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External Solid State Drive (SSD)

The Best External SSDs For Video Editing (2022)

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This is a list of the best external solid state drives (SSDs) I recommend and use for video editing.

But first...

Choosing A Drive

Remember - you will probably never regret having too much space AND too much speed.

Don't get confused by USB-C...

Know what port(s) your computer offers, then find drives that are compatible with that specific interface. Many times your computer ports will be the limiting factor for speed and compatibility.

For example, if your computer has a USB 3.2 Gen 2 capability (up to 10Gbps) and you purchase a drive with USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 capability (up to 20Gbps) then you will probably only be able to get about half the read/write speeds the drive claims.

If you have a computer that supports Thunderbolt 3 or 4 then you should get the maximum performance from every drive in this list.

If you have a computer that only supports USB then some, or all, of the drives in this list may not perform to their maximum performance claims.

Many of these drives come with short cables for a reason. The shorter cables help maintain the speeds the drive manufacturers claim. If you want or need a longer cable, be sure to get a very high quality cable or you will potentially see speeds drop the longer the cable gets.

If you are editing single camera footage at 4K30 or less and and using a fairly standard codec (H.264, H.265/HEVC, ProRes, DnXHD/DnXHR, or compressed RAW formats like BRAW or ProRes RAW), then all of the drives on this list should work well.

If you are editing multi-cam footage, using formats greater than 4K30, and/or using a higher quality codec (uncompressed or higher qualities of RAW, for example), then read/write speeds greater than 1000 MB/s are recommended.

On to the list...


SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD V2 External SSD

SanDisk Extreme Portable V2

NEW Top Pick For 2022! Get Latest Price on Amazon

The absolute best convergence of speed, size, ruggedness, and price.

These little drives have become rather ubiquitous, and for good reason.

If you want a reliable and consistent drive at a great price and don't need the fastest speeds available, look no further.

Connector: USB-C

Interface: USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.1/3.0/2.0)

Transfer Speeds: Up to 1050 MB/s

Samsung T5 External SSD

Samsung T5

Budget-Friendly Option Get Latest Price on Amazon

Not as fast or rugged as my top pick, but still plenty quick for many and a steal of a price.

I own many of these and use them all the time for recording and editing 4K ProRes files.

Why do you recommend the T5 instead of the T7?

According to a lot of reviews and tests, the T7 may have higher speed claims but it tends to bog down with larger video files. The T5 does not suffer from the same bottlenecks and proves to work more consistently for editing and large file transfers.

Connector: USB-C

Interface: USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.1/3.0/2.0)

Transfer Speeds: Up to 540 MB/s

SanDisk Professional G-DRIVE SSD External SSD

SanDisk Professional G-DRIVE SSD

Rugged Top Pick Alternative Get Latest Price on Amazon

If you like my top pick but want a little more ruggedness, this is the drive for you.

The same basic performance of the SanDisk Extreme Portable with the added benefit of IP67 water/dust resistance, up to 2000lb crush resistance, and better drop resistance.

Connector: USB-C

Interface: USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.1/3.0/2.0)

Transfer Speeds: Up to 1050 MB/s

Sabrent Rocket Nano External SSD

Sabrent Rocket Nano

Previous Top Pick Get Latest Price on Amazon

I've been using a bunch of these little guys for the last 2 years and they have been excellent!

I have moved countless terabytes of 4K video files through these drives and they have performed flawlessly.

Tiny, fast, consistent, available up to 2 TB, and excellent prices.

Connector: USB-C

Interface: USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.1/3.0/2.0)

Transfer Speeds: Up to 1000 MB/s

LaCie Rugged SSD Pro External SSD

LaCie Rugged SSD Pro

Blazing Speed, Reasonable Price Get Latest Price on Amazon

When you need faster speeds than my top pick but are still on a budget, look no further.

LaCie Rugged drives have been a favorite among creative professionals for more than a decade, and they have the track record to prove it.

If you're working with high quality 6K, 8K, or multiple channels of 4K files then this is a great place to start.

Connector: USB-C

Interface: Thunderbolt 3 (Compatible with Thunderbolt 4 and USB 3.2/3.1/3.0/2.0)

Transfer Speeds: Up to 2800 MB/s

Glyph Atom Pro NVMe SSD External SSD

Glyph Atom Pro NVMe SSD

Blazing Fast & Rugged (Just Like Me) Get Latest Price on Amazon

This one goes to 11!

When you need portability, durability, and gobs of transfer speed then this is your answer.

These check all my boxes (and then some) for a great editing drive:

Connector: USB-C

Interface: Thunderbolt 3 (Compatible with Thunderbolt 4 and USB 3.2/3.1/3.0/2.0)

Transfer Speeds: Up to 2800 MB/s


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