• Western Digital has launched a new desktop storage solution in the SanDisk Desk Drive.
• The portable storage solution is available in both 4TB and 8TB flavours.
• The drive features read speed of up to 1GB/s provided you’re using a computer with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port.

This week, Western Digital revealed a new product in its SanDisk range and if you need a lot of external storage, this may be the product for you.

The SanDisk Desk Drive comes in a 4TB variant and a gargantuan 8TB variant as well. The read speeds clock up to 1 000MB/s making it an ideal solution for those working on CAD files, training AI models or just folks with a large media library.

What’s most impressive in the size. Measuring just 10cm x 4cm, the Desk Drive is incredibly small and can easily slip into a laptop bag or even your pocket in a pinch. Western Digital claims that the Desk Drive can be used in applications that demand fast write speeds including 3D rendering. That will of course depend on what sort of port the drive is plugged into.

To take full advantage of the 1GB/s speed you will need a PC with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port. That may prove to be a problem for those running older hardware as they won’t be able to take advantage of the high-speeds.

While it is portable, the Desk Drive does require additional power so keep that in mind.

The drive will of course work for both Windows and macOS and Acronis True Image can be used to sync backups.

“As digital content creation continues to soar, there is an increasing need for high-performing and high-capacity storage solutions to help manage and preserve it. Expanding our SSD portfolio is the first step in offering creators backup solutions that deliver the speed and flexibility they need to unlock their creativity,” says Susan Park, vice president of consumer solutions at Western Digital.

The firm says that by next year it expects to introduce a 16TB storage solution on a single desktop SSD.

While the SanDisk Desk Drive is available in the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, the drives will only be coming to South Africa later this year.

US pricing sits at $379.99 for the 4TB and $699.99 for the 8TB version. That converts directly to R6 996 and R12 887 respectively but we’re accounting for import and other fees involved in getting the product into South Africa.

However, looking at similar products, the Samsung T5 EVO 8TB retails for R15 499 so hopefully SanDisk’s solution comes in at a lower price or the same price.