Guide
Which external hard drive or SSD to buy.
Instead of comparing brands, this guide starts from your use case: how much you need to store, how often you'll use the drive, and whether you need editing speed or just cheap backup space.
How we choose what to recommend
Every product in this guide was chosen for having real sales volume, a high rating (4.7 stars or above) and a price consistent with the rest of the market for its category — we filtered out listings with prices far outside that range, which are usually posting errors or mislabeled products. No manufacturer paid to appear here; the order of the sections follows use case, not a brand hierarchy.
Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you buy through them, ArchivoLab may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. This does not change what we recommend — the comparison stays the same with or without a commission involved.
Occasional backup or light use (1-2 TB)
If you just need a backup you won't connect every day, a budget mechanical hard drive (HDD) is the most reasonable choice: it has the lowest price per GB on the market, and speed matters less when the drive spends most of its time unplugged. To estimate how much space you need before buying, use the backup growth calculator.
WD My Passport 2 TB
Western Digital's best-selling portable HDD for standard backup.
- USB 3.0, compatible with Windows and Mac (requires reformatting for Mac).
- 2 TB is enough for several years of photos, documents and personal projects.
- Compact design, no external power supply required.
From $4,662 MXN
Photo and video library (2-4 TB or more)
If you've accumulated years of photos and video — especially 4K, which weighs several times more than 1080p — 2 TB fills up fast. Here it's worth thinking in terms of total capacity rather than speed: a large HDD is still the best price-per-GB option for long-term archiving. Run your own numbers in the photo and video storage calculator.
Seagate 4 TB (USB 3.0)
Good price per GB for a full photo or video library.
- 4 TB of capacity, enough for years of photos and clips in 1080p or moderate 4K.
- Sold by Seagate's official store on Mercado Libre, with a 12-month factory warranty.
- Compatible with PC, Mac and consoles — works for both backup and a media library.
From $3,389 MXN
Professional use or video editing
If you edit video, work with RAW files, or just get tired of waiting for a heavy folder to copy, an external SSD changes the experience: read/write speeds are several times faster than a mechanical HDD, which is immediately noticeable when playing back or exporting straight from the drive.
Kingston XS1000 1 TB SSD
Portable SSD with a strong speed-to-price ratio for daily work.
- USB 3.2 with speeds well above a traditional HDD.
- Compact, keychain-sized design, easy to carry in a bag or pocket.
- Over 10,000 units sold and a 4.9/5 rating — one of the best-reviewed external SSDs in its price range.
From $2,299 MXN
Portable storage for your phone
If what you need is to free up phone storage without relying on the cloud, a dual-connector drive (USB-C and USB-A) handles the direct transfer from phone to computer, without extra cables or apps.
SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive Go 128 GB
Dual-connector drive for moving photos and video off your phone without extra cables.
- USB-C and USB-A connector on the same drive — works on your phone and your computer.
- 128 GB is enough to back up the photo gallery of most current phones.
- The #1 product in its category on Mercado Libre Mexico, with over 3,000 reviews.
From $649 MXN
HDD or SSD: how to decide quickly
| Criteria | HDD (mechanical) | SSD (solid state) |
|---|---|---|
| Price per GB | Lower | Higher |
| Speed | Enough for backup | Several times faster |
| Shock resistance | More fragile (moving parts) | More resistant |
| Best for | Archive, library, infrequent backup | Editing, daily work, use while traveling |
Where to buy these drives
The links in this guide point to the Mercado Libre Mexico catalog. If you're reading from a country where Mercado Libre doesn't operate or doesn't carry the same catalog, AliExpress is an alternative that ships to most of Latin America and beyond.
Samsung T7 Shield 1 TB (portable SSD)
An alternative with international shipping for readers who can't buy on Mercado Libre Mexico.
- USB 3.2 Gen 2, up to 10 Gbps — shock, water and dust resistant.
- Sold by a third-party store on AliExpress (96.2% positive rating, not Samsung's official store); also available in 2 TB and 4 TB on the same listing.
- International shipping usually takes longer than Mercado Libre — check the estimated delivery time before buying.
From ~$3,914 MXN equivalent (1 TB)
If you'd rather use Mercado Libre but you're outside Mexico, search for the same model in your country's Mercado Libre catalog — availability and price vary by region.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to reformat the drive to use it on a Mac?
Most external drives ship formatted in NTFS or exFAT for general use. NTFS can be read but not natively written to on macOS without extra software; exFAT works on both Windows and Mac without issues. If the drive is exclusively for Mac, reformatting it to APFS or Mac OS Extended makes better use of the system, but you'll lose direct Windows compatibility.
How long does an external hard drive last?
A normally used external HDD typically lasts 3 to 5 years before mechanical failure risk increases; an SSD has no moving parts and generally lasts longer, though it does have a write-cycle limit that's rarely reached in personal use. No single drive replaces a second backup — check the backup guide for the 3-2-1 rule.
External or internal SSD for a laptop?
An external SSD is the practical choice if you don't want to open up the machine or need portability across several computers; an internal SSD (when the machine supports it) is usually faster because it doesn't depend on USB port speed.