The Seagate One Touch With Password: A Backup Drive With Added Peace of Mind?
Portable hard drives, while a mainstay for data backups, have become somewhat of a commodity. With few differentiating factors, buyers are often left choosing the cheapest option. However, Seagate has attempted to break this trend with its new One Touch With Password series, adding password protection, useful software, and even data recovery services. But does this really change the game for portable hard drives, or are we still dealing with a plastic rectangle with some added features? Let’s dive into the details.
Seagate One Touch With Password: Design and Features
The Seagate One Touch With Password drives come in six distinct color options: black, silver, and space gray with black trims; red, pink, and light blue with white trims. The brushed metal panel, wrapping around the top and front, provides a touch of elegance, while the plastic body remains a common choice in this category.
The light blue model reviewed here, while attractive, exhibited some minor imperfections in the plastic fabrication – a few rough edges and a slight gap where the metal meets the plastic. Slightly more rounded corners would have been appreciated, especially given the common habit of holding these drives in your hand.
Capacities range from 1TB to 5TB, with the smaller drives measuring 11.7mm thick and weighing 148g, while the larger models (with more physical platters) reach 20.9mm thick and 268g. A tiny white LED acts as an activity indicator, and a Micro-USB 3.0 connector sits on the back. While the USB Type-C port has become prevalent in recent years, most hard drive manufacturers continue to stick with this less convenient standard.
Inside the box, you’ll find a single USB 3.0 cable, along with a quick start guide, a sheet with security codes for password setup and reset, and instructions for redeeming bundled software offers. These offers include a one-year subscription to Mylio Create (photo organization tool) and four months of Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan (Photoshop and Lightroom).
The heart of the One Touch With Password is its AES-256 hardware encryption. Setting it up involves using the Seagate Toolkit software downloaded from the drive itself. To set a password, you’ll need to input the unique 8-character Secure ID printed on the leaflet (and hopefully on a sticker on the drive). You then create a reset key linked to a Seagate/LaCie account, or use the 32-character reset code provided.
Once a password is set, you must enter it each time you plug the drive into your PC. If used on another computer, a small partition will be visible, requiring you to run the unlock utility to access the drive’s contents.
The Toolkit also allows you to automate backup routines and mirror folders, letting you synchronize files bidirectionally. However, the software’s explanations of Backup vs. Mirror, while similar, are not entirely clear. A more detailed explanation would have been beneficial. Despite this, the steps themselves remain relatively straightforward.
Perhaps the most striking feature is Seagate’s one-time free data recovery attempt using their Seagate Rescue service. This is a valuable offering, providing peace of mind to users who might otherwise be paralyzed by the fear of losing precious data due to drive failure. The recovery process involves sending the drive to Seagate’s lab for analysis, typically taking 15 business days. While Seagate claims a 95 percent success rate, there’s no guarantee that data on your drive can be recovered.
Seagate One Touch With Password: Specifications and Performance
Seagate, unsurprisingly, doesn’t boast about this hard drive’s read and write speeds. If you prioritize rapid file transfers, an SSD remains the superior choice. Portable hard drives struggle to saturate a USB 3.0 connection, rendering speed a less critical factor in choosing one. The drive comes with a standard three-year warranty and a three-year window for your Seagate Rescue recovery attempt.
Beyond storage capacity and 256-bit AES encryption, there are no standout specs to report. The 5TB unit reviewed here was pre-formatted in ExFAT, compatible with both Windows and macOS. The total addressable capacity clocks in at 4.657TB.
CrystalDiskMark recorded sequential read and write speeds of 144.6MBps and 136.4MBps, respectively. Random reads were lower, as expected. Anvil benchmark delivered read and write scores of 167.11 and 149.71, for a combined score of 316.82. These scores align closely with those of the WD My Passport (2019), indicating performance on par with other comparable models.
Verdict: Is the Seagate One Touch With Password Right for You?
With 5TB of storage capacity, an option you won’t find readily available with SSDs at reasonable prices, the Seagate One Touch With Password certainly meets the need for backing up or transporting large amounts of data. Of course, multiple drives stored in different locations represent the gold standard for backup security.
Seagate has established distinct product tiers: basic, feature-rich, and stylish. However, retail prices frequently deviate, blurring the lines between these tiers. You can find premium models selling for lower prices than basic ones (a trend observed across the industry, including main competitor WD). Consequently, the final choice often boils down to personal preference and available budget.
The Seagate One Touch With Password includes useful software and data recovery services. While the latter remains untested in this review, it provides valuable peace of mind to users. Further solidifying its position, the wide variety of color options guarantees a visual appeal to suit many tastes.
Price (MOP): Rs. 9,299 (5TB)
Pros:
- Useful software bundle
- Data recovery service included
- Up to 5TB capacity
- Multiple color options
Cons:
- No USB Type-C cable or adapter
Ratings:
- Performance: 4/5
- Value for Money: 4.5/5
- Overall: 4/5
In conclusion, while the One Touch With Password is not entirely revolutionary in terms of design or performance, it provides several valuable features that can make it a compelling option for those seeking a secure and reliable portable hard drive. The data recovery service stands out as a significant differentiator, offering a potential edge over competitors.
