What decides whether the WD My Passport SSD is the right portable drive: the USB port it needs, the speed you will actually get, how well it survives knocks and weather, and how it compares with the obvious alternatives. Facts come from the reviews listed at the bottom; capacities come from our comparison.
Who it’s for: Laptop users who want a slim 10 Gbps drive with password-protected hardware encryption and a five-year warranty. Skip it for: Wet or dusty conditions (no IP rating), and anyone without backups — see the 2023 failure reports noted on the SanDisk Extreme page.
| Interface | USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), USB-C |
| Rated speed | Up to 1,050 MB/s read, 1,000 MB/s write (PCWorld measured about 1,020 MB/s writes) |
| Protection | Drop-resistant to 1.98 m (6.5 ft); no IP rating |
| Security | AES 256-bit hardware encryption with password |
| Size | Compact |
| Capacity | Seq. read | Seq. write | Warranty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 TB | 1,050 MB/s | 1,000 MB/s | 5 yr |
Every WD My Passport SSD capacity in our comparison, smallest first.
| $/TB | $/GB | Price | Capacity | Interface | Gen | Read | Write | NAND | Warranty | Cond. | Product |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $259.94BEST | $0.260 | $519.89 | 2 TB | External | USB | 1,050 MB/s | 1,000 MB/s | — | 5 yr | New | WD My Passport SSD 2TB· 3rd-partyAmazon ↗ |
It reaches its rated speed on any USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) port, USB-C or USB-A, including Thunderbolt and USB4 ports. On an older 5 Gbps port it runs at about 450 MB/s.
More on USB speed labels: portable SSDs compared.
SanDisk Extreme Portable: the IP55-rated 10 Gbps drive from the same company.
| WD My Passport SSD | SanDisk Extreme Portable | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) | USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) |
| Seq. read | 1,050 MB/s | 1,050 MB/s |
| Seq. write | 1,000 MB/s | 1,000 MB/s |
| Protection | Drop-resistant to 1.98 m (6.5 ft) | IP65 water and dust resistance and 3 m drop protection per current listings (earlier reviews of the V2 cited IP55 and 2 m) |
| Warranty | 5 yr | 5 yr |
We show retail prices only while we can refresh them at least every 24 hours. Portable SSDs follow the same NAND market as internal drives: contract prices are forecast +15 to +20% for 4Q26 — see the SSD price chart.
Facts on this page come from:
Where reviews disagreed we state the majority figure and note the other.