Toshiba Canvio Premium 4TB Review – Portable 2.5-inch hard drive

Toshiba has a variety of Canvio portable hard drives, I reviewed the Canvio Basics 2TB back in 2018 and the Canvio Advance earlier this year.

Specification

The Canvia Premium sits at the top of the pack and includes a premium aluminium case which does look sleek and smart.

As with the other models, this still uses a mechanical drive, so even though it has USB 3.0 the limiting performance factor will be the drive itself.

• 2.5″ external hard drive
• Aluminium finish
• SuperSpeed USB 3.0
• USB-powered
• Auto-backup software
• Password protection software
• Type-C adapter (Type-A to -C)
• Soft pouch included

Pricing

UK availability is not the best, on the drive is listed on Amazon, but it is not on Prime, so you will be stuck with a £6.99 delivery charge on top of the £142.93 asking price, for a total of £149.94.

In comparison, the Toshiba Canvio Basics 4TB is significantly cheaper at just £87.96, and the Toshiba Canvio Advance 4TB is a little over £103.

[content-egg module=Amazon template=list]

Differences

With the performance expected to be identical, you may be wondering what makes this worth 45% more than its counterpart, the Canvio Advance.

This model has an aluminium finish vs the glossy piano finish of the advanced.

This has a Type-C adapter (Type-A to -C) adaptor whereas the advanced does not.

Both come with auto-backup software and password protection software.

This has a three-year warranty whereas the advanced has a 2-year warranty

Performance

This uses a mechanical drive, so the results are similar to the previous reviews, as expected.

Read speeds are slightly higher, write speeds are slightly lower. It is small enough that it could be multiple variables causing this. 4kiB Q8T8 perform quite a bit better in the write results and this appears to reflect in the real world usage too.

In real-world tests, for large files write and read speeds settled to about 130MB/s so around 6MB/s faster than the Advanced model

For small file transfers, the drive ended up performing much better than originally expected. When transferring the uploads folder of a WordPress directory the low end of the speeds was around 3MB/s, and it frequently hit 14MB/s.

Overall

While the hard drive itself is excellent, it is a little difficult to recommend this over the Canvio Advance, which is almost identical but 30% cheaper. Performance is fractionally better, in particular if you are doing huge numbers of small file transfers you may find this preferable.

The two other main differences are the type-C adapter, and three vs two-year warranty. While these are nice additions, I don’t feel they are worth over £45. You can buy Type-C adaptors for around £5 on Amazon, so that leaves you paying £40 for a warranty.

For a company buying the device, the price difference may be less of a concern and the improved warranty could be advantageous, especially if the drive has heavy usage.

For your average consumer, you will be better off with the Advanced model, or in my opinion, better yet, just get the basic and use your own backup and encryption software.

James Smythe( Editor-in-chief )

I am James, a UK-based tech enthusiast and the Editor and Owner of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Passionate about all things technology, my expertise spans from computers and networking to mobile, wearables, and smart home devices.

As a fitness fanatic who loves running and cycling, I also have a keen interest in fitness-related technology, and I take every opportunity to cover this niche on my blog. My diverse interests allow me to bring a unique perspective to tech blogging, merging lifestyle, fitness, and the latest tech trends.

In my academic pursuits, I earned a BSc in Information Systems Design from UCLAN, before advancing my learning with a Master’s Degree in Computing. This advanced study also included Cisco CCNA accreditation, further demonstrating my commitment to understanding and staying ahead of the technology curve.

I’m proud to share that Vuelio has consistently ranked Mighty Gadget as one of the top technology blogs in the UK. With my dedication to technology and drive to share my insights, I aim to continue providing my readers with engaging and informative content.