We purchased the WD 8TB My Book so that our expert reviewer could thoroughly test and review it. Read on for our full product review.

When you look at the portable storage market, you might be tempted to think that bigger is better. That’s exactly the premise behind Western Digital’s 8TB My Book, a hefty external hard drive with uncompromising storage capacity. With its sleek design and extra software features, it seems like a safe bet, but ultimately you’ll be sacrificing portability for sheer capacity.

At 3 pounds, the 8TB My Book is heavier than most external hard drives and will weigh down your backpack. That’s for good reason, though, considering it packs a whopping eight terabytes of storage. Regardless, that makes it hard to recommend from a portability standpoint. At 5.5 x 6.7 inches (HW), it’s about the size of a thick hardcover book.

Fortunately, many of the design choices make up for the weight. There are two sturdy handles on the bottom to secure it to any desk, and the glossy/textured split at the top and bottom of the unit is aesthetically pleasing and won’t look out of place in an office environment. It’s a minimalist, uniform design that’s used across Western Digital’s entire line of products.