Toshiba Canvio Flex 2TB

£63.99 FROM toshiba-storage.com

This silver and white slimline drive surprised us with its turn of speed, proving consistently the fastest on test, whether using Mac OS Extended or APFS drive formats.

Its average read/write performance was an impressive 115/113MB/sec, with an inner read speed of 81MB/sec, and an outer read speed of 149MB/sec, or around half that of an ordinary SSD.

These speeds were fast enough for us to install Monterey and boot a Mac Studio from it. Although that took 100 seconds instead of

the 40 expected from an external SATA SSD, it should be fine for occasional use.

The drive’s USB-B socket is supported by two cables for USB-C and A, making it easy to connect your Mac; though plugging the cable into its socket was fussy at first, that quickly eased. Its activity light is designed into a corner so it easy to see.

Available in capacities from 1TB to 4TB.

VERDICT

The fastest by far on test Low cost

USB-C and USB-A cables Well-designed activity light