WD My Passport 6TB External Hard Drive Review UK (2026) – Tested

Here’s what nobody tells you about portable hard drives: the marketing specs all sound brilliant until you actually fill one up and discover how it performs under real-world load. I’ve spent several weeks hammering this WD My Passport 6TB with everything from massive 4K video libraries to thousands of RAW photos, and the results are genuinely interesting. This is the world’s first 6TB drive in a 2.5-inch portable form factor, which sounds impressive, but does cramming that much storage into such a compact shell create problems? Let’s talk about what actually matters.

But here’s the thing: this is still a mechanical hard drive spinning platters at 5,400 RPM. That means traditional HDD limitations apply. You’re not getting SSD speeds, and you need to treat it with reasonable care (don’t drop it whilst it’s spinning).

Acronis True Image is a nice touch. I’ve used it for scheduled backups, and it’s straightforward without being dumbed down. You can do full system images or just backup specific folders. The ransomware protection feature is interesting too, though I haven’t had the pleasure of testing it under actual attack conditions (thankfully).

Look, this isn’t an SSD. You need to understand that going in. Sequential speeds hover around 120 MB/s, which is pretty standard for a portable mechanical drive. That’s perfectly adequate for most use cases, but if you’re shifting hundreds of gigabytes daily, you’ll be waiting.

Where mechanical drives really struggle is with small files. Copying a folder with 10,000 photos takes significantly longer than copying a single 50GB video file of equivalent total size. The drive head has to physically move for each file, and that mechanical limitation is unavoidable.

I edited 4K footage directly from the drive using DaVinci Resolve. It worked, but with occasional stuttering on more complex timelines. For serious editing work, you’ll want to copy files to your internal SSD first. But for reviewing footage on location? Perfectly usable.

The matte finish is brilliant for actually using the thing. I’ve tested too many drives with glossy finishes that look stunning in product photos but become fingerprint magnets within minutes. This stays looking decent even after weeks of handling.

One minor gripe: the LED indicator is quite bright. In a dark room, it’s properly distracting. A small piece of tape sorts it, but I’d prefer a dimmer LED or the option to disable it entirely.

The included USB cable is a decent length at around 45cm, with a proper strain relief at the micro-B end. It’s not removable on the drive side, which means if the cable fails, you’re replacing the entire drive or attempting surgery. That’s pretty standard for this class of drive, but worth noting.

The WD Discovery software is optional but useful. It’s where you enable encryption, manage backups, and check drive health. It’s not bloatware that constantly nags you, which I appreciate. Install it, configure what you need, then forget about it.

One thing to watch: some older USB ports (particularly on laptops) struggle to provide enough power for 6TB drives. I had one aging ThinkPad that wouldn’t reliably power it without a USB Y-cable. Modern systems have been fine, but it’s worth testing if you’re using older hardware.

Compared to the Seagate 5TB alternatives, you’re paying a premium for that extra terabyte and better security features. The hardware encryption alone justifies some of the price difference if you’re storing sensitive data. The three-year warranty versus Seagate’s typical two years is another point in WD’s favour.

The Toshiba Canvio 4TB offers solid value if you can live with less capacity. It’s noticeably cheaper per gigabyte, but you lose the robust encryption and backup software. For basic storage needs, it’s perfectly adequate.

Where this gets interesting is comparing against desktop drives like the WD Elements 6TB desktop. Desktop drives offer similar capacity for less money and often faster speeds, but they need mains power and aren’t remotely portable. If you’re not actually moving the drive around, desktop units make more financial sense.

The cost per gigabyte works out to roughly £27 per terabyte, which is competitive for portable drives. Desktop drives offer better value per gigabyte, but that’s comparing apples to oranges given the portability difference.

What you’re really paying for beyond the raw storage is the convenience of bus-powered operation, the hardware encryption, decent backup software, and that three-year warranty. If you just need cheap storage and don’t care about security or portability, there are cheaper options. But for the target market – content creators, photographers, anyone needing secure portable storage – the value proposition is solid.

But it’s not for everyone. If you primarily work at a desk, a desktop drive offers better value. If you need fast transfer speeds for daily large file movement, you want an SSD (and a much bigger budget). And if you just need basic backup storage without security features, cheaper alternatives exist.

For its target market though? This is spot on. The build quality inspires confidence for carrying expensive data around. The encryption provides proper security without complexity. And the capacity means you’re not constantly managing multiple drives or running out of space.

The mechanical drive limitations are unavoidable physics, not WD cutting corners. At this capacity in this form factor, you’re getting a spinning platter, and that means mechanical speeds. If you understand and accept that, you’ll be happy with this drive.