You can plug them into devices like the best home computers, laptops, and even video games consoles to expand their available storage. Regardless of which type of external hard drive you choose, they’ll both serve the same role. That’s the technical difference covered, but how does that actually affect you? In short, HDDs are cheaper while SSDs are faster. HDDs contain spinning disks which store data magnetically, while SSDs use flash memory and contain no moving parts. Both of these different types of hard drives do the same thing - they store data - but they do it in vastly different ways. The best external hard drives help you to store more photos, music, movies, and more in a convenient and portable way.Įxternal hard drives come in two types: Hard disc drives (HDDs) and Solid state drives (SSDs).
