As gamers, we all are very aware of the importance of having reliable and portable storage. Drive space is one of the biggest limiting factors from having handheld libraries than can contain just about any title you could ever hope to play. Obviously, there are internal drives that you can add, but if you're looking to go even further with your treasure trove of game installs, well, that's where the LaCie Mobile Drive comes in. With a lightweight and durable design, it's perfect for taking on the go, although there's one big limiting factor about it: it's an HDD, not an SSD. 

Still being a spinning drive in this day and age is a rough concept, and it takes away a lot of the good that the LaCie offers. The metal body and durable construction are nothing short of awesome, because it keeps the drive super lightweight, nicely cooled, and allows it to take a beating if you carry it around haphazardly with you wherever you go. Having a 2TB I can casually throw into a bag has been a huge help.

Inside the shell sits a 2.5" 5400RPM Seagate Mobile Drive. It connects using USB-C and rocks compatibility with USB 3.2 Gen 1. This means you back up large files or transfer them between devices at a fairly alright pace. The drive is also compatible with both Mac and Windows operating systems, which is a bonus. 

You're not going to be blown away by the LaCie's speeds--you'll net about a 130MB/s transfer speed, at best, which pales in comparison to SSDs. However, being an HDD at least means that the drive is good for long term storage, ideally of music or larger libraries of content you want to have on you at all times. I formatted it to use with my Steam Deck, and it was alright, if not underwhelming. Its greatest use case was definitely just for having a media library on the go. I don't have WiFi at home, so just being able to grab a little drive full of movies and plug it into whatever device I need is super useful.

Another nice feature of the LaCie Mobile Drive is its software suite. The drive comes with LaCie Toolkit, which includes a range of tools to help you manage and protect your data. For example, you can use the backup tool to schedule automatic backups of your files, or use the encryption tool to secure your data with a password. Additionally, you get a native macOS support for Time Machine backup, as well as iOS compatibility.

Overall, the LaCie Mobile Drive is an alright external hard drive that offers a range of features and benefits. Its sleek and durable design, portability, and software suite help keep it viable, even as a spinning drive in 2023. If you're in the market for a reliable and portable external hard drive, the LaCie Mobile Drive is definitely worth considering.