# WD 2TB Elements AE Portable External Hard Drive

Source: https://www.ranked10.co.uk/tech/best-2tb-external-hard-drives/wd-elements-2tb-portable-9p6t
Ranked #6 in "Best 2TB External Hard Drive: 8 Ranked, and the Speeds That Don't Add Up": https://www.ranked10.co.uk/tech/best-2tb-external-hard-drives

- Price: £104.99 (checked on Amazon UK on 2026-09-18)
- Amazon rating: 4.3 from 1,008 ratings
- Buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FLY49P6T?tag=ranked10-21

The WD 2TB Elements AE is a 2.5-inch portable hard drive from Western Digital, priced at £104.99 and sitting sixth in this guide. It is a plug-and-play unit formatted for Windows, rated 4.3 out of 5 from 1,008 Amazon ratings, and it arrives with backup software that you download separately and schedule hourly, daily or monthly. Western Digital lists it under model number WDBD2B0020BBK-WESN.

What the listing cannot agree with itself about is capacity and speed. The title and the capacity fields say 2TB; a bullet on the same page advertises "up to 6TB capacity". The only transfer figure given anywhere is a Data Transfer Rate of 5 Gigabits Per Second — that is the USB 3.2 Gen 1 bus, roughly 625 MB/s — while the same listing describes the drive as a Mechanical Hard Disk in a 2.5-inch form factor, a spinning platter that will not come close to that. Two further fields sit awkwardly beside the copy: Enclosure Material reads "Aluminum/Glass" while the bullet text says the enclosure is over 50% post-consumer recycled plastic, and the colour field reads "Version 2025", which is not a colour. Everything on this page comes from the Amazon listing for this drive — its price, its specs, its ratings. We have not benchmarked it, opened it or timed a file transfer, so where the advert gives two answers we show you both.

## Specification

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Price | £104.99 |
| Rating | 4.3 out of 5 from 1,008 ratings |
| Data Transfer Rate | 5 Gigabits Per Second (as listed) |
| Hard Disk Description | Mechanical Hard Disk |
| Hard Disk Form Factor | 2.5 Inches |
| Digital Storage Capacity | 2 TB |
| Capacity quoted in bullet text | "up to 6TB" (as listed) |
| Enclosure Material | Aluminum/Glass (as listed; bullet text says over 50% recycled plastic) |

## Questions people ask

**What transfer speed does this WD Elements drive actually run at?**

The listing gives no read or write speed for the disk itself. Its only figure is a Data Transfer Rate of 5 Gigabits Per Second, which describes USB 3.2 Gen 1, roughly 625 MB/s, while the drive is listed as a Mechanical Hard Disk in a 2.5-inch form factor.

**How much can this drive hold?**

The listing is for the 2TB version at £104.99, and the storage capacity and hard-drive size fields both say 2 TB. The bullet text mentioning "up to 6TB capacity" describes the range across the WD Elements family rather than this drive.

**Will it work with a games console?**

The listing names Microsoft Xbox One, Xbox One S, Xbox One X, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, Switch OLED, Switch 2, Switch Lite, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, PlayStation 4 Slim and PlayStation 5 among its compatible video game console models.

**Is the case metal or plastic?**

The listing carries both answers. The Enclosure Material field says "Aluminum/Glass"; the bullet text says the enclosure is composed of more than 50% post-consumer recycled plastic, with packaging from over 50% recycled pulp.

**Do I need to install anything to use it?**

No software is needed to store files — Western Digital describes it as plug-and-play and formatted for Windows. The backup software is a separate download: plug in the drive, then set an hourly, daily or monthly schedule.

**How is it rated by buyers?**

4.3 out of 5 from 1,008 ratings. Be aware the star breakdown shown with the listing adds up to 100 ratings rather than 1,008, so treat that split with some care.