Available in capacities of up to 4 TB, the WD My Book gets high marks from reviewers for its speed and ease of use. In professional tests, it transfers files quickly and quietly, and reviewers say it’s also easy to set up.

The Seagate Backup Plus Slim edges out its nearest competitor in every possible quality test. It’s slimmer and lighter, transfers data faster, and gets better reliability ratings from owners. It’s also a good value at $75 for a terabyte of storage, and you can upgrade to 2 TB for just $120.

For protecting your precious data against every possible disaster, you can’t beat the ioSafe Solo G3. Built like a safe (and equally heavy), it can safeguard your files come flood or fire. The drive comes with a year of free data retrieval from ioSafe, which can be extended to three or five years for an extra fee.

The Synology DiskStation DS1513+ network-attached storage (NAS) drive offers fast speeds, a robust interface and a wealth of features. Its five-bay enclosure gives you lots of options for configuring your backup drives. (The drives themselves are sold separately.) Owners praise its speed and easy setup, though novices may have trouble setting up the more advanced features.

The Seagate Wireless Plus is one of the most versatile hard drives on the market. You can access its 1 TB of storage wirelessly from multiple computers, smartphones or tablets — or you can hook it up via a USB cable for faster file transfers. Battery life is up to 10 hours, and it comes with its own media app.