best 4TB external hard drive

Rank #1 in Best 4TB External Hard Drive 2026: 9 Ranked, Specs Compared

Seagate One Touch 4TB Portable Hard Drive

£155.21 4.6 from 3,874 Amazon ratings
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Price and rating as shown on Amazon when we collected them. Both change.

The Seagate One Touch 4TB is the portable drive that takes the top spot in this guide, and at £155.21 it is one of the dearest of the nine — the same 4TB of space is sold here for anything between £89.91 and £169.94. It is a 2.5-inch brushed metal portable on USB 3.0, spinning at 5400 RPM, weighing 268 g, and it carries a 4.6 rating from 3,874 reviews.

The numbers on this listing do not all agree with one another. Cache memory is given as 4 TB, which is the drive's own storage capacity, so the two fields carry the same figure. The data transfer rate is quoted at 480 Megabits Per Second — the USB 2.0 ceiling — on a drive whose hard disk interface is listed as USB 3.0. Read speed is given as 120 Megabytes Per Second, and a separate 'media speed' field reads '100 megabytes per second ou plus', which looks pasted in from another language. Even the product's own customer reviews are not all about this capacity: the top one describes a 5TB One Touch. Everything on this page is taken from the Amazon listing, not from any test of our own.

How those 3,874 ratings break down

An average hides its own shape. This is the spread behind the 4.6 stars.

5 star
79%
4 star
13%
3 star
4%
2 star
1%
1 star
3%

Specification

Exactly as published on the Amazon listing, field for field.

Price £155.21
Rating 4.6 out of 5 from 3,874 ratings
Digital storage capacity 4 TB
Cache memory installed size (as listed) 4 TB — the same figure as the drive's own capacity
Data transfer rate (as listed) 480 Megabits Per Second, the USB 2.0 ceiling, on a USB 3.0 interface
Read speed 120 Megabytes Per Second
Hard disk rotational speed 5400 RPM
Form factor (as listed) 'Portable.' with a full stop; listed separately as 2.5 Inches

What buyers actually say

Quoted from customer reviews on Amazon

Verified purchase

“The Seagate One Touch 5TB External Hard Drive is an excellent combination of performance, portability, and reliability. The space gray finish gives it a modern premium appearance, while the slim lightweight design makes it easy to carry anywhere. Setting it up was quick and simple on both PC and Mac, and the drive was recognized instantly without any issues. The 5TB capacity provides more than enough room for photos, videos, documents, and backups, making it perfect for both personal and professional use. I also appreciate the password-protected hardware encryption, which adds an extra layer of security for important files. A stylish and dependable storage solution overall.”

John
Verified purchase

“Buying a Seagate drive is always a no-brainer for reliable storage. I bought this 4TB One Touch specifically to use as a Time Machine backup for my Mac, and it works perfectly. You just have to do a quick erase/reformat in Mac's Disk Utility first so Time Machine can recognize it. Once that is done, the automatic backups run smoothly in the background. The built-in password hardware encryption also gives great peace of mind for keeping personal data secure. It's a slim, high-capacity, and dependable drive that does exactly what it needs to do.”

pigpig

What it is up against

The rivals it was ranked against in Best 4TB External Hard Drive 2026: 9 Ranked, Specs Compared.

Questions people ask

How much does the Seagate One Touch 4TB cost?

The listing price is £155.21, near the top of the £89.91 to £169.94 range the nine 4TB drives in this guide sell for.

Does the Seagate One Touch need reformatting for a Mac?

The listing describes it as an on-the-go USB drive for Windows and Mac, and says reformatting may be required for use with Time Machine.

What read speed does the Seagate One Touch 4TB list?

The listing gives a read speed of 120 Megabytes Per Second from a 5400 RPM mechanism, with a separate media speed field of '100 megabytes per second ou plus'.

Is 4 TB the cache size of the Seagate One Touch?

No. 4 TB is the drive's storage capacity. The listing separately gives Cache Memory Installed Size as 4 TB, so both fields carry the same number.

What transfer rate does the Seagate One Touch 4TB quote?

480 Megabits Per Second, while its hard disk interface is listed as USB 3.0 and its hardware connectivity as USB, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0.

What comes with the Seagate One Touch 4TB?

A two-year limited warranty, a two-year Rescue Data Recovery Service plan, one year of Mylio Create and four months of Adobe Creative Cloud Photography, redeemable within a year of registration.

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