INTRODUCTION

   It seems like yesterday that i was taking pictures with my brand new 4MP Olympus digital camera and a 512MB xD memory card while i was visiting London for the first time in my life (if i recall correctly i was in Hyde park when i first used that camera). Now the funny part is that 512MB was the highest capacity xD card model available in the market back then and i could actually take pictures for at least two whole days without running out of storage space. Today to get as many pictures using my Nikon digital camera i need a 64GB micro SD card and i think that example showcases exactly just how much things have changed when it comes to our portable digital storage needs. Luckily thanks to manufacturers like Seagate and their latest Backup Plus 5TB USB 3.0 portable hard drive it's highly unlikely that we will run out of mobile storage space anytime soon (again we're one of the first people in the world to get our hands on this drive).

   Founded in 1979, Seagate is the leading provider of hard drives and storage solutions. From the videos, music and documents we share with friends and family on social networks, to servers that form the backbone of enterprise data centers and cloud-based computing, to desktop and notebook computers that fuel our personal productivity, Seagate products help more people store, share and protect their valuable digital content. Seagate offers the industry’s broadest portfolio of hard disk drives, solid-state drives and solid-state hybrid drives. In addition, the company offers an extensive line of retail storage products for consumers and small businesses, along with data-recovery services for any brand of hard drive and digital media type. Seagate employs more than 50,000 people around the world.

   The highest capacity 2.5" portable hard drive to ever reach our lab until this very day was the Backup Plus 4TB USB 3.0 model again by Seagate so getting their 5TB model was just a matter of time. Now as some of you may recall for the 4TB model Seagate had used a 15mm thick Momentus ST4000LM016 2.5" SATA III hard disk drive (five platter design / each 800GB in capacity / shingled magnetic recording) that featured a rotational speed of 5400RPM and 16MB of cache. The new variant wears the brand new 15mm thick Barracuda ST5000LM000 2.5" SATA III hard disk drive (5 platter design / 1TB each / shingled magnetic recording) that also features a rotational speed of 5400RPM but with 128MB of cache and a data transfer rate reported by Seagate at 140MB/s. Just like with the 4TB model Seagate covers the 5TB one with a 2 year limited warranty and offers a 2 year 200GB OneDrive Cloud-Storage subscription, complete compatibility with the Lyve App (organize and enjoy/share your media collection) and finally via their mobile backup app you can use it to backup all your mobile data (more on those in our review of the 4TB model here).

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 At the front of the box we see a small product picture, company logo, drive capacity and the 200GB of free OneDrive subscription.

Device compatibility is printed on the right side of the box (just computers) while the OS compatibility list is placed on the left side.

A few words about OneDrive and compatibility between Windows and MAC is printed at the rear in 10 languages.

Along with the Backup Plus 5TB you will also get a USB 3.0 cable and the quick start guide.

THE BACKUP PLUS 5TB

The backup plus 5TB portable hard drive is identical to the 4TB model so it measures just 114.5mm in length, 76mm in width and 20.35mm in height.

In order to showcase its rather compact enclosure we placed the backup plus 5TB next to the armor A80 2TB by Silicon Power.

Once again the new Seagate logo is located on the right lower corner while the white activity LED is placed on the top left corner.

The USB 3.0 host port is placed at the front of the drive.

The new Seagate logo is once again engraved at the base of the enclosure right next to the sticker which contains the product and serial numbers along with their barcodes and country of manufacture.

Here we see the brand new 15mm thick Barracuda ST5000LM000 2.5” SATA III drive which is placed inside the backup plus 5TB model.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Keeping things simple so even people new in the field of computers can understand will always be our way so once again our testing procedure is almost exactly the same as the one we use with 2.5/3.5" external docking stations. This time however we will be comparing the product at hand with a wide range of 2.5" portable drives and standalone 2.5" enclosures all of which were benched using a HGST 7K750 SATA II hard disk drive. Our standard selection of benchmark suites is used here as well including the famous HD Tach RW (Long Bench 32mb Zones), HD Tune Pro (read/write -when possible- speeds), Sisoftware Sandra Pro (Read/Write - also when possible- speeds), AIDA64 (Linear Read/Random Read), Crystal Disk Mark x64 (100MB/1000MB read/write speeds) and finally the quite outdated yet highly reliable ATTO 2.47 (Max Read/Max Write speeds). Every test was repeated for a total of 6 times and after that the average (not peak) numbers were recorded into our charts. As always every test was performed in a fresh installation of Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1 with every update installed up to December 18th 2016.

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

TEST RESULTS - HD TACH RW / HD TUNE PRO

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA PRO / CRYSTAL DISK MARK X64

TEST RESULTS - TEMPERATURES

CONCLUSION

   Having 5TB worth of storage space with you at all times is something not many people expected to happen this soon and i say this because when Seagate send the backup plus 5TB model many friends I mentioned it to them were really surprised. Of course measuring 20.35mm in thickness means it's not the most portable hard drive in the market today so you may not be able to carry it in your back pocket (or the one on your shirt) but its excellent performance levels (fastest drive in our charts - seems Seagate was holding back with their reported speed of 120MB/s), 5TB capacity and 200GB subscription to OneDrive should be far more important to people. The only tiny problem I have with the backup plus 5TB portable hard drive by Seagate is its connectivity since the new USB 3.1 type-C plug would be preferred over the not so “steady” USB 3.0 host plug. I’m perfectly aware of course that this is not really a drawback but it would be nice to see it in a brand new drive (as would a carrying/storage case).

   With its current price tag set at USD159.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 175Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) the Seagate Backup Plus 5TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive is actually slightly cheaper than what we had originally expected. That being said just like its predecessor the 4TB model we really can’t find anything bad to say about it and since it’s not only the fastest and highest capacity portable hard drive in our charts but also priced just right it clearly deserves our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Compact Size
- 5TB Capacity
- Excellent Performance
- Free Two Year 200GB OneDrive Subscription
- Works with Lyve
- Low Temperatures
- Dashboard Software
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- None