The 8 Best 256 Gb Ssd External Drives (2023 reviews)

If you want nothing short of the optimal drive for your regular usage, this sandisk new drive is certainly a wise investment. These drives are very fast, have USB C and come with an adapter if your machine of choice does not have USB C. It works well and is fast in transfer photos, videos, and documents. It is made of aluminum, and therefore cannot dissipate heat as well as the extreme pro model. It also has a USB 3 port, that can be used to attach a camera, or other device.

This can be used in multiple applications like recording from a Black Magic Studio camera, ATEM mini models and other USB C recording devices that require faster writing speeds. It is perfect for creating amazing content or capturing incredible footage. It is easy to transfer and erase files when necessary.

Why We Like This:

Powerful and compact external ssd for ps
Great item for space and speed
Great portable device to transfer photos to from your android device
Come in ginormous sizes and internal storage on a ps5 fills up quickly

Best For ipad: Buffalo 256 Gb Ssd External Drive

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Buffalo line of drive come in a pretty wide variety of styles, so you can definitely find one that suits your individual preferences and needs. The PS5's Sept 2021 update allows the PS5 to play games from an internal M.2 SSD plugged into the expansion slot. It is great for backup and taking your data with you. It is great for console storage expansion, the xbox s/x can only play s/x games from its internal drive or the official expansion card. It is an excellent combo of capacity, performance and small form factor.

The portable and powerful SSD allows you to easily back up all your data without needing to upload them in the cloud. It is easy to see that the computer or port being used can have a dramatic impact. The SDS definitely speeds up the uploading and downloading times from desktop to laptops to gaming consoles.

Why We Like This:

Fast drive in the right port, tempermental port speeds
Read/write speeds are satisfyingly fast for most copy and backup jobs
You can enjoy faster loading times on games stored on the ssd
Plug and play, easy to use

Best For Xbox: Sandisk 256 Gb Ssd External Drive

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Sandisk offers a variety of drive for personal choice and yet maintaining quality in all the variants. This SSD is a nice size and holds a good amount of data regularly or using this as a scratch disc, you’ll be paying for the time you save. Transferring files to it is a snap and hooking it up for use is made quick and easy with the usb-c connection. It transfers data faster, provided your associated devices have the capability. It’s more pricey but if you’re transferring large files regularly or using this as a scratch disc, you’ll be paying for the time you save.

The rugged durability is one of its best features. It’s an NVMe based drive so is super fast even with. The drive is very portable and extremely fast.

Why We Like This:

High capacity, easy storage, fast transfer speeds
Effective digital storage in a small package
Fast transfer speeds are vital as well
Get ready to embark on a thrilling journey that will leave you in awe

Best With Windows: JOIOT Portable Solid State Drive

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Best part: joiot portable solid state drive costs comparatively low and it is available to ship in 24 hours. This SSD is strongly built with a hard metal case, usb C to C with a type A adapter. It is totally plug-and-play, compatible with Windows 10 and Windows 11, and comes with a USB-C adapter.Thank you. It is used for system files, management and performance optimization, so the actual available capacity may be less than the identifying capacity.

This drive is pretty speedy. It is made of aluminum alloy with good heat dissipation effect and is not easy to keep heating during use. Its biggest characteristic is very light, only 23 grams, very small.Thank you. The build quality is exceptional and it looks amazing.

Why We Like This:

Really compact size and very fast data transfers
Premium feel and the size of a flash drive
New and hot release

Best For Laptop: JOIOT 256 Gb Ssd External Drive

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The joiot 256 gb ssd external drive is suitable and reliable and fits well with your regular usage. It features fast heat dissipation plus has more excellent performance than a common mobile solid state drive, perfect for photographers, gamer, video editors and music producers. Because of its small size, it can easily be a replacement for a USB stick/thumbdrive with more capacity. It's a small size SSD that you can easily fit in your pocket.

The drive measures out at 238 GB of usable space, which is normal for any type of storage unit. It is about the same length as a normal USB stick, and about as wide as two of them side-by-side. It also comes with a small pouch as well.

Why We Like This:

Very small, thinner than a usb stick, and pretty fast
Small and very portable and not slow like others that are lower priced
Very compact, easy to take on the go
Solid build, aesthetically attractive, comes with quality cable, connectors and adaptor to micro usb

Best For Backup Drive: ORICO 256 Gb Ssd External Drive

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The orico 256 gb ssd external drive is capable of outshining several other drive featured in this list in overall features for the price point. This thing is tiny, and obviously has no big heatsink or airflow of any kind, save for the aluminum housing. It includes USB type c to c and USB type c to cables to connect to pcs, macs, smartphones, camera and other devices, plug and play, no drivers required. It's light and easily carried. It is perfect for transferring large-sized data including 4k videos, high-resolution photos, games, film, music, data backup and more.

Why We Like This:

Extremely fast until it gets hot and throttles
One of the new comers and featured product

Best With USB C: Kingston 256 Gb Ssd External Drive

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For a low asking price, kingston 256 gb ssd external drive has managed to overwhelm their customers by packing as many features as they could. The IronKey SSD has a very solid build and exceptional quality. It offers built in encryption without external software. This hard drive has adjustable auto time outs and lock outs. It can have multiple passwords for data recovery and admin access. This hard drive has been designed to outwit malware and to protect against it.

It is easy to configure for all its built in security features and has all the hardware one would be looking for in properly encrypted storage. The USB acts as the power source, so you don't see anything on the screen until it is plugged in.

Why We Like This:

An excellent way to keep your most important files safe and secure
You can setup additional passwords and security features, or emergency wipe protocol
Full encryption and fast read write speeds

Best With Games consoles: Ortial Technologies 256 Gb Ssd External Drive

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We would, of course, be remiss if we didn't mention ortial technologies 256 gb ssd external drive for daily purpose. This portable drive allows you to take your data anywhere, freeing up space on your computer or games console. It works with games consoles, macs and pcs. It has a stylish design that fits in your pocket. It is Ortial's external ssd storage device.

Why We Like This: