External hard drives with 500 GB in the test
Hard drives with a capacity of 500 GB were still real giants a few years ago - they are now among the smallest models from many manufacturers and are still available in a wide variety.
For many users, one is Storage capacity of 500GB also sufficient, especially if you just want to save the holiday photos. If, on the other hand, moving images, music and more than just short films come into play, you should also look around for external hard drives with more than 500 GB of memory, which we also test, of course.
On this overview page, however, we want to first deal with the smaller representatives among the hard disks and show what differences there are between the individual models, what to look out for when buying and which disk is suitable for which user.
| # | Preview | Products | ||
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| 1 |
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UnionSine External... |
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| 2 |
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Intenso Memory Case... |
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Buy now " |
| 3 |
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Maxone External... |
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Buy now " |
| 4 |
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HURRICANE MD25U3... |
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Buy now " |
| 5 |
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i-tec 500GB External... |
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Buy now " |
| 6 |
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SSK Extreme USB C SSD... |
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Buy now " |
| 7 |
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SUHSAI Portable... |
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Buy now " |
| 8 |
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HURRICANE GD25612... |
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Buy now " |
| 9 |
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Storite 2,5 inch... |
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| 10 |
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Storite 500GB... |
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Buy now " |
So let's start with the points in which the individual plates differ.
The speed
When comparing multiple disks of the same capacity, speed is one of the most important criteria for many - after all, being able to move files onto and off the disk faster is definitely an advantage.
Performance is therefore particularly important for disks with a lower storage capacity, which are often used on the go - after all, who wants to carry around important data that is only available at the crucial moment after a few minutes of waiting.
Many 500GB external hard drives are built as "normal" HDDs, which are generally slower than the extremely fast ones SSD, for which such a storage capacity can already be described as very large.
With an HDD, the number of revolutions determines the performance, among other things – disks with a higher number of revolutions are usually faster and more powerful.
And another point is crucial for the speed:
The connection
The gold standard is quite clear here at the moment USB 3.0, which offers significantly faster transfer rates than the previous USB 2.0 technology and is therefore already available even on fairly cheap disks.
Some of the more expensive disks even have a USB type C ("Thunderbolt") connection, which brings additional benefits in terms of performance, but cannot simply be connected to every computer.
USB 3.0 will therefore remain the standard for external hard drives with 500 GB storage capacity for a while and is also sufficient to move the data volumes possible here without long waiting times.
Other differences
Basically, the performance of an external hard drive is of course the decisive factor - for most users it is simply a matter of being able to easily access the files and be able to move them back and forth.
But there are of course other points that may be important for one or the other user:
- Safety. This point is particularly important when the disk is on the road a lot and important personal or other sensitive data is on it - in such a case, encrypted external hard disks, for example, which are characterized by high security standards, can be the right choice.
- Robustness. This is also particularly important if the hard drive is to be used primarily in a portable manner - because it should then be able to cope with small impacts without any problems. There are even sheets available that survive a rain shower unscathed.
- Size. With a 500 GB external hard drive, the following usually applies: the smaller, the better. Most manufacturers offer the disks in the standardized 2,5" format, but really compact construction is only possible with SSD models.
- Design. Especially in the area of the "small" 500 GB hard drives, models are available in countless different designs. Everything is included, from the simple business model to the colorful designer piece.
- Price. For the average user, there are just so many 500 GB external hard drives that meet the most important requirements that in the end price often plays an important role in the decision - and there are really cheap drives for 50 euros and sometimes even less .
Now there is only one question left: Which 500 GB external hard drive is the right one?
Here we are making a clear statement: If security, robustness, size and design are not important, you can use a cheap model with a clear conscience, which should definitely have a USB 3.0 port to offer a certain level of performance.
If, on the other hand, you have clear ideas about one or more of the points just mentioned, the choice is of course easy - because there are manufacturers for everyone who have specialized in exactly that.
In our overview on this page are all tested by us 500GB hard drives to find - of course with test reports to make the decision as easy as possible.
