Western Digital My Passport 6TB HDD Review: Sturdy, spacious and secure

The My Passport is part of the new 6TB HDD lineup unveiled by Western Digital and SanDisk earlier this year. Notably, this is the highest storage capacity offered in an external hard drive at this point. The last major leap in portable drive capacity came in 2016, when the first-ever 5TB portable drives were launched. Strangely enough, there had been no progress on that front for years — until now.

As someone who frequently switches between smartphones, tablets, and other gadgets, transferring data between devices is one of the biggest challenges I face. That’s precisely why I was curious to test out the newly launched WD My Passport (6TB) HDD to see if it could solve some of my data transfer woes. I used the My Passport (6TB) HDD for around a month, and here’s my take on the new drive.

Design:

Inside the WD My Passport box, you get a USB-A to USB Micro-B connector. There’s also a USB-C adapter bundled with the device to help with connectivity on smartphones and tablets.

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While the new My Passport does reinforce the perception that hard drives are bulky, you’ll soon gain an appreciation for the product when you realize that this 210g device offers a massive 6TB of storage.

In terms of dimensions, the drive has a thickness of 0.81cm, a length of 4.2 inches and a width of 2.95 inches. To give you a clearer picture, here’s a side-by-side comparison of the new WD My Passport next to the Indian passport (no pun intended, I promise).

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In terms of grip, the new My Passport actually inspires a bit of confidence with its smooth plastic finish on the front, with the trademark WD logo at the top and diagonal lines running down the middle. The drive isn’t as easy to fully grip with one hand as some of its predecessors, but I had no trouble carrying it in my backpack. I also feel pretty safe carrying the My Passport HDD in my waist bag during those long vacations.

However, there are two major drawbacks to the design. First, the front plastic tends to get scratched and smudged easily, which doesn’t leave the best impression for a device costing around ₹15,000. Second, while the My Passport comes in four color options (white, red, blue and black), only the top lid is customizable, while the bottom dark grayish cover remains the same for all colourways.

Functionality:

While I personally don’t know too many people who would fill a hard drive with 5TB of storage, if you are one of those people, you can now get an extra 1TB of space with the new My Passport drive. After plugging in the drive, you get an actual usable space of 5.45TB that can be used for photos, videos, software, games, music and you get the idea.

As an HDD, the My Passport doesn’t offer blazing speeds like SSDs, but Western Digital claims a transfer speed of up to 5Gbps with this drive, which should be enough for most users.

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The drive comes pre-formatted in NTFS, so you won’t need any additional software to use it with a Windows laptop. However, MacBook users may have to jump through a few hoops to set it up for the first time.

The My Passport drive comes with a bundled installer for Windows and Mac that includes support for three additional softwares. The standout for me is the ability to password protect data on the drive with 256-bit AES hardware encryption, one of the most secure encryption methods available. Another useful addition is the Acronis True Image software, which can back up your Windows or even another storage drive.

For people who plan to primarily back up data from their smartphones and tablets, I’m happy to report that the drive is ready for use with most phones out there using the USB-C adapter included in the box. For the few smartphones that didn’t support the drive by default, I was able to get it to work by formatting the drive directly from the handset.

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In nearly a month of use, I haven’t encountered any functional problems with the drive. There’s a bit of vibration when the drive is in use, but it’s not accompanied by any unusual sounds, making for a quiet and smooth experience.

That said, one thing I didn’t like about the My Passport is that Western Digital is still using a Micro-B port, which feels outdated for a drive coming out in 2024.This choice could theoretically limit speeds and I hope WD considers upgrading to a USB-A (ideally USB-C) port in the next generation.

Verdict:

Priced at ₹15,499, the WD My Passport 6TB HDD offers an attractive design, ample storage, additional security with 256-bit AES hardware encryption, and the convenience of system backups with Acronis True Image software.

However, the product does have a few downsides, including the older USB Micro-B port and limited customization options for the bottom half of the drive. Despite these shortcomings, I believe the latest My Passport HDD from Western Digital is a compelling choice for anyone looking for an external drive around the ₹15,000 price range.

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Published: 16 Nov 2024, 12:57 AM IST