Toshiba Canvio Advance 2TB

Slim and sturdy external storage for laptops and other devices

 Toshiba’s Canvio Advance is an external hard drive that comes in 1TB, 2TB and 3TB capacities. This is not a drive to buy if raw performance is the main concern. However, it does offer a lot of storage for not much money. And it’s much more portable than a desktop external hard drive.

People’s hard drive preferences often boil down to which brands haven’t failed on them in the past, but complaints here are minor.

You’ll pay £79.99 ($72.99), for the 2TB version, which is on test here. Prices across the Canvio Advance line are comparable to Western Digital’s WD My Passport range.

Design and features

Portable hard drives are like spare keys. They are not particularly exciting, but when you need them you really need them.

The Canvio Advance is a middle-ranking model in the Toshiba line-up. It doesn’t look as dull as its Basics drives, but is not as flashy as its aluminium Premium ones either.

Its outer is plastic, with a glossy finish on the top. You can get it in black, red, blue or white.

Compared to the WD My Passport X we occasionally use to ferry about files, the Toshiba Canvio Advance is very slim. It uses two platters and is a 2.5-inch drive, letting it slim down to 14mm thickness, according to Toshiba’s specs and our tape measure.

Upgrade to the Canvio Premium and you shave off an extra 0.5mm and get an extra USB-C cable in the box. But that, aside from the aluminium outer, is about it.

The LED on top is one part that may divide opinion. Plug the drive into your PC and the ring in one corner glows blue. It flickers as it reads or writes data.

This looks nice enough, but may not be wanted if the Toshiba Canvio Advance will spend its life under a TV with the rest of your home entertainment gear, rather than living plugged into a desktop or laptop.