external ssd black friday 2020

If you're looking for a new external hard drive, flash drive, or memory card, Cyber Monday is the perfect time to shop for yourself or buy a gift for someone who needs a storage upgrade.

2020 is actually drawing to a close, believe it or not, and that means it's time to start planning for the holidays. With COVID-19 still surging across the globe, many people are likely rethinking their end-of-the-year plans up to and including shopping in a brick-and-mortar for holiday gifts.

If you're getting ready to shop for Cyber Monday deals online, look no further: Here are great prices on external storage devices. Disclaimer: Prices are subject to change, and quantities are limited.

Samsung T7 Touch Portable SSD

Image: Amazon

This portable SSD from Samsung has a unique security feature that is ideal for anyone transporting sensitive files or data: A built-in fingerprint reader. Instead of needing to type your password to unlock encrypted files, all you need to do with the T7 SSD is touch it. Three models are on sale for Black Friday: 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB, so you have your pick. The pricing here is for the 1TB model.

$170 at Amazon

Netac micro SD card

Image: Amazon

Micro SD cards are essential for creatives using cameras, sound equipment, and other media hardware; unfortunately, micro SD cards can get really expensive, making any deal on higher-capacity cards worth it. This 512GB card from Netac is a great price for those looking to stock up on micro SD cards this holiday season.

Deals for other Netac micro SD cards are included on the Amazon page for this product; this deal applies only to the 512GB model.

$77 at Amazon

Western Digital easystore

Image: Best Buy

Not all external storage needs to be ultra-portable--sometimes it just needs to be big. If you're looking for quantity first, be sure to check out this deal on the 14TB Western Digital easystore. This device offers 14x the storage of the Samsung T7 mentioned above--and at a lower price. If you don't plan to take your external drive everywhere you go, this is a solid choice.

This deal is for the 14TB model only.

$260 at Best Buy

Western Digital My Passport

Image: Best Buy

This 1TB external SSD is one of the newer models from Western Digital--it supports USB 3.2 gen 2 with speeds of up to 10Gbps. Those speeds mean it's a USB-C drive, so those with older computers using it with the included USB-A adapter shouldn't necessarily expect to top out on transfer speed.

This deal is for the 1TB blue version of the My Passport drive.

$140 at Best Buy

Seagate Expansion Desktop

Image: Amazon

Like the easystore, this Seagate drive is meant to be set up and left in place. It's definitely portable, but that's not it's primary role--it's designed to provide lots of storage at a cheaper price. This particular model is 10TB—more than enough space to store media and other large work files.

This deal specifically applies to the 10TB, black, desktop HDD model.

$165 at Amazon

SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD [out of stock]

SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD

Image: Amazon

I may be biased in recommending this 1TB SSD because I have this model--it works great. I use it to run games since my MacBook Air SSD is only 120GB, and I don't experience any lag times or other issues. The SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD is also ruggedized to handle a 2 meter drop or IP55 conditions, meaning it will keep on going even in less-than-optimal conditions.

This deal applies to the 1TB model only.

$140 at Amazon

Seagate One Touch external HDD

Image: Amazon

You'll probably have trouble finding this much storage space for so low a price, especially in a portable form factor like the Seagate One Touch. The key to this deal is that this isn't a solid-state disk: It's a standard spinning hard drive. So, it's a great deal, but only for some professionals. If you work outdoors, are constantly on the go, or need to write/read large files quickly, you're probably better off spending more for an SSD.

This deal specifically applies to the 2TB, silver, HDD model.

$58 at Amazon

ROKHY extreme portable mini SSD

Image: Amazon

At right around the same size as your average USB flash drive, this 1TB SSD is ultra portable and comes with both a USB-A and USB-C port. Data transfer speeds for this disk are a bit slower than top-of-the-line (500Mbps read/write), but the reason you'd buy it is so you can stick 1TB of storage on your keychain.

This deal applies to both the silver and space grey 1TB USB-C models.

$152 at Amazon

RAVPower portable external SSD Pro [deal is expired]

RAVPower portable external SSD Pro

Image: Amazon

This candy bar-sized drive holds 1TB, but its coolest feature is how it's built. Encased in a zinc-aluminum alloy, RAVPower claims the case is designed to act as a giant heat sink, which addresses one of the most common problems with portable SSDs: They can get hot.

$136 at Amazon

Western Digital My Passport Go [out of stock]

Western Digital My Passport Go

Image: Amazon

This Western Digital portable SSD has two neat features that make it worth a look: It's coated in shock-resistant rubber and has a built-in USB-A cable. It's a slightly older model than the My Passport drive listed above, so write speeds will be a bit slower and USB-C isn't standard, but it's a great deal for those looking for a rugged drive at a good price.

This deal only applies to the 1TB amber-colored model.

$120 at Amazon