Quick Answer
Yes, a portable drive is considered a type of external hard drive. Portable drives are external hard drives that are smaller and more compact for easy portability and transport of data. Like all external hard drives, portable drives connect to a computer externally and act as an extension of the computer’s internal storage.
What is a Portable Drive?
A portable drive, also known as a portable external hard drive, is a type of external hard drive that is specifically designed to be small, lightweight, and easy to transport. Portable drives are powered either through the computer’s USB port or via an external power adapter. This makes them easy to take with you wherever you go.
Some key features of portable drives include:
- Compact size – Usually about 2.5 inches in size, similar to a standard laptop hard drive.
- Lightweight – Typically weighs just a few ounces.
- Rechargeable battery – Some models contain an integrated rechargeable battery to make them even more portable.
- Storage capacities – Offer large storage space from 500GB to 4TB or more.
- Durability – Engineered to withstand travel and on-the-go use.
- Connectivity – Connect via USB, Thunderbolt, or other interfaces.
Popular portable drive brands include Western Digital My Passport, Seagate Backup Plus Slim, Toshiba Canvio Basics, and LaCie Rugged Mini. These drives make it easy to take your storage with you anywhere.
What is an External Hard Drive?
An external hard drive is a storage device that is external to a computer and connected via USB, eSATA, Thunderbolt, FireWire, or wirelessly. This contrasts with internal hard drives, which are enclosed within the computer’s casing.
Key features of external hard drives:
- External enclosure – Hard disks are enclosed in a durable chassis or enclosure.
- Portability – Smaller portable models are lightweight and easily transported.
- Connectivity – Interface with computers via USB, FireWire, eSATA, Thunderbolt or wirelessly.
- Storage capacities – Typically range from around 500GB to 10TB for desktop models.
- Speed – Can have fast transfer rates depending on the interface.
- Operating system compatibility – Works with Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS.
In addition to portable drives, common types of external hard drives include desktop and network attached storage (NAS) models. External HDDs serve as a convenient way to add storage, data backup capabilities, and data portability to a computer system.
The Relationship Between Portable Drives and External Hard Drives
While the terms may seem interchangeable, the main distinction is that a portable drive is a specific type of external hard drive. Whereas external hard drives in general simply means any HDD outside of a computer, portable drives refers specifically to compact, lightweight, mobile-focused external HDDs.
Think of the relationship between the two terms like this:
- All portable drives are external hard drives
- But not all external hard drives are portable drives
External hard drives come in other larger form factors designed to stay stationary on or under a desk, like desktop and network attached storage models.
So “external hard drive” is the overarching category, while “portable drive” refers specifically to a compact and mobile sub-type of external HDD within that larger category. All portable drives have the benefits of being external disks – extra capacity, portability, data backup ability, etc. – while offering smaller size and weight for enhanced mobility.
This makes portable drives ideal for users who need lots of storage they can easily take with them on the go, such as:
- Traveling professionals and business users
- Creative workers like photographers and videographers
- Students needing to carry data between school and home
- Employees with hybrid or remote work arrangements
For these types of users, the small size makes portable drives easy to toss in a bag or even a pocket to transport terabytes of data anywhere.
Comparing Portable Drives vs. Internal Laptop Hard Drives
When considering external storage for a laptop computer, some users may wonder how portable drives compare against upgrading the laptop’s internal hard drive. There are pros and cons to each approach:
| Factor | Portable external drive | Internal laptop drive upgrade |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity | Can add higher capacities than internal upgrades, up to 4TB or more. | Limited to maximum drive capacities supported by laptop model, often 1TB or 2TB. |
| Cost | Affordable external storage solution. | Internal drive upgrades often more expensive than external per GB. |
| Speed | USB 3.0 provides decent speeds for most users. | Internal SATA connections offer faster peak transfer rates. |
| Convenience | Easy plug and play usage. | Upgrading internal drive requires technically installing the new HDD. |
| Portability | Small size makes external drives highly portable. | Internal drive isn’t portable between computers. |
| Backup | External drives make it easy to backup laptop contents. | No added backup capabilities. |
For most laptop users, getting an affordable high-capacity portable external drive provides an excellent balance of capacity, performance, and ease of use. Internal drive upgrades provide some added speed, but portable drives often deliver sufficient speeds while offering more storage capacity, convenience, portability, and built-in backup features.
Are Portable Drives SSD or HDD?
Portable storage drives can utilize either traditional hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD) technology. Most portable drives are HDDs because they offer high capacities at affordable price points. However, SSD portable drives are becoming more common and affordable.
SSD portable drives provide benefits like:
- Faster read/write speeds – Up to 10x faster than HDD portable drives.
- More durable – With no moving parts, SSDs can better withstand accidental bumps or drops.
- Quieter operation – Silent with no spinning disk sounds.
- Lower power consumption – Increases battery life for laptops.
- Lighter weight – SSD drives weigh less than HDD equivalents.
The downsides of portable SSDs are lower maximum capacities and higher prices compared to HDDs. Still, the speed and ruggedness advantages are leading more manufacturers to release external SSDs in portable form factors. Users who rely on external storage for fast backup, editing, or gaming can benefit from portable SSD drives if the capacity meets their needs.
HDDs remain very popular for affordable high-capacity portable storage. The mechanical operation means slightly more bulk and vulnerability to shocks, but HDD capacities up to 4TB fit into compact enclosures barely larger than a smartphone. Both HDD and SSD portable drives deliver excellent external storage that can expand laptop and desktop storage for just about any need.
How Portable Drives Connect to Computers
One of the main benefits of portable external hard drives is that they can plug into virtually any computer device to instantly add storage capacity or transfer data. This is accomplished using common interface technologies that enable communication between the portable drive and computer.
The most common connectivity technologies used by portable drives include:
- USB – The most common portable drive interface, supporting both USB 2.0 and faster USB 3.0/3.1. USB provides simple plug-and-play connections.
- Thunderbolt – Found on newer PCs and Macs, Thunderbolt provides very fast data transfer speeds up to 40 Gbps.
- USB-C – USB-C ports allow connection of USB, Thunderbolt and other interfaces via one reversible USB-C connector.
- FireWire – A legacy Mac and PC interface providing good performance up to 800 Mbps.
Virtually any computer will have USB ports to readily accept connection of an external portable hard drive. USB 3.0 offers fast 5 Gbps transfer speeds sufficient for most users, while maximum performance can be achieved with 10 Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 2 or 40 Gbps Thunderbolt 3 interfaces.
Portable SSD drives in particular benefit from the faster transfer speeds possible over USB 3.1, Thunderbolt 3, and USB-C connections. This enables the full speed potential of the SSD storage to be unleashed.
The plug-and-play connectivity afforded by interfaces like USB make portable HDDs and SSDs extremely easy to attach and use for both laptop and desktop computer users.
Key Uses for Portable External Hard Drives
Here are some of the most popular uses for portable external hard disk and solid state drives:
- Data Backup – Portable drives provide a great way to routinely back up important data from a main computer.
- Storage Expansion – The high capacities offer abundant additional storage for growing data collections.
- File Sharing & Transport – Easily share files by plugging the drive into other computers.
- Music & Photos – Portable HDDs provide ample space for storing thousands of songs, videos, photos and files.
- Gaming Storage – The fast speeds of portable SSDs allow storing more games locally.
- Video Projects – The speed makes editing and working with 4K or HD video footage smooth.
Whatever the computing needs may be, portable storage helps transport data on the go and adds high-capacity storage easily to any computer setup.
Conclusion
In summary, a portable drive is a type of external hard disk drive engineered for compact size, light weight and mobile data storage. Portable drives provide all the major benefits of external HDDs – extra storage capacity, portability, backup capabilities – while being easy to physically transport between locations. Both HDD and SSD portable drives connect via common interfaces like USB. With huge digital storage needs today, portable external drives deliver an excellent storage solution for a wide range of users and computers.