When someone mentions portable hard drive, this is what most people imagine –
A black box with a USB cable attached to it!
But, thankfully Western Digital has saved us from the already dull PC Peripherals by launching storage solutions that are colourful. In the past, we have seen WD launch portable HDD’s in variety of colours –
These disks were a welcome change but essentially had the same design. In 2017, we have witnessed laptops coming in multiple colours. Even the legendary ThinkPad now comes in a colour other than Black.
I believe, WD had a daunting task on its shoulders about how to make the storage devices millennial-friendly? Adding a dash of colour was clearly not the solution any longer. A complete overhaul was what the industry needed and that’s exactly what WD did by launching the WD My Passport 2016(Globally) and 2017 (India) variant. Not only it’s a completely redesigned product but also comes in huge storage options and a plethora of colours.
Isn’t it wow? At least, I felt so! The dual texture design and those peppy colours are simply a breath of fresh air. I really want to buy all the colours and then colour code them according to storage data types. This is how I plan to do it –
- Black – DSLR Videos
- Red – Movies
- Silver – Photos
- Blue – Music
- Orange – Phone Backup
- Yellow – PC/Mac Backups
Now, isn’t that one of the coolest things you can do with a collection of drives? But for now, I got the Red coloured 2TB variant for review. So let’s start with the review –
Box Contents
- My Passport hard drive
- USB 3.0 cable
- WD Backup™, WD Security™ and WD Drive Utilities™ software
- Quick install guide
Design
The latest My Passport drives definitely have one of the best designs we have seen on a portable storage device. It’s compact but at the same time, the boxy dimensions give a solid feel when you hold. Talking about the dimensions it’s only 0.85 inch by 3.21 inches by 4.33 inches (21.5×81.5x110mm) and weighs 130g.
The dual texture design comes in six vivid colour options: black, yellow, red, white, orange and blue, each with a matching USB cable. Yes, WD was thoughtful enough to provide a colour matching USB cable for each device. These small details are what makes a difference to most people.
To keep the drive handy and give it a good grip, it has lines running across the bottom half and the top half is all the sheen. The USB port is on the top of the drive where you can connect the USB 3.0 cable. Right next to it is the power/activity light to notify the status of the device.
Features
Auto Backup
These drives come with WD Backup software that automatically backs up photos, videos, music and documents. Users can set it to your schedule by picking up the time and frequency.
Password Protection
Apart from WD Backup software, the drive also has WD Security software included for built-in 256-bit AES Hardware Encryption to keep all your content private and safe. You can also setup your contact info (return-if-found) as a prompt for incorrect password attempts or suspicious activity.
WD Reliability
WD is known for durability, shock tolerance and long-term reliability so 3-year warranty comes as standard.
Also Read – WD My Cloud Pro Series PR4100 NAS – The Unbiased Review
Performance
The drive not only looks good but also performs well. Its write speeds are apt for someone looking for high-capacity drives at a reasonable price.
Sequential read/write speeds were 114.3/114.1MB/s respectively, with its 4KB benchmark reaching 0.5/1.4MB/s. It’s very similar to the other two drives own WD My Passport Ultra and the Seagate Backup Plus Slim.
The Unbiased Verdict
If you are looking for something vivid and a lot of storage then the WD My Passport is the drive to go for. And, if you are convinced by my idea of colour coding the drives according to the content type then you are a genius. Go get the whole collection 😀
For people who have the latest Macbook Pro, Macbook or a notebook that only has USB Type-C ports, then you will have to look somewhere else. If you are looking for a compact option, then the WD My Passport Ultra and the Seagate Backup Plus Slim drive are amazing devices.
Lastly, if you need blazing fast transfer speeds then go for an SSD drive.
So, that was our unbiased review of the WD My Passport 2016/17 drive. Please share your opinion or queries about the device in the comments section below or tweet to us @theunbiasedblog
