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By "shock" I mean the ability to withstand movement, bumps, blows, sudden motion and even falling.

2.5" external hard drives are commonly marketed as "portable" drives, obviously due to their smaller physical size over the 3.5" counterpart. But are they also more portable because the drives in them better withstand movement and shock?

Jason
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user198350
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  • There is only one reason to get a brick: You need that space. // Keep in mind that this question is a little too general: Many enterprise HDDs are 2.5". They are in no way portable. You’re referring to laptop HDDs. It’s quite obvious what those are made for. – Daniel B Oct 30 '17 at 18:57
  • @DanielB: I don't understand. This question is about external HDDs. – user198350 Oct 30 '17 at 19:06
  • Without specifying particular manufacturers, and probably also specific hard drive models, you cannot expect an answer to this question. Without this information we would just be guessing at an answer and the question is also too broad. – DavidPostill Oct 30 '17 at 19:22
  • @cold - Your question is still extremely broad. Most external drives are just internal drives inside an enclosure – Ramhound Oct 30 '17 at 19:34
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    @DavidPostill I have an answer that isn't opinion based. 2.5" drives are different in this regard, and there's features and specs I can provide. These differences apply to all manufacturers. It's actually a great question. – Jason Oct 30 '17 at 19:37
  • @Jason Reopened so you can provide a great answer ;) – DavidPostill Oct 30 '17 at 19:38

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Yes, 2.5" drives are better designed to withstand physical shock.

They have accelerometers that detect increasing velocity and attempt to move the head off the platter before impact. This is sometimes referred to as a "free fall sensor" or "active hard drive protection". This feature was first available in a ThinkPad T41 laptop in 2003, but later introduced to the drives themselves in 2007 with the Seagate Momentus 7200.2.

They're also designed and tested to withstand minor shocks in both operating and non-operating states. For example, the current Seagate 2.5" BarraCuda drive specifications list an operating shock capacity of 300-400 Gs, whereas the 3.5" BarraCuda doesn't list this specification at all. Their NAS and enterprise drives (IronWolf and Exos), which aren't designed for portable use, do list this specification, and despite their higher cost, have a shock capacity of only 25-70 Gs.

Jason
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  • Not sure how well the accellerometers protect the drive on a huge impact, given that the platters are made of glass, not metal in a 2.5" drive. Yes, I know this for sure, I've destroyed a good share of drives. But I have to admit, its hard to break the glass, so maybe its not really an issue. Just my 2 cents. – LPChip Oct 30 '17 at 21:33
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    @LPChip It's to protect against head crashes, not from the platters breaking. – Jason Oct 30 '17 at 22:38