Amazon Prime Day Portable Hard Drive Deals: What to Expect

While we expect hard drive discounts across the board on Prime Day, the market has been a little slow moving so far. Positively, we’ve already spotted massive discounts on the WD Elements desktop hard drive, and we expect other everyday storage products like this to drop around Prime Day itself.

Discounts on hard drives are expected to drop on Prime Day

Right now, though, other mainstream hard drives like the Seagate Portable, the Barracuda internal drive, and the Toshiba Canvio Basics haven’t actually been given a discount. Analysis of their historic pricing also finds them sitting at steady, consistent levels over the past few months.

We recommend holding your nerve until Prime Day itself unless you need to buy basic storage right now. Wait a little longer and you’ll likely get a bigger price drop.

If you need to act sooner, we recommend installing a browser extension like Keepa or using a website like CamelCamelCamel to check if prices have dropped recently and to ensure you avoid pre-sale inflation. And because other companies join in the Prime Day fun, check out other retailers if the drive you want isn’t yet discounted on Amazon.

We’ve observed more discounts on specialist products, like the LaCie Rugged Mini outdoorsy drive and the WD Black P10 gaming SSD. The price drops aren’t as drastic as the monster 44% drop on the WD Elements, but we don’t expect those specialist products to see those kinds of reductions, anyway. In short, that’s probably about as good as it’ll get for specialist gaming or ruggedized drives, so you can buy now with confidence now rather than wait until Prime Day.

“No matter what kind of hard drive you want to buy, make sure you’re getting the right product. Only shell out for a pricier portable or internal drive with loads of speed if you need the extra pace for high-end creative work tasks or gaming, and don’t bother buying a rugged drive unless you regularly need to use it in tough environments. Buy kit like that without needing the features and you’re simply throwing money away.”

Elsewhere, consider paying more for drives that include software packages, encryption, and longer warranties if you want peace of mind for your data, and check customer reviews before purchasing to avoid any bugs, common pitfalls, or performance issues.

Consider the features you need in a hard drive

Be aware that Amazon sometimes offers coupons to drop prices further, and create alerts for lightning deals if you want to grab last-minute bargains on Prime Day itself.

Get ready for Prime Day deals