Portable hard drives are kind of hard to write about. For the most part, if they store your data, that’s fine. How do you differentiate in an extremely crowded market?
All photos from Seagate.
To start with, be Seagate. As someone who rebuilds a lot of laptops, I’m very picky about the hard disk brands I will use. Seagate is one of my go-to ones. I simply find that their drives last longer. It helps that they chose a fun, textured design that stands out. I generally have at least two other portable drives in my bag. With the Ultra Slim Backup Plus’s unique patterned chassis, I can actually find it by feel. If you’re the kind of person who might need more than one, it comes in different colors (platinum and gold).
It helps that it is also the thinnest one I’ve used–ever. It’s just as easy to slip in my back pocket as into my bag and forget it’s there. It’s also crazy light. The drive is fast and responsive (I don’t do speed tests, sorry), which is always a plus.
I never use the setup tools on a portable hard disk; I usually delete them. Still, I want to note that Seagate bundles a setup app for both MacOs and Windows. This app includes Lyve, a tool for getting all your photos from all your sources to one place. Impressive. My drive also came with an additional 200 GB of OneDrive space for two years, a nice perk.
Also impressive is the price. Right now on Amazon you can get the 1 TB drive for $69.75. Although once you’re there, the 2 TB is only $99.99 (a thirty dollar savings). Note that both drives are equally thin, and a hell of a lot thinner than the typical portable drive of that size.
Good features, fair pricing, and solid hardware make the Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Slim much more than just a head-turner. Yet even those unique looks lend to the usability, not just style.
I rate this a strong “buy” for anyone who needs on the go storage, especially students.
Seagate was kind enough to provide a review unit. I have named it Kevin. We’re very happy together.
