Wd 4tb Elements Portable External Hard Drive Review
- Strengths & Weaknesses
- Features
- Western Digital Elements Set
- Western Digital Drive Utilities
- Western Digital Elements Features Overview
- Price
- Speed & Performance
- Warranty & Back up
- The Verdict
- Western Digital Elements FAQ
- Comments & User Ratings
Western Digital is no stranger to the external hard drive game, offer a wide selection of products ranging from portable disks to multi-bay network-attached storage enclosures. In this review, we're going to wait at one of the products in the old camp.
Our Western Digital Elements review went simply. We bought a drive through Amazon and got our hands dirty with it, testing speed, errors and more. Afterward talking about our feel with the drive, nosotros'll give you our verdict, which will determine if the Elements drives can make it on our all-time external hard drives list or if they're merely some other mediocre choice.
The respond is a chip of both. An Elements drive is a peachy way to go a lot of storage for inexpensive, just yous'll need to deal with the slow spinning disk, every bit well equally a shroud that doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. That's true for most cheap external hard drives and, unfortunately, Western Digital doesn't seem interested in going against the condition quo.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths:
- Cheap
- Two-twelvemonth express warranty
- Plug & play
- No bad clusters per our testing
- Telephone support for 30 days later purchase
Weaknesses:
- Spinning drive
- No included hard bulldoze utilities
- 3TB & 4TB models show diminishing returns
Features
The Elements drives are focused on portability, stripping abroad the bulky enclosures and power supplies of desktop difficult drives in favor of a slim course gene. The plastic enclosure feels decent, with a plastic back up running along the exterior of the drive, merely a few falls volition likely put information technology out of commission.
That'southward true for any spinning drive, though. The drive inside is insulated from whatever surface it'due south on past iv minor, condom feet, which, though handy, probably do less work than information technology'd seem. Every bit the proper noun and marketing propose, Elements' drives are supposed to exist basic, so the mileage y'all get out of yours will largely depend on how you treat it.
If yous're hard on your drives or motion them effectually oft, brand sure to read our LaCie Rugged Mini review. Though more expensive, the LaCie Mini comes with a weather-resistant shroud that can handle up to i ton of pressure.
In the Elements box, you'll find the drive, an obnoxiously long legal agreement and a USB three.0 cable that terminates with a USB blazon A connector. It would've been dainty to see a cablevision for USB blazon C, likewise, because they're increasingly common. The operation wouldn't alter — the interface is nonetheless USB three.0 — but that convenience matters.
Western Digital Elements Gear up
The Elements drives are plug-and-play, meaning the necessary drivers to run them are included with your operating system. Out of the box, the drives are set to work with Windows 7, 8.1 and x. Information technology'll work with macOS, too, but you'll demand to reformat the drive.
Plugging in the USB 3.0 micro B connector — the ane that looks similar two micro USB connectors smooshed together — results in a surprisingly satisfying click. The teeth that seal the connection grab on tight and don't permit get, which is reassuring with a portable bulldoze.
We tested the 2TB model on Windows 10, and so, unsurprisingly, Windows took the bulldoze without hassle. What is surprising, though, is that the bulldoze was empty. Normally, external hard drives come loaded with installers for things such every bit fill-in utilities and disk checkers. With an Elements bulldoze, you get a blank canvas.
That could be a skillful or bad thing depending on what you like. For u.s.a., it'southward a expert thing, considering we'd rather choose the tools nosotros want to fill-in (read our best online backup guide to see what those are). That said, novices will likely be unaware that there are Western Digital utilities available, so having an installer preloaded could help ease defoliation.
Western Digital Drive Utilities
Even so, it makes sense that Western Digital doesn't include any utilities on the drive because there aren't any. Outside of a diagnostic tool for Windows, Western Digital doesn't take any downloads for Elements drives.
Critical tools are missing, including a backup and security utility. The moniker the Elements drives acquit is telling. They're meant to store data, and that'southward information technology. If you lot're looking for more features, it's probably improve to cheque out Western Digital's My Book line (read our Western Digital My Book review).
Western Digital Elements Features Overview
| Buy on Amazon | |
|---|---|
| Features | |
| Capacity | 1 TB, 2 TB, iii TB, 4 TB |
| Backup utility | |
| Interface | USB 3.0 |
| Platform | |
| Windows | |
| macOS | |
| Android | |
| Performance | |
| Drive Speed | 5400rpm |
| Difficult Drive Type | Spinning |
| Support | |
| Warranty menses | 24 Months |
| Recovery Services | |
| Speed Table |
Price
The Western Digital Elements drives set the baseline in cost when information technology comes to portable, high-chapters external drives. The 1TB model, which is the easiest point of comparing with the rest of the market, comes in at but under 5 cents per gigabyte.
Western Digital Elements
$ 46.99
$ 114.99 $ 49.66 Save $ 65.33 (57 %)
$ 54.99
$ 62.99
$ 158.87 $ 78.65 Save $ 80.22 (50 %)
$ 74.99
$ 116.99 $ 94.65 Save $ 22.34 (19 %)
$ 193.36 $ 167.00 Save $ 26.36 (14 %)
$ 109.99 $ 98.99 Relieve $ 11.00 (10 %)
$ 99.71
$ 269.51 $ 115.62 Save $ 153.89 (57 %)
That's more than the competing Seagate drive with the aforementioned capacity, which you tin can read about in our Seagate Portable review, but less than the Seagate Backup Plus Portable (read our Seagate Backup Plus Portable review).
Capacity-wise, you get four options: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB and 4TB. Western Digital advertises 250GB, 500GB and ane.5TB options on its website, too, but we weren't able to observe them. Though a decent spread, we'd urge y'all to stay in the 1TB-2TB range. The drives spin at 5,400 rpm, so larger capacities will be noticeably slower, specially when filled with information.
The 3TB and 4TB capacities are amend suited with the Western Digital My Book, which starts at 3TB and goes up to 20TB. Though the Western Digital Greenish drive inside each My Book still spins at 5,400 rpm, the drives include Western Digital's backup utility, making them better for big, local backups rather than convenient file transfers.
That's where the Elements drives shine. For a solid amount of storage at a good price, choosing an Elements bulldoze is defensible. Based on the range, the 2TB model offers the best residue of toll and performance, with the 1TB model being too expensive per gigabyte of storage and the 3TB and 4TB models performing poorly when loaded with data.
Speed & Performance
We use multiple tools for testing the speed and performance of external difficult drives. All the tools we use for testing are independent — meaning utilities such equally Seagate SeaTools are off the table — and we perform our tests immediately after receiving the drive.
| Seq Read | Seq Write | Random Read | Random Write | 2.3 GB Transfer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Digital Elements | ||||
| 131.3 MB/southward | 127.7 MB/s | 0.552 MB/s | x.11 MB/s | 26.8 sec. |
Starting with speed, we ran the drive through CrystalDiskMark using five passes and a 4GB test file. The results were skillful, at to the lowest degree for USB iii.0, but the interface is starting to evidence age. Compared to the Samsung T5 drive, which is solid state and transfers data over USB iii.1, in that location's no competition (read our Samsung T5 review).
We also copied a 2.3GB test folder that was filled with videos, photos and music to the drive. It was surprisingly resilient, hovering around 100 megabytes per 2d for well-nigh of the transfer. In total, the transfer took 26.8 seconds.
Next, we moved onto fault testing, starting with CrystalDiskInfo. The wellness status of the bulldoze was "good," which should be expected from a deejay that's brand new. Equally a preliminary test, CrystalDiskInfo is fine, only we wanted to brand sure that all the nooks and crannies of the drive were fine, also.
With the "chkdsk" utility on Windows, nosotros used the "/r" command to bank check for bad sectors on the drive. The procedure, which took merely under 3 hours, resulted in no errors. The drive thoroughly scanned for bad sectors and, thankfully, nothing came upwards.
That said, it'south worth noting that whatsoever spinning bulldoze will somewhen neglect. The small size of the Elements drives makes that more likely, likewise. Though still a great way to get a lot of storage for cheap, something similar the Yard-Drive volition hold up longer (read our Thou-Technology G-Bulldoze review).
Warranty & Support
Similar well-nigh of Western Digital's products, at that place'south a express warranty with your Elements drive. In this case, you go two years from the date of purchase to file for a repair or replacement, but as with nigh all limited warranties, damage you inflict on the bulldoze isn't covered.
Additionally, there'south a support section on the website that shows FAQs for each particular drive. Yous'll find troubleshooting steps for your Os non recognizing the drive and information technology being inaccessible, as well as guides for partition and formatting the drive on Windows and macOS.
If yous'd like to speak to someone most your bulldoze, you tin can call Western Digital free of charge. Later the outset call, y'all go 30 days to make as many calls equally you want, merely after that period, you're out of luck.
The Verdict
Western Digital says everything you need to know in the proper noun of this bulldoze. Elements drives are meant to provide portable, inexpensive storage, and for that, they succeed. That said, if you're looking for more bells and whistles or quicker speed, you won't detect them.
Instead, y'all'll detect a drive that's ideal for storing documents and media but struggles when it comes to taking information technology on the go. The drive size is fine, but the fact that it'due south a spinning disk is concerning. If you're looking for solid state options or just desire to shop around more than, read our other external hard bulldoze reviews.
What do you lot think of the Elements drives? Let u.s. know in the comments below and, as e'er, thanks for reading.
Western Digital Elements FAQ
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The Western Digital Elements drive contains two sections that snap together. You can pry the enclosure open using a thin screwdriver. Doing so volition void your warranty and probable harm the drive, though, so it's not recommended.
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The Elements drives don't include a fill-in tool. If you want to fill-in the drive, you'll demand to utilize a third-political party service, such as Backblaze.
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The Western Digital Elements drives spin at 5,400 rpm.
Source: https://www.cloudwards.net/western-digital-elements-review/
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