WD My Passport

Ranked #1 in Hard Drives

964 LP on the category ladder what's LP?

Excellent portability and price per terabyte.

Consolidated from 29 cited sources across 27 outlets

Where the cited sources landed, as we read them

2 enthusiastic sources
20 positive sources
6 mixed sources
1 unconvinced source

See the sources

Check price

Pros & cons

✓ Compact, lightweight design
✓ Good transfer speeds for a portable drive
✓ Affordable
✓ Built-in automatic backup
✓ Reliable performance

✗ Limited to 5-year warranty on some models
✗ No built-in encryption in older versions

The sources behind this ranking

We searched the web and YouTube for what has been published about this product, then read the articles, video transcripts and comments we found.

Evidence 15 articles, 10 video reviews and 4 community sources

2 enthusiastic sources

Handy Recovery Advisor Stefan Ionescu, Roman Demian · reviewer · Dec 2021

Need to recover data from a WD My Passport? Stop searching. Our team sees this question pop up constantly, even in our own community threads . Since we’ve dealt with more drive recovery cases than we can count (WD My Passport included), we figured it was time to put together a straight-to-the-point guide. Just what actually works. Give this a couple minutes and you’ll know exactly what to do next.

Read V

Vivid Repairs Vivid Repairs · reviewer · Feb 2026

The WD My Passport line comes in multiple capacities, and the 6TB version is the flagship. The fact that it's the world's first 6TB 2.5-inch portable drive means there's a novelty premium built into the price. At this capacity in the portable HDD category, there's genuinely nothing else on the market doing the same thing in the same form factor, which gives WD some pricing power.

Read

20 positive sources

Gizmodo Zainab Falak · reviewer · Aug 2026

All things considered, if you’re after a spacious storage solution that offers wide compatibility and safeguards your data, the 5TB WD My Passport drive is an excellent option to consider. The 5TB capacity here is massive, and you won’t need to invest in another storage solution anytime soon! You can grab the drive for $230 at Amazon right now, instead of paying the full $285 price. Shipping is free, so this is all you have to pay right now.

Read G

Gauging Gadgets Gauging Gadgets · 632K subscribers · Nov 2020

In my testing my read speed was 795 MB/s and write was 917 MB/s.

Watch M

MiniTool Shirley · reviewer · May 2024

WD My Passport is a reliable, high-performance, and easy-to-carry portable storage device manufactured by Western Digital. It combines high performance, strong durability, password protection, hardware encryption, and other functions into one, and is highly praised in the external storage device market. However, when utilizing it, you may face the problem of “WD My Passport access denied”, as experienced by the user mentioned below.

Read T

Tech YES City Tech YES City · 626K subscribers · Dec 2020

WD My Passport SSD is a special drive, designed to take 2 meter falls, be rugged, sturdy and provide FULL USB 3.2 (1GB/S) transfers, it definitely is a very solid offering for someone who wants it all. Even someone who wants a mobile drive between stationary desktops as a main OS drive.

Watch M

MDrepairs MDrepairs · reviewer · Feb 2026

These portable drives are reliable for everyday use, but like all complex electromechanical devices, they are susceptible to failure. Based on thousands of cases handled in our data recovery laboratory, nearly every WD My Passport failure can be classified into one of four categories: mechanical, electrical, firmware, or logical. Correctly identifying the failure mode is the first step in preventing permanent data loss.

Read L

Lon.TV Lon.TV · 412K subscribers · Dec 2014

In short, this is a great drive at a reasonable price.

Watch I Instagram Instagram post

The WD My Passport 5TB is a spinning hard drive, not an SSD, and that's worth knowing upfront because it shapes what you get: enormous portable capacity in something jacket-pocket sized, bus-powered over USB so there's no mains adapter to carry, with 256-bit AES encryption and scheduled backup software included in the box. Over 104,000 owners have reviewed it, and WD backs it with a three-year warranty.

View post R

RevAtlas RevAtlas · 108K subscribers · Dec 2017

Packing in a lot of storage in a tiny form factor, this high performing drive seems like the answer to your storage needs.

Watch P

PCWorld PCWorld · reviewer · Jul 2022

For starters, the WD My Passport, Works with USB-C offers a ton of capacity — up to 6TB — and at a far more affordable price per terabyte than one can get from an SSD (a little less than $30/TB versus $60 to $80 for the latter). This makes the WD My Passport a natural fit for backup, particularly during off hours when an SSD’s superior speed won’t really save you any time.

Read S

SpookyFairy SpookyFairy · 33.6K subscribers · Aug 2024

Overall, a quiet, relatively compact and fast drive for any use with an affordable price tag.

Watch F Facebook Facebook post

Take your data wherever you go with the WD My Passport Portable Hard Drive! 💾✨ Reliable, secure, and built for everyday use with automatic backup, password protection, and high-speed USB 3.2 connectivity. Available now in 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 5TB capacities. Get yours today at Smartek Kuwait! 📍 Visit our store or contact us for the best deals.

View post B

Byte of Geek Byte of Geek · 14.7K subscribers · Dec 2020

This WD My Passport SSD 500GB drive is great for transferring images from your camera whilst you're on the go or maybe holding thousands of songs for playing in your car.

Watch H

Havecamerawilltravel Article

While it lacks the high-speed benchmarks of newer SSD models, its built-in SD slot and wireless app support make it a versatile hybrid for travel. I’ve updated this guide with real-world transfer speeds and battery performance data.

Read F

Franklin Reid Franklin Reid · 7.6K subscribers · Aug 2019

A fast super durable portable SSD with a few unique features that will be sure to turn heads.

Watch S

Stellar Data Recovery India Stellar Data Recovery India · reviewer · Aug 2026

WD Elements ships without any backup or security software, while My Passport includes four tools covering backup scheduling, encryption management, cloud content import, and drive health monitoring.

Read W

WISE MAN WISE MAN · 4.3K subscribers · Oct 2025

So it's quite sleek smooth surface.

Watch K

Kotaku Mike Fazioli · reviewer · Dec 2025

The WD My Passport 5TB portable external hard drive — the world’s first 5TB 2.5-inch drive — checks all those boxes, and it’s a great Cyber Week find at just $121 at Amazon.

Read P

PC HUB PC HUB · 1.6K subscribers · May 2026

Discover why this drive remains a staple accessory for any PC setup!

Watch T

Tonfotos Vitaly · reviewer · Apr 2026

WD My Passport combines compact size, reliability, and affordability. It's suitable for both beginners and experienced photographers.

Read E

EaseUS Article · Jun 2026

Generally speaking, WD My Passport is a better choice . But you can choose one based on your own needs.

Read

6 mixed sources

D r/DataHoarder u/AnonymousYTer · owner

I purchased this a few days ago and it's running fine. I managed to copy all my important files over to back it up. However, after reading countless Reddit threads about its defective issues, I started to question whether I made the same mistake as before. Is this Barracuda 2.0? Is WD Passport really as bad as people say it is? I'm trying to look for some long term backup storage for my old videos, photos, and files. I don't plan on plugging this 24/7 unlike many people.

Read thread D r/DataHoarder u/Dreamboy1209 · owner

After hearing mixed reviews about WD my passport 5tb HD, i am a bit nervous and doubt if i made the right choice. My task is simple, to store all my data at a reliable place. Seagate is good but i found WD little cheaper. I wont be using my HD everyday anyways. Is my decision okay. Some say WD has issues, some say seagate is problematic.

Read thread T

TechGearLab Aspen Rain Weaver · reviewer · Oct 2025

Despite its phenomenally small footprint, this hyper-light hard drive fell in the ranks due to its lack of water, dust, or drop protection, which can leave it vulnerable to a spilled beverage or accidental impact. Overall, this sleek hard drive scored middle of the pack in our portability metric.

Read H

Home Office Research Article

Bottom line on performance: Quick enough for any everyday task and rated at the Gen 2 ceiling, but sustained-write consistency trails the best drives in this tier. A backup-and-files drive, not a heavy-throughput workhorse.

Read M

MiniTool Vega · reviewer · Jul 2021

WD My Passport is better if you need password protection, hardware encryption, and bundled backup tools. WD Elements is a better choice if you only need affordable extra storage.

Read S

Stellardatarecovery Kees Jan Meerman · reviewer

While Western Digital’s hard drives offer excellent value for money, they are not immune to defects or failure.

Read

1 unconvinced source

Critical Reviews Critical Reviews · 13.6K subscribers · Nov 2024

In this critical review, we dive deep into the major pitfalls of the WD My Passport 4TB external hard drive. While it sounds great on paper, we uncover 7 compelling reasons why it might not be the storage solution you think it is.

Watch

Frequently asked questions

It ranks #1 of 18 on our hard drives tier list, in S tier. That placement draws on 29 cited sources across 27 outlets.

1 of the 29 sources with a clear view is critical of it: Critical Reviews. Limited to 5-year warranty on some models. No built-in encryption in older versions.