The Seagate Expansion Portable 4TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive is pretty much what you can expect from a no-frills external drive. It basically is the Seagate-branded updated version of the Maxtor M3 reviewed prior. It seems to perform consistently enough with none of the quirkiness of the Toshiba Canvio Basics and has an arguably more interesting visual design even if the casing feels a little flimsier. It has a UASP-capable bridge chip. Get more in Seagate expansion desktop 4TB USB 3.0 review.
Seagate expansion desktop 4TB USB 3.0 specs
Key Specs
- Hard Drive Capacity : 4000 gigabytes
- Storage Drive Type : HDD
- Maximum Data Transfer Rate : 160 megabytes per second
- Rotational Speed : 5400 revolutions per minute
General
- Product Name : Expansion Desktop 4TB External USB 3.0 Hard Drive
- Brand : Seagate
- Model Number : STEB4000100
- Color : Black
- Color Category; Black
Capacity
- Hard Drive Capacity : 000 gigabytes
Performance
- Storage Drive Type : HDD
- Maximum Data Transfer Rate : 160 megabytes per second
- Rotational Speed : 5400 revolutions per minute
Compatibility
- Internal Or External : External
- External Hard Drive Type : Desktop
- Form Factor : 3.5 in.
- Interface(s)Info ” USB 3.0, USB 2.0
- Minimum System Requirements : Windows® 7 or higher, or Mac OS® X 10.9 or higher operating system
Power
- Power Source : AC adapter
Dimension
- Product Height : 1.5 inches
- Product Width : 4.7 inches
- Product Weight : 33.6 ounces
Included
- Number Of Drives Included : 1
- Additional Accessories Included : 4-foot (1.2m) USB 3.0 cable, Power adapter, Quick start guide
Warranty
- Manufacturer’s Warranty – Parts 1 year limited
- Manufacturer’s Warranty – Labor 1 year limited
What is good in Seagate expansion desktop 4TB USB 3.0?
Simple Add-On Storage
The Seagate® Expansion™ External hard drive by Seagate offers an easy-to-use solution when you need to instantly add data storage to your computer.
- Drag and drop file saving right out of the box
- Fast data transfer with USB 3.0 connectivity
The Easy-to-Use Storage Solution.
The Expansion external hard drive installs easily by plugging in two cords. You can start saving your digital files to this hard drive within seconds of removing it from the box.
Instantly Adds Storage Capacity.
Digital photos, video and music files can tax your computer’s storage, causing performance to decline as its internal hard drive fills to capacity.
1Photos based on a 10 megapixel camera producing images 5MB in size
2Songs based on average length of 4 minutes, 4MB size
3HD video based on 720p or 1080i video
4Blu-ray HD Movie was calculated at 16.2GB per hour recording rateInstalls in Seconds.
Seagate® Expansion® external hard drive features like these make it easy to start using this drive within seconds of removing it from the box:
- Simply plug in the included power supply and USB cable
- The hard drive is automatically recognized by Windows operating system—no software to install and nothing to configure
- Drag and drop to save files to the Expansion external hard drive
- Built-in power management automatically ensures energy-efficient operation
Compare Seagate expansion desktop 4TB USB 3.0
| Seagate Expansion Portable 4TB External Hard Drive Desktop HDD – USB 3.0 for PC Laptop (STEA4000400),Black | Seagate STGX5000400 Portable 5TB External Hard Drive HDD – USB 3.0 for PC, Mac, Xbox & PS4 | WD 2TB Elements Portable External Hard Drive – USB 3.0 – WDBU6Y0020BBK | Seagate Expansion Desktop 4TB External Hard Drive HDD – USB 3.0 for PC Laptop (STEB4000100) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compatible Devices | Desktop | Laptop | Mac, PC | Compatible with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 |
| Connectivity Technology | usb | — | — | — |
| Digital Storage Capacity | 4 TB | 5 TB | 2 TB | 4 TB |
| File System | NTFS | — | NTFS | NTFS |
| Hard Disk Description | Portable | Portable | Fast transfer rates | Desktop |
| Hard Disk Size | 4 TB | 5.0 TB | 2.00 TB | 4 TB |
| Hardware Interface | USB 3.0 | USB 3.0 Type A | USB 3.0 | USB 3.0 |
| Item Dimensions | 4.61 x 3.15 x 0.82 inches | 4.61 x 3.15 x 0.79 inches | 4.35 x 3.23 x 0.59 inches | 7.07 x 4.65 x 1.48 inches |
| Item Weight | 0.52 pounds | 0.58 pounds | 4.66 ounces | 2.06 pounds |
| Memory Storage Capacity | 4 TB | — | 2000 GB | 16 GB |
| Model Year | 2015 | — | 2017 | 2015 |
| Size | 4TB | 5TB | 2TB | 4TB |
Seagate expansion desktop 4TB USB 3.0 review
Simplistic design
You can call the Seagate Expansion a typical portable drive. Measuring 4.8 inches by 3.2 inches by 0.6 inch (12.2 by 8.1 by 1.52cm), it’s as big as you’d imagine a squarish plastic box holding a standard 2.5-inch hard drive on the inside would be. Basically, it’s small enough to be easily tucked in inside a purse or your back pocket.
RPM
The Expansion’s internal storage is a low-power drive that spins at just 5,400 rotations per minute, and not at 7,200rpm. The slow spin speed generally translates into slower performance (not in this case though; more on that later) but at the same time also means lower power consumption.
Connector
The Expansion ships in a spartan retail package that includes the drive itself and a foot-long standard Micro-USB 3.0 cable. But that’s all you need to get up and running. Like all portable drives, the Expansion is bus-powered, requiring just one cable for both data and power.
File system
Out of the box, the Expansion is preformatted in the NTFS file system so it works right a way with a Windows computer. You can also easily reformat it into HFS+ in order to work with a Mac, a process that takes just a few seconds. In fact, I generally find that buying a drive like this is a much cheaper way to get storage for your Mac than buying a Mac-designated drive, which are generally much more expensive.
If you want to use the Seagate Expansion interchangeably in a mixed Windows and Mac environment, you can also format it using the exFAT file system. Apart from computers, the drive will also work with other popular hosts, such as game consoles or media players. Just make sure you first format it into the supported file system. I tried it with the Xbox One and it worked very well. The drive was recognized quickly and I could use it to save games and apps, as well as to store media for playback.
No bundled software or protection feature
Unlike the Seagate Backup Plus family, such as the Backup Plus Fast , that boasts helpful features and useful backup software, the Seagate Expansion doesn’t comes with anything, other than the program that facilitates the registration.
There’s no other software or security features. This means, among other things, if you lose the drive, anyone can have access to the data it stores, so if you use it while traveling, don’t store sensitive data on it.
However, this doesn’t mean you can’t use the Expansion as a backup drive. On a Mac, once the drive is reformatted into HFS+, it works with Time Machine. And on a Windows machine, you can use any third-party backup software with it.
Seagate expansion desktop 4TB USB 3.0 performance review
Considering the fact it hosts a low-power internal drive, the Seagate Expansion’s performance is a nice surprise and more than makes up for its lacks of features.
In my testing with USB 3.0, it registered a sustained copy speed of more than 120MBps for writing and almost 130MBps for reading. These were about the fastest among hard-drive-based portable drives. Portable drives that are faster generally have special performance-boosting features, such as RAID-0 or use a solid-state internal drive, which the Expansion does not.
CNET Labs’ USB 3.0 external drive performance
