives and remains on track to ramp up production in 2025.

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WD Black SN850P: One-minute review

As a big proponent of the WD Black SN850, I can’t deny that I’m a little disappointed with the WD Black SN850P. Although faster on paper, I found that the real-world performance of the SN850P actually lags behind that of the older SN850 - even scoring slightly lower in the PS5's internal storage benchmark. The design has taken a bit of a step back this time around too, as the SN850P ditches the cool, though admittedly slightly impractical, LED of its predecessor in favor of a much plainer, and presumably cheaper to manufacture, look.

This wouldn’t be a huge issue, but the SN850P comes in a little more expensive than not only the SN850 but also some of the best SSDs for PS5. When officially licensed alternatives like the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5 can be found cheaper and will run a bit better, there’s no real reason to pick up the SN850P above the rest. That is unless you manage to find the 1TB or 2TB models on one of their fairly regular discounts, where price cuts of up to $50 / £30 make these products much more competitive.

There are also the larger capacity variants to consider. Seagate’s licensed drive doesn’t come in capacities above 2TB, so the SN850P is one of the only options if you want to keep things official at that size. The 8TB variant is also one of the few 8TB PS5 SSDs on the market right now from a major brand and is quite reasonably priced for what it is. If it’s either of these versions that you were considering, add half a star to the score above.

Otherwise, the WD Black SN850P is underwhelming on the whole. It’s a fine PS5 SSD that, thanks to its slightly overambitious price tag, fails to stand out.

WD Black SN850P: Price and availability

• 1TB is $119.99 / £107.99
• 2TB is $189.99 / £184.99
• 4TB is $319.99 / £329.99
• 8TB is $749.99 / £705.99

The 1TB WD Black SN850P retails for $119.99 / £107.99, though can be found hovering slightly below that price at online storefronts such as Amazon. The 2TB costs $189.99 / £184.99, though again you can expect to pay a little less if you buy online.

Outside of sales, both these models cost a bit more than the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5 equivalents (the 1TB model goes for $99.99 / £99.90 while 2TB is $159.99 / £159.90) - again, a drive that performed slightly better in my testing.

The cost then increases substantially as you move towards the 4TB model, which is $319.99 / £329.99, or 8TB, which goes for a massive $749.99 / £705.99. Although the most recent arrival, the 8TB has already started receiving discounts of about $50 / £50 that put the price in line with most other 8TB PS5 compatible SSDs making it a solid option if you can afford it.

WD Black SN850P: Specs

WD Black SN850P: Design and features

• Design is a step down from the SN850
• Heatsink included out of the box
• 5-year limited warranty

The design of the WD Black SN850P is, in my opinion, a step down from the SN850. It’s got a similar overall look, with a sleek black heatsink constructed from a very robust feeling metal but lacks the little LED that was on top of the SN850. This was never a huge selling point, after all, you can’t exactly see it when it’s been inserted inside a PS5. But it still makes for an SSD that looks a bit cheaper on the whole.

Otherwise, you have the same white WD Black branding, plus a little label stating the name of the product. One noticeable departure is the introduction of a white PlayStation logo on the right-hand side, which matches everything nicely.

Although it looks very similar from a distance, the heatsink has actually been redesigned with a slightly different shape and a few more gaps for dispersing heat. Given that I never experienced any noticeable thermal throttling on the SN850, I can’t say that this seems necessary but it definitely doesn’t hurt. It also fits perfectly in the PS5 or PS5 Pro.

In the box, you get the SSD in a little clamshell package, in addition to some warranty and service information. You’re covered by a five-year limited warranty here, which does offer some peace of mind and means that this drive will likely see you through the rest of the PS5’s life if you opt to get one.

WD Black SN850P: Performance

• Performance could be better for the price
• Initial benchmark score was very poor
• Reasonable results in real-world tests

When I first inserted the WD Black SN850P, the PS5’s internal benchmark measured it as a shockingly low 5,966 MB/s. This is still above the recommended SSD specs for the console, but nowhere near the advertised 7,300 MB/s or really what you would reasonably expect from a drive at this price. Luckily, when I reformatted the drive and ran the test again a little later it scored a more reasonable 6,338 MB/s so I’ll chalk that first number up to chance.

This second figure was still lower than I wanted, though, as the SN850, which is actually advertised with a 7,000 MB/s read speed, achieves figures in the 6,400 MB/s range on my machine. It also puts this behind the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5, which recorded 6,459 MB/s.

Thankfully, the WD Black SN850P did fairly well in a series of real-world tests. Moving to the drive from the PS5’s internal storage, a 23.24GB copy of Vampire the Masquerade: Swansong was copied in just 12.61 seconds. A 33.35GB installation of Lords of the Fallen then took 15.89 seconds, while a 45.98GB installation of The Crew Motorfest took 21.02 seconds.

Testing some larger files, 101.9GB of Far Cry 6 took 43.74 seconds to copy while a selection of multiple games totalling 226.9GB copied in 3 minutes and 14 seconds. These figures are all adequate and not more than a few seconds behind equivalent transfers on the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5.

Copying back to the PS5, the 21.30GB Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising was ready to play in 1 minute 27 seconds, while Stellar Blade, which is 32.41GB, took 2 minutes and 15 seconds. Finally, the 38.34GB Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands copied back in 2 minutes and 34 seconds. These figures are all perfectly adequate, and realistically more dependent on the PS5’s internal write speed than anything else.

Ultimately, you’re not going to run into any performance problems using the WD Black SN850P. Every game I tested was smooth, with decent loading times and no noticeable slowdown. Just bear in mind that, unless you buy on sale, you can get drives with more oomph for the price.

Should I buy the WD Black SN850P?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider...

Wondering what to choose instead of the WD Black SN850P? Check out these alternatives. You can also see our guide to the best PS5 external hard drives for some external options.

How I tested the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5

• Used as primary PS5 SSD
• Tested over the course of a week
• Tested with a range of titles

I tested the WD Black SN850P over the course of a week, using it as my primary PS5 SSD drive and playing a wide variety of games from it. During my time with the drive, I was careful to look for any noticeable impacts on performance compared to the console’s internal storage.

I also assessed the drive’s performance using the built-in PS5 storage benchmark and by copying a large library of games in order to measure the time taken. I compared my experience to my hands-on testing of other PS5 SSD models including the Samsung 990 Pro, WD Black SN850, Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5, and more.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed December 2024.

• Lyve Cloud offers scalable, secure, S3-compatible object storage
• Infrequent access tier offers cost-efficient storage for rarely used data
• Affordable at $3.75/TB, ensures security, durability, and flexibility

First launched back in 2021, Seagate’s Lyve cloud storage is a scalable, S3-compatible object storage platform designed to help enterprises manage, store, and access their data efficiently, offering high durability, low latency, and predictable pricing.

In a bid to help enterprises manage long-term data retention, Seagate has introduced a new, affordable “infrequent access" tier for its service which can provide cost-efficient storage for data that is accessed infrequently, while maintaining instant availability and eliminating retrieval fees.

Melyssa Banda, senior vice president of Edge Storage and Services at Seagate, said, “Nearly 65% of our customers are actively seeking an archive tier that is economical and provides both flexibility and customer choice to their S3 offering. Now our cloud object storage users can easily scale storage resources to accommodate their growing and evolving data requirements.”

Highly affordable

The new tier allows enterprises to move less frequently used data to a lower-cost storage option. Despite the reduced pricing, Seagate insists users retain the same high durability, low latency, and performance guarantees as its standard Lyve cloud object storage service. It also offers enterprise-grade security features, including encryption and immutability.

The infrequent access tier is expected to be particularly beneficial for industries such as healthcare, finance, and media that have large volumes of data that must be preserved but are not accessed regularly. Examples of data suitable for this tier include active archives, compliance and regulatory records, and log data for auditing and historical analysis.

The infrequent access tier is available now via subscription with pricing at $3.75/TB per month ($45/TB a year), potentially allowing organizations to budget more effectively for long-term storage needs. Features include SOC 2, ISO27001, and HIPAA compliance, ensuring secure and reliable data management.

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• Seagate 28TB SMR hard disk drives surface online at unbelievable prices

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox: One-minute review

If you’re shopping for an Xbox external hard drive, then you can’t go wrong with this officially licensed model from Seagate. Although a little more expensive than non-Xbox branded options, it’s still one of the best Xbox Series X hard drives and SSDs right now, delivering a solid level of performance and plenty of space for many of the best Xbox Series X games.

The Seagate Game Drive for Xbox is significantly more affordable than the Seagate Xbox Storage Expansion Card and comes in much larger capacities, including 4TB and 5TB, but it has some extra limitations due to its form factor. First and foremost, as an external hard drive it cannot be used to play Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S optimized games.

Its primary use case is to store large game installations between uses, cutting down on the need to constantly redownload files. This makes them particularly suitable for those with slow or limited internet connections. It’s a fantastic fit for Xbox Game Pass too, giving you the option to keep a considerable number of games on hand at a time.

It’s worth noting that older titles for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, or original Xbox will still run off the external hard drive - albeit with increased loading times compared to internal storage in most cases. If you have a large library of backwards compatible games that you don’t want clogging up your internal drive, this will be the perfect solution. This also means that those still sticking with an Xbox One can rest easy knowing that they will have no issues accessing their entire libraries.

As far as hard drives are concerned, the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox also looks superb overall. It’s constructed from a sleek black plastic, decorated with an Xbox logo and a small strip of green LED lighting. It fits perfectly next to a black Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S 1TB console, though owners of white variants like the launch Xbox Series S or recent Xbox Series X Digital Edition might prefer to go for a white alternative to better fit their systems instead.

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox: Price and availability

• 2TB costs $89.99 / £79.99
• 4TB costs $134.99 / £116.99
• 5TB costs $149.99 / £132.99

The Seagate Game Drive for Xbox is available in 2TB, 4TB, and 5TB capacity options which come in at roughly $89.99 / £79.99, $134.99 / £116.99, and $149.99 / £132.99 respectively. The 4TB model is the best value model, as it frequently receives substantial discounts to around the $90 mark. If you’re able to find it on sale for this price, I would definitely recommend snapping it up.

While it is the cheapest, I would try to avoid the 2TB model as that more limited storage capacity is going to fill up quite quickly - especially if you intend to use it for a few large, modern games.

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox: Specs

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox: Design and features

• Matches black consoles very well
• Green LED lighting is bright and attractive
• But looks out of place next to white consoles

As far as external hard drives go, the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox is a stylish choice. It is constructed from sleek black plastic, which is pleasant to the touch and looks perfect placed next to a black Xbox console. In addition to small embossed Xbox and Seagate logos, there is a bright green LED positioned on the front of the drive lending it some extra flair.

I don’t have any complaints about the design, but I will say that it really stands out next to a white console. Given this drive’s price compared to a generic external hard drive, it’s undeniable that you’re paying a little more for the look. This makes sense if you own an Xbox Series X (or the black Xbox Series S 1TB) and want a fully color-coordinated setup, but not when it’s going to look out of place.

There are, of course, other reasons to choose this hard drive like its strong performance but it’s just something that owners of Microsoft’s white machines should bear in mind. Seagate also makes a white Starfield Special Edition hard drive in 2TB and 5TB capacities, which could be a better choice in purely aesthetic terms.

Setup is easy right out of the box, as the drive comes packed with a Micro USB that can be slotted into a free USB port on the back of your console. It also comes bundled with a free month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate which is a fun little bonus.

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox: Performance

• Faster than a game download
• But slower than internal storage
• Still a good fit for Xbox Game Pass

I tested the 5TB model of this external hard drive and found it to be perfectly sufficient as a game storage medium, though noticeably slower than both external SSD options and the console’s internal storage.

To give some real-world examples of what it can do, I moved a handful of games to and from the drive on my personal Xbox Series S 1TB. Moving to the drive, a 14.5GB installation of Dustborn was transferred in just 1 minute 54 seconds while a 16.8GB installation of Mirror’s Edge Catalyst was copied over in just 2 minutes 8 seconds.

Increasing the file size yielded roughly proportional results, with a 40.3GB copy of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 accomplished in 5 minutes and 14 seconds. The two largest games I tested, the 74.3GB Dead Island 2 and the 104GB Forza Motorsport were then transferred in 9 minutes 49 seconds and 14 minutes 19 seconds respectively.

Speeds were similar moving games back from the drive. A 48.1GB copy of Agents of Mayhem, for example, took 5 minutes 40 seconds while a smaller 5.2GB installation of Rumble Roses XX was fully playable from the internal storage in just 39 seconds.

Unless you have some kind of NASA-level connection, all of these times are going to be significantly faster than an internet download - which is exactly what you want from the external hard drive. This would be especially useful if you’re an Xbox Game Pass subscriber who loves downloading new games to try, as you will be able to keep a vast library of included titles saved and on hand whenever you want to dip back into them.

Should I buy the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider...

Consider these three alternatives if you’re not sold on the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox.

How I tested the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox

• Used for over a month
• Tested with an Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X
• Performance compared to other storage devices

I tested the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox predominantly with my Xbox Series S 1TB console, but I also spent a few hours checking compatibility with an Xbox Series X. I tested the external hard drive for over a month, using it as my primary external storage device for all things Xbox.

During my testing of the drive, I compared the performance to that of other hard drives, including the Seagate Game Drive for PS5 and WD Black P10. I also checked how it would stack up against external SSD options, such as the WD Black P40 Game Drive, and the official Xbox Storage Expansion Card.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed December 2024.

Seagate and BAE Systems have tested the first high-capacity data storage solution designed for use in space.

The hardened SSD was evaluated aboard the International Space Station as part of a mission aimed at improving data storage for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, addressing challenges such as heat dissipation, unpressurized environments, and the absence of conventional cooling.

This technology could ultimately expand CDNs and support AI-driven applications in space. By adding storage to satellite infrastructures, AI inferencing and real-time analysis could reach previously inaccessible regions, providing last-mile connectivity where fiber or cell networks are absent.

Drives in space

Seagate’s “Space Drive” was part of a broader payload by BAE Systems which included Linux-based software for real-time data processing.

This software enables containerized applications that can be updated in orbit, adapting to the evolving demands of space-based systems.

Additionally, the payload contained a radio frequency sounder and dual-band short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) camera for enhancing atmospheric measurement capabilities, hurricane modeling, and weather forecasting.

“Our team was able to assemble, integrate, and test this payload in just eight months,” Steve Smith, vice president of engineering, science and analysis for BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems told Aerospace Manufacturing.

The 2TB Seagate SSD with PCIe Gen3 x4 connectivity, which you can see in the “Terrestrial Demo Unit” photo below, and which Seagate plans to sell in 2025, has been specially designed to withstand the harsh conditions of space. Delivered to the ISS via a NASA resupply mission and assembled by the astronauts onboard, the device using the Seagate SSDs achieved impressive speeds of over 2Gbps.

Set for one year, the mission will conclude with the payload’s return to Earth for analysis. Engineers from BAE Systems and Seagate will examine the effects of space exposure on the SSD's performance and durability and use this data to refine future designs, advancing resilient storage solutions for space-based applications.

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Seagate Game Drive External SSD: One-minute review

The Seagate Game Drive External SSD is a PlayStation-focused external solid-state drive (SSD) for gamers on Sony’s console looking for an extra storage boost. Compatible with PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC, this external SSD offers a speedy - though not blistering - plug-and-go option and channels an awful lot of what makes Seagate one of the go-to brands for gaming storage.

The drive has a very slick design and robust-feeling build. A hardy rectangular cuboid in form, the drive feels like it could easily withstand a drop or bump, while also being very convenient to carry and stuff into a pocket. It shares the PS5 family’s aesthetic (the drive looks right at home next to Sony’s console) with its sleek white finish, black underside and cable, and smart blue RGB light that runs along the front edge.

Seagate hasn’t published any claimed read and write speeds, which is unusual. But from our testing, the drive proved to be reliable - if not super speedy - for an external hard drive. It handled transfers from and to a PS5 at reasonable times, which you can read more about below, and it sits comfortably above HDDs, albeit below the top-end external SSDs like the WD Black P40. However, it is as easy to use as any external hard drive competitor, offering a simple plug-and-use experience with either a USB-C or USB-A cable.

As an SSD it still demands a higher price of admittance than any HDD solution, so that should be taken into consideration if you just need value-busting storage. While you pay a bit of a premium for the name and official licensing here, its overall decent performance makes this a drive we can easily recommend. You get what you pay for here and this is a really solid PS5 external hard drive and top portable SSD for mixed use too.

Seagate Game Drive External SSD: Price and availability

• 1TB: $129.99 / £139.99; 2TB: $219.99 / £229.99
• Same price range as internal PS5 SSD options
• The largest capacity is 2TB

Coming in two sizes, the Seagate Game Drive External SSD offers 1TB and 2TB solutions for external storage. The lack of a larger 4TB (or bigger) drive may irk some, but the price would skyrocket and those capacities seem to still be reserved for more traditional HDDs.

The price point puts it in established external PS5 SSD territory with the likes of the WD Black P40, P50, and Samsung T7 Shield for company, though it is more expensive than the Crucial X8 and X9, and WD My Passport SSD range.

While a new product at time of writing, gaming storage products are always great candidates for sales events and price cuts and the Seagate Game Drive External SSD should be snapped up immediately when it inevitably receives a discount.

A final bonus that the drive offers is that it also comes with a 14-day trial (for new users) of PS Plus Premium which is a pleasant little extra if you’re new to the PS5 console.

Seagate Game Drive External SSD: Specs

Seagate Game Drive External SSD: Design and features

• Slick officially licensed design
• Lightweight but solid in the hand
• Cool LED flourish

The first (and best) thing to note about the Seagate Game Drive External SSD is that it is very in keeping with the PlayStation 5 aesthetic. It captures the contrasting white-on-black aesthetic excellently, and the blue LED on the drive’s front that lights up when it's plugged in really completes the look.

The drive is a compact accessory and can easily fit in the palm of your hand. It’s also much thinner than a traditional HDD, so will need to be positioned carefully and appropriately if you intend to keep it plugged in permanently. Speaking of which, the drive comes with a USB-C cable and a USB-A cable so it’ll be dealer’s choice when it comes to which port to use. The cable itself is plenty long enough too - something that personally irked me in previous years when stiff, short cables governed the position external drives would have to take.

The most important feature to remember for PS5 owners is that you cannot play PS5 games directly from the Seagate Game Drive External SSD. It can be used to play PS4 games from it and is a fine means to do so, while also allowing you a storage spot for your PS5 games to transfer over to your console when you’re ready. It performs those transfers nicely too, as you’ll read about below.

Seagate Game Drive External SSD: Performance

• Strong but not spectacular speeds
• Not as fast as internal options - or competing external SSDs
• Still much faster than competing HDDs

The Seagate Game Drive External SSD is a solid performer and is worthy of its place in the brand’s pantheon - but won’t blow any socks off. The drive is much faster than any external HDD competitor but has middling speeds that mean it doesn’t compete at the very highest end of the spectrum, where drives from the likes of WD Black and Samsung sit.

On PS5, I transferred a 122.2GB installation of Diablo 4 to the Seagate drive in 10 minutes and 18 seconds and it was transferred back to the console in 16 minutes and 26 seconds. Star Wars Outlaws (a 51.6GB file) was moved to the SSD in 4 minutes and 25 seconds and then back again in 6 minutes and 57 seconds. My smallest single-game transfer was Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown at 25.5GB and this was transferred in 2 mins 12 seconds to the SSD and back again in 3 minutes and 26 seconds. Lastly, a 53.59GB bundle of games (Unravel Two, Pentiment, SOMA, and the Dead Space Remake) was transferred in 3 mins and 59 seconds and back again in 6 minutes and 58 seconds.

This is encouraging, particularly if you've got a bunch of smaller games or PS4 games; the drive transferring this bundle of games in roughly half the time of a single PS5 game of the same is notable.

On PC, hard drive testing software CrystalDiskMark 8.0.5 was able to put some numbers to the performance in terms of read and write speeds. After multiple tests, the Seagate Game Drive External SSD drive presented average read speeds of 439.83MB/s and an average write speed of 415.63MB/s.

These speeds aren’t massively impressive, especially when compared to its competition, and put the drive firmly in the strong but not spectacular space.

Compared to the likes of the WD_BLACK P40 Game Drive, the speeds just don’t stack up; it finds itself in the same camp as the Lexar SL200, Samsung T5, and Seagate Fast SSD. However, the upside of this is that the drive never gets hot and can keep going all day long at the same rate, making it super reliable overall, and perfect if you need a PS5, or PS5 Pro, workhorse.

But even if it’s not swimming in the fastest of waters, given its reliability, simple-to-use nature, and slick officially-licensed design, the Seagate Game Drive External SSD is an easy drive to recommend.

Should I buy the Seagate Game Drive External SSD?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider...

Still not sold on the Seagate Game Drive External SSD for PS5 and PS4? Here’s how it compares to two similar products so you can compare.

How I tested the Seagate Game Drive External SSD: One-minute review

• Used the drive nearly every day for around two weeks
• Played PS4 games from it, and regularly moved PS5 games to and from it
• Compared it to my internal PS5 SSD and other external HDDs on PS5
• Compared it to my day-to-day HDD on PC

I incorporated the Seagate Game Drive External SSD into my PS5 setup and used it as an extension of my console’s storage for around two weeks. In that time, I copied and stored multiple PS5 games numerous times - timing every transfer manually as well as using the PlayStation’s own estimates - and ran PS4 games from the drive too. I used both the drive’s cables and tested in both the PS5’s USB-A and USB-C ports.

I tested the Seagate Game Drive External SSD against other Seagate external HDDs on PS5 to confirm its speed and the increase in performance the SSD offers. I also made the same comparison with my daily external HDD, the Lacie Rugged, on my RTX-3090-powered PC (that's teamed with an Acer Predator X32QFS 4K gaming monitor).

Read more about how we test

First reviewed October 2024.

Anyone who has tried to find the best hard drives at massive sizes has likely come across the Seagate's Exos range, which can go up to 32TB (yes, you read that right). 

Announced back in January 2024, the Seagate Exos Mozaic 3+ is one of the largest hard drives money can buy, and the beauty of it is that anyone can use the Exos series with their own machine. These aren't just designed for hyperscale data center operators and the like. 

Building a 32TB hard drive isn't easy, and Seagate had to leverage a lot of new technologies to get there, especially for a reasonable price point. The most notable is using Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR), which allows hard disk tracks to overlap, creating a hard drive with higher densities. 

Most hard drives use Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR), which has been the standard for a number of years, but the tech simply would not be able to create a 32TB hard drive that wasn't massive. 

Seagate used 3TB platter, with an areal density of 1.742 Tb per square inch, and makes use of SMR or, for hyperscale customers, Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR). The precious record was Western Digital Gold, which hit 24TB. 

Watch out for refurb Exos

But beware: we've recently noticed hundreds of refurbished Seagate 28TB SMR hard disk drives that have surfaced online at pretty unbelievable prices. While this might sound good in principle, the problem is that a refurbished product has very likely been sent back by its owners, and therefore has a fault. 

Seagate launched the Exos range in early 2024, and so there has been enough time for customers to make orders, find a fault, and send the super high-end hard drives back to the manufacturer.

Finding reliable figures for how much the Exos range costs new is difficult, but the refurbished model costing €549.99 for 28TB of storage is likely to be extremely cheap in comparison. 

What is the best massive hard drive? 

TechRadar has spent plenty of hours testing the largest SSD and hard drives on the market right now, and we found that the ExaDrive EDDCT100/EDDCS100 tops the list, with an incredible 100TB of storage on offer, as well as options on the more modest end of the spectrum. 

It's worth also shouting out the Samsung T5 EVO, which can come with up to 8TB of storage, for a pretty reasonable $450, too. The WD Elements 6TB portable HDD could also be worth checking out. 

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Storage manufacturer Seagate has announced a brand new, officially licensed product for PlayStation owners.

The Seagate Game Drive External SSD for PS5 and PS4 is available to buy right now. As per a Seagate press release, the new drive has options for 1TB and 2TB capacities. The 1TB model comes in at £139.99 (around $189.99), with the 2TB option available at a higher £229.99 (around $304.99).

Players can expect the Seagate Game Drive External SSD to be very console-friendly, with support for USB Type-C 3.2 for high transfer speeds and options for USB-A to USB-C and USB-C to USB-C connections. As a result, it looks to be a pretty effective way to store games, screenshots, and captured footage. 

As is the case with the best SSDs for PS5, you'll also be able to transfer games to and from the console's internal storage with the Seagate Game Drive External SSD. This can save you from having to delete games entirely, thus avoiding a lengthy re-download process.

In terms of aesthetics, the Seagate Game Drive External SSD - no doubt in part thanks to the official PlayStation licensing - bears the same matte white color scheme as the PS5 console itself. There's also a subtle blue LED strip matching the lighting of the console and DualSense Wireless Controller.

Extra storage for your PS5 and PS4 is always a welcome upgrade. Given that the base console and the PS5 Slim only ship with 1TB of storage, your console is going to fill up fast, especially if you like to install larger titles like Horizon Forbidden West or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Having an extra 1TB or two on hand can save you tons of time in the long run.

It is worth noting that PS5 external SSDs are much faster than traditional external hard drives. However, unlike internal storage options, external SSDs aren't able to run PS5 games themselves. You'll only be able to store them. That said, you'll still be able to both store and run digital PS4 games, making the Seagate Game Drive External SSD a fantastic option for last-gen console owners.

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Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5: One-minute review

If you're looking for one of the best SSDs for PS5, then you can’t go wrong with the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5. This officially licensed drive may look a little plain compared to some of the flashier options out there, like the WD Black SN850 or Samsung 990 Pro, but it still delivers great performance where it counts. 

It exceeds the drive specifications recommended by Sony and recorded a solid 6,459 MB/s read speed using the PlayStation 5’s own internal benchmark. In real terms, this means no noticeable decrease in the performance of any of the best PS5 games compared to the console’s internal storage. It also helps facilitate speedy and smooth game transfers and installations.

For added peace of mind, the drive comes with a generous five-year limited warranty out of the box. The PS5 first went on sale in November 2020, so, judging by the lifespan of previous Sony consoles, that half-decade warranty should be enough to see you through the rest of the console generation.

The 1TB model is readily available at a range of retailers and comes in at a good price in both the US and UK. While it’s also easy to recommend the 2TB model in the US, it’s a little harder to find in the UK and can therefore be quite expensive in the region. Still, like other SSDs, the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5 frequently receives excellent discounts around major sales periods, so it's always one to watch out for. 

There is also no 4TB model available. This is a real shame, especially when we’re seeing more and more even higher-capacity 8TB drives enter the market such as the new 8TB WD Black SN850P. 

With the file sizes of some of the most popular PS5 releases only increasing, those who want to store a larger number of games would be better served by easier-to-find alternatives or even one of the best PS5 external hard drives instead.

Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5: Price and availability

• 1TB is $99.99 / £99.90
• 2TB is $159.99 / £159.90

The 1TB Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5 for $99.99 / £99.90 while the 2TB model is $159.99 / £159.90. Stock of the 2TB capacity seems quite scarce in the UK, though so it often appears above that price. 

While the 1TB drive is a very solid value in both regions, when you bear in mind its officially licensed status, you should certainly avoid purchasing the 2TB model in the UK until it is available at around RRP.

Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5: Specs

Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5: Design and features

Even by PS5 SSD standards, the design of the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5 is definitely on the plain side. It comes fitted with a very boxy heatsink that makes the drive look like a small black rectangle attached to some connector pins. It’s quite a thick heatsink too, though I was pleased to find that I fit in the PS5’s M.2 SSD bay perfectly. 

While there are no LEDs present here, the heatsink is decorated with a small blue groove and a white Seagate logo. I can’t deny that I would have appreciated something a little more exciting, but it’s hard to complain when you’re ultimately not going to see the drive when it’s in use anyway. 

The retail packaging is good and contains an easy-to-open plastic case with plenty of padding to keep the drive snug and protected on the move - always great to see. The box features prominent PS5 branding, plus some basic information about the drive’s five-year warranty that directs you to the Seagate website.

Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5: Performance

The performance of the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5 isn’t groundbreaking by any means, but still very good on the whole. It reached a 6,459 MB/s read speed with the internal PS5 SSD benchmark and performed well on a range of real-world file transfer tests.

Copying a 55.86GB installation of Zenless Zone Zero from internal storage took just 24 seconds while 50.49GB of Star Wars Outlaws was moved in just 21.5 seconds. Similar performance was observed with larger games, like the 100.1GB Final Fantasy 16 which was copied in only 43 seconds. 

Transferring smaller titles was also a breeze. The 30.71GB Alone in the Dark remake was fully copied in just 14.8 seconds and the 9.92GB Asphalt Legends Unite took only 6 seconds. Finally, the miniscule 1.65GB Angry Birds Star Wars was fully copied in 1 second. Jumping into all of these games, loading times were snappy and on par with those when playing from the PS5’s internal storage. These figures are only slightly behind the times that I recorded on the high-end Samsung 990 Pro, so great results overall. 

I also did not observe any major performance decrease over periods of extended use. The drive was able to copy multiple large games without breaking a sweat, which suggests that the included heatsink works effectively.

Should I buy the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider...

If you’re not sold on the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5, then consider these two compelling alternatives.

How I tested the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5

• Fitted to my personal PS5
• Used to store and transfer games
• Used in-built PS5 benchmark

I tested the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5 for a week, fitting it to my personal PS5 console and spending a day running a wide variety of tests. I recorded the data from the in-built PS5 storage benchmark, plus copied a wide variety of games to the drive. I was careful to test the drive with a good range of different file sizes in order to assess its performance.

Throughout my time with the drive, I compared the experience and its design to my hands-on testing of other PS5 SSD drives. This included the Samsung 990 Pro, WD Black SN850, WD Black SN850P, and more.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed August 2024.

Seagate Game Drive for PS5: One-minute review

The Seagate Game Drive for PS5 is a product that exists to cater to a very specific need. It’s undeniably one of the best PS5 external hard drives right now, but is inherently quite limited compared to some of the best SSDs for PS5. 

The most important thing to know is that this drive cannot be used to directly play PlayStation 5 games. It can store them, though the data will need to be copied back to your internal storage before you’re able to jump in. This can take some time depending on the size of the game but, crucially, will be much speedier than a full download for the majority of people. The best way to use an external hard drive is therefore as an alternative to deleting your games, especially if it’s something that you’re likely to return to at a later date.

To give you a real-world example, I recently completed the brilliant Alan Wake 2. It takes up a whopping 90.23GB on my internal storage, which is space that I would much rather have available for other things. That said, I know that a new downloadable content (DLC) expansion is on the way - and would rather not spend hours waiting to download the entire game again when it drops. The best course of action here is to move the game to the external hard drive, freeing up space and meaning that I can still quickly copy it back to play in future.

Given that the Seagate Game Drive for PS5 comes in a hefty 2TB or 5TB capacity, you won’t need to worry about it filling up with your unused games any time soon. Although you undeniably pay a premium for the PlayStation branding here, it’s also cheaper than many PS5-compatible internal SSD drives in those capacities - making it a good lower-cost alternative. Then there's the fact that it’s incredibly quick to set up: you simply plug it into your PS5 via the included Micro USB cable, follow some on-screen prompts, and you’re ready to go in a matter of seconds.

The quality of the design of the Seagate Game Drive for PS5 also shouldn’t be understated. It's sleek, modern, and looks great sitting next to your console thanks to its white exterior and blue LED lighting. If you’re after an external hard drive for your PS5, or even PS4, then you simply can’t go wrong with this.

Seagate Game Drive for PS5: Price and availability

• 2TB costs $79.99 / £84.48 / AU$169.95
• 5TB costs $149.99 / £139.99 / AU$279.95 
• Available at Amazon and other retailers 

The Seagate Game Drive for PS5 is available in two capacities: 2TB and 5TB. The 2TB model costs $79.99 / £84.48 / AU$169.95, while the 5TB one is $149.99 / £139.99 / AU$279.95. Given its sheer size, the 5TB model is definitely the best value option as it should provide more than enough space for most game libraries.

The drive is available at Amazon and a wide range of other retailers including Best Buy, Walmart, and Gamestop in the US as well as Argos and Game in the UK. If a store sells PS5 games or accessories, it’s likely to also stock this drive making it very easy to get your hands on.

Seagate Game Drive for PS5: Specs

Seagate Game Drive for PS5: Design and features

As far as external hard drives go, the Seagate Game Drive for PS5 has a very attractive overall design. Its rectangular form factor is relatively compact and should be easy to unobtrusively place in your existing setup. The top half of the drive is a plain white, matching the look of the PS5, while its base is black. A small PlayStation logo is present in the very top left-hand corner of its front with a corresponding Seagate logo in the bottom right. The only other thing of note is a blue LED strip, which gently illuminates the surface below the drive. 

It’s compatible with PS5, PS4, and PC right out of the box with an included Micro USB cable which plugs into a smaller connector on the rear of the drive. The connector is next to a small LED indicator, which lights up when the drive is receiving power. While not stated by the manufacturer, it is also compatible with Xbox consoles, though will need to be reformatted if you intend to switch systems.

Although the drive cannot play PS5 games, it can be used to play PS4 titles either via backwards compatibility or on a PS4 console. This works well, though there is a noticeable difference in performance for those with a PS5. Expect longer load times compared to when you’re playing a PS4 game on the internal PS5 storage.

Seagate Game Drive for PS5: Performance

The performance of the Seagate Game Drive for PS5 is pretty much exactly what you would expect from your average external gaming hard drive. It’s slower than much pricier external SSD options, but is fast enough to copy large games in respectable times. The aforementioned 90.23GB installation of Alan Wake 2, for example, took 16 minutes and 46 seconds to copy over to the drive in its entirety. A large PS4 game, like the 67.21GB Dishonored 2, took 12 minutes and 28 seconds.

Going down a notch, the PS4 version of Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone, which comes to 38.30GB with plenty of add-ons, transferred in 7 minutes and 20 seconds. The recently released Alone in the Dark remake, which is 30.67GB, took 5 minutes and 22 seconds. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess comes in 28.28GB and took just 3 minutes 49 seconds. Stray, which is only 7.31GB, was copied in 1 minute and 13 seconds. Finally, the tiny 1.63GB of Angry Birds Star Wars took just 22 seconds to transfer.

Though those who want to move around very large titles multiple times a week might be better off with something a little speedier such as the Crucial X6, all of these times were still significantly faster than a download on my home internet.

Should I buy the Seagate Game Drive for PS5?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider...

If you’re not keen on the Seagate Game Drive for PS5 then you should consider these two strong alternatives.

How I tested the Seagate Game Drive for PS5

• Used for two weeks 
• Tested with a PS5 
• Compared against other storage devices

I tested the Seagate Game Drive for PS5 for two weeks during which time I used it as my primary PS5 external storage device. I spent a considerable number of hours assessing its performance in real-world scenarios by copying a wide range of PS5 and PS4 titles to and from it and timing the results. 

I compared the results against other storage options, including external SSD drives like the WD Black P40. I also used the external hard drive to play a number of PS4 titles, including Dishonored 2 and Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective and compared my experience to playing those same games on the console's internal storage.   

Read more about how we test

First reviewed July 2024.