A photo stick is a small, portable flash drive that is designed specifically for backing up photos and videos from smartphones and computers. They come in different storage capacities but are typically very compact in size. Photo sticks connect to devices via a USB port and allow you to quickly transfer media files to the drive. Many photo sticks also come with proprietary software that can automatically find and back up all your photos and videos.
In contrast, an external hard drive is a more traditional data storage device that offers much larger capacities compared to photo sticks. External hard drives connect via USB, Thunderbolt, or other interfaces to provide expanded storage space for various types of files, including media. While external hard drives are bigger in physical size compared to photo sticks, they allow you to store vastly more photos, videos, and other files.
In this article, we will compare photo sticks and external hard drives across several key criteria: storage capacity, portability, ease of use, security, cost, file transfer speeds, photo management software, and use cases. By evaluating how these two storage mediums stack up, you can determine which is better suited for backing up and managing your precious photo and video collection.
1. Storage Capacity
External hard drives tend to have much higher maximum storage capacities compared to photo sticks. External hard drives currently on the market range from 500GB to 16TB of storage space or higher, with average consumer models offering 1-2TB of capacity [1]. In contrast, most standard photo sticks max out at 256GB, with high capacity models reaching 1-2TB [2]. The considerably greater storage potential of external hard drives makes them better suited for storing large libraries of photos, videos, music, and other media files.
The higher capacities also make external hard drives useful for complete system backups, archiving project files, and other applications requiring extensive storage space. Photo sticks work fine for transferring smaller files or keeping key documents portable, but external hard drives are preferable for robust storage and regular access to terabyte-scale content collections.
Portability
When it comes to portability, photo sticks have a clear advantage over external hard drives. Photo sticks are designed to be small, lightweight and portable, while external hard drives – even portable models – tend to be bulkier and heavier.
A typical photo stick is similar in size and weight to a USB flash drive, usually measuring around 3 inches long, 1 inch wide, and weighing less than an ounce. The AUAMOZ photo stick, for example, is just 2.76 x 0.59 x 0.39 inches in size and weighs only 0.64 ounces.
In comparison, most portable external hard drives measure around 5 x 3 x 0.5 inches in size and weigh 5-8 ounces. Even a relatively compact portable hard drive like the Seagate Backup Plus Slim still measures 4.47 x 2.99 x 0.38 inches and weighs 5.28 ounces – nearly 10 times heavier than a photo stick.
The tiny, lightweight design of photo sticks makes them extremely easy to slip into a pocket or bag. You can take them anywhere without being weighed down. External hard drives’ larger size and weight makes portability more cumbersome.
Ease of Use
Photo sticks are designed for extremely simple and easy use. They just plug directly into any USB port on a computer, phone, or other device without requiring any external cables or power sources. This gives photo sticks a major advantage for portability and convenience over many external hard drives [1].
External hard drives, particularly desktop models, frequently need an additional power cable plugged into an electrical outlet to operate. This can limit where the external drive can be used or require carrying around a separate power adapter. Many external drives also need to be reformatted to work properly with different operating systems and devices, adding an extra hassle factor to utilizing them effectively compared to cross-compatible photo sticks that work seamlessly across many devices [2].
For quickly and easily accessing, transferring, or backing up photos, video, or other media files on the go across laptops, phones, and tablets, photo sticks provide far simpler out-of-box use and compatibility for the average consumer compared to most external hard drives.
Security
When it comes to security, external hard drives tend to offer more robust features compared to USB flash drives. Most external hard drives today come with built-in encryption and password protection to prevent unauthorized access if the drive is lost or stolen. Many also allow you to set up user accounts and permission levels (for example in WD’s MyPassport drives). USB flash drives typically do not have these types of advanced security capabilities.
In terms of physical durability, external hard drives are generally more resistant to failure from drops or shocks thanks to their more robust casing and internal components. The platters and read heads of a hard drive are better protected compared to the flash memory chips inside a USB stick. However, neither storage device is completely immune to physical damage, so care should still be taken when transporting and using them. Proper backups are essential for both devices in case of failure.
Overall, the extra physical protections and encryption features of most external hard drives make them a safer choice for sensitive data storage compared to basic USB flash drives. But for casual everyday file transfer and storage, a USB stick may provide “good enough” security if protected with a strong password.
Cost
When comparing prices for drives with similar capacities, photo sticks tend to be more expensive per GB than external hard drives. For example, a 128GB photo stick may cost around $30, while a 1TB portable external hard drive costs around $50. That’s around $0.23 per GB for the photo stick versus $0.05 per GB for the external drive. As the SanDisk Extreme PRO 1TB external SSD shows, you could get an external drive with 8 times the capacity of a 128GB photo stick for only about 1.5 times the price.
This price difference comes down to the smaller physical size and lower production costs of flash memory compared to mechanical hard drives. While the largest external hard drive capacities top out at 10-16TB, most photo sticks max out at 1TB. So you get far more storage for your money with an external hard drive. The extreme portability and compact size of photo sticks come at a premium.
Sources:
https://www.salvagedata.com/external-hard-drive-vs-usb-flash-drive/
https://www.howtogeek.com/798817/usb-flash-drive-vs.-external-hard-drive-which-is-better/
File Transfer Speed
When it comes to file transfer speed, external hard drives tend to be much faster than photo sticks. While photo sticks rely on USB 2.0 connectivity, which maxes out at 60MB/s, external SSD hard drives utilize much faster connections like USB 3.0, USB 3.1 or USB-C which offer speeds up to 10Gb/s.[1] This means external SSD hard drives can copy files from one drive to another at speeds over 100MB/s in many cases, whereas photo sticks top out around 15-30MB/s.
The extra speed of external SSD hard drives makes them better suited for transferring large files like photos, videos and game installs. Photo sticks can handle small transfers fine, but will be significantly slower trying to move GBs worth of data. If you need to backup or transfer many large files regularly, an external SSD is the better choice.
Photo Management Software
External hard drives often come bundled with photo management software to help organize and edit photos. For example, Seagate offers their Seagate Media App with many of their external hard drives. This app can automatically find photos and videos on the drive and allow tagging, editing, and sharing. Some other external hard drives come with editing and management apps like WD Discovery from Western Digital. Using the software included with an external drive provides an integrated solution for storing and organizing photos in one place.
The main benefit of the included software is convenience – having photo management and editing tools pre-loaded and ready to use with the external storage device. This saves the step of downloading additional programs. The software is also optimized and designed specifically for the hardware it comes with. One downside is that the included software may have fewer features than more robust third-party photo editing applications. However, for basic photo organization, viewing, and sharing, the external hard drive software may have everything needed for typical consumer use cases.
Use Cases
Photo sticks are ideal for easily transporting and accessing photos while traveling. Their compact size allows them to fit conveniently in a pocket or bag. When on the go, photo sticks provide a lightweight way to backup and view photos from a camera’s memory card.
External hard drives excel at providing expanded storage and backup for photos at home. Their larger capacity is better suited for storing entire photo libraries, RAW files, and high resolution images. External hard drives make it easy to backup an entire computer system, serving as a redundant copy in case of hardware failure. Their higher speeds allow quickly transferring many large files at once.
While photo sticks are highly portable, their capacity is more limited. External hard drives offer vastly more storage, but their physical size makes them less convenient for travel. When choosing between the two, consider your primary intended use case – travel photography or home photo storage and backup.
Conclusion
When it comes to photo stick versus external hard drive, there are pros and cons for each option depending on your specific needs and use case.
Photo sticks have the advantage of extreme portability due to their tiny size. They easily slip into a pocket or bag, making them great for travel and on-the-go photo backup. However, they offer limited capacity, usually under 256GB. This makes them suitable for backing up select recent photos rather than entire photo libraries. They also tend to have slower transfer speeds.
External hard drives usually offer much larger capacities, ranging from 500GB to 5TB or more. This allows you to back up sizable photo and video collections. Hard drives are cheaper per gigabyte than photo sticks too. However, they are larger and require power, so portability is limited. Transfer speeds can be quite fast with the latest external SSDs.
In summary, photo sticks are best for portable, selective backup while on the go. External hard drives are ideal for comprehensive backup and storage of entire photo libraries. For professional photographers or videographers with huge media collections, an external hard drive is likely the better choice. Casual photographers who only need recent photos backed up while traveling are served well by a photo stick. Consider your specific needs and uses when deciding between these two options.