Seagate Backup Plus STDA4000100 4TB External Portable HDD Review

Seagate's impressive little Backup Plus 4TB is one of the only drives of this capacity in the small 2.5' form factor. And it performs well, too.

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Updated
Manufacturer: Seagate
2 minutes & 52 seconds read time
TweakTown's Rating: 90%
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The Bottom Line

Seagate's Backup Plus 4TB has the performance, capacity, and flexibility any consumer would want for backing up their data.
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External hard drives are nothing new in today's market. With that said, the small form factor 2.5" has started to shift into high capacity solutions. For the longest time, it appeared 1TB was the capacity plateau, until late last year into early 2015 when Toshiba launched its first 2TB 2.5" HDD that we found in several products from ADATA. Now, just a few months later, Seagate has passed the 1TB and 2TB marks, offering up a 4TB solution in the external storage market.

The Backup Plus is latest high capacity solution for consumers that have a large amount of data. This solution comes with a comfy 4TB of capacity accessible through a USB 3.0 connection, while the weight comes in at 541 grams so it is a little over a pound, dimensions fall into the small form factor category at 114mm x 78mm. As of this writing, Seagate is also included a two year 200GB subscription to OneDrive allowing you to backup and store your memories on the cloud.

MSRP of the Seagate Backup Plus 4TB is listed at $179.99 with a two-year warranty.

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Packaging for the Backup Plus carries the latest Seagate logo at the top next to the drive capacity. The bottom carries an image of the drive to the right, while the marketing information is to the left.

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Scope of delivery includes a quick start guide, USB 3.0 cable, and the drive itself.

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The drive itself is rather sleek with its all black design, with just a hint of chrome in the corner Seagate logo.

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The front edge of the drive houses the USB 3.0 connection, while just above on the face of the drive is a white LED for activity.

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Seagate Dashboard has been the application used with the entire range of Backup Plus solutions. As you can see, it is straightforward and easy to use with just a few options on the exterior.

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When you choose to create a backup plan, the option for a quick backup is seen to the left, while you can create a full plan with the option to the right.

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In addition to scheduling backups, the Dashboard application allows you to connect to several cloud services.

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To start off testing, we have our sequential transfer results. Above, the Backup Plus was able to touch 142 MB/s read and 137 MB/s write, which by today's standards is rather quick for a small form factor HDD.

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Our price/performance chart takes a look at the Backup Plus as it makes its entry as the top drive.

The Backup Plus is a unique solution in that its one of the very few products on the market offering such a large capacity in a small form factor. In the past, we have seen similar products come from Seagate offering a 4TB capacity, like the Backup Plus FAST that had dual 2TB drives in a software RAID, but this solution is unequalled. I say this because I'm almost 100% sure that this solution houses the new Spinpoint M10P 2.5" HDD which is a 4TB 2.5" SATA drive.

Build quality of the Backup Plus is top notch like what we have always seen from Seagate, while the drive design gives a clean looking exterior with its metal top panel and underlying plastic enclosure. Performance was again leading our charts as the Backup Plus took over top marks in our sequential testing, and if we look at our price/performance chart, you will see this solution has made it to the top end there as well. The Seagate Dashboard hasn't changed too much in the last year or so, but it still carries all the functionality that one would need. It allows a quick and dirty backup of all your data, or you can go the other route and schedule a backup that runs constantly.

Pricing of the Seagate Backup Plus puts the 4TB model at $179.99 with a two-year warranty, and looking at the market, it's the only drive next to the Samsung P3 Portable with a 4TB capacity in the 2.5" form factor, and that product happens to use a Seagate hard drive too.

Seagate Backup Plus STDA4000100 4TB External Portable HDD Review 100
TweakTown award
Performance 92%
Quality including Design and Build 89%
General Features 90%
Bundle and Packaging 89%
Value for Money 88%
Overall 90%

The Bottom Line: Seagate's Backup Plus 4TB has the performance, capacity, and flexibility any consumer would want for backing up their data.

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Tyler joined the TweakTown team in 2013 and has since reviewed 100s of new techy items. Growing up in a small farm town, tech wasn't around, unless it was in a tractor. At an early age, Tyler's parents brought home their first PC. Tyler was hooked and learned what it meant to format a HDD, spending many nights reinstalling Windows 95. Tyler's love and enthusiast nature always kept his PC nearby. Eager to get deeper into tech, he started reviewing.

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