Seagate’s new portable hard drives can keep your data safe on the move

According to hard drive manufacturer Seagate, the data we generate and need to store is set to increase more than five-fold in the next five years so the need for reliable storage has never been greater.

Seagate is answering the call with its new line-up of portable hard drives that are both small and sleek and yet boasting even higher capacities to keep your movies, music, photos and other files safe and sound.

Tech Guide took a look at the Seagate Backup Plus Portable Drive and the Backup Plus Ultra Touch.

SEAGATE BACKUP PLUS PORTABLE DRIVE – available in 4TB ($189) and 5TB ($239)

With this drive you get the best of both worlds – high capacity and portability – with up to twice the storage of comparable 2.5-inch portable drives.

The drive offers USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 connectivity and draws its power from your PC or Mac so there is no need for an external power supply.

It’s even possible to use the drive between a Mac and PC interchangeably without the need for reformatting.

Also on board is the Seagate Dashboard software which allows users to run  a one click backup or schedule an automatic backup.

You can also install the free Seagate Mobile Backup app on an iOS or Android device to create a backup of all the pictures and videos from your device to your external drive all the cloud.

The drive is available in black, blue, silver and red.

SEAGATE BACKUP PLUS ULTRA TOUCH – available in 1TB ($109) and 2TB ($139)

This ultra-slim drive has a nice tactile feel thanks to the textile panel on the front of the product.

Seagate Ultra Touch is compatible with both Mac and PC right out of the box without the need for formatting.

It can connect via USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 but also comes with a handy adapter to allow users to connect it to a USB-C port as well.

It’s also possible to secure your data with an advanced password protection and 256-AES hardware encryption – the same protection used by the US government and global intelligence agencies.

The Seagate portable drives are available now from JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, Bing Lee, Officeworks, Big W and Target.