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The Hard drive is affordable and it is made of high-quality material. It comes with great storage capacities and transfer speed. Storing your files won’t be an issue because this hard drive can store large files such as videos, photos, applications, music, and more. The hard drive is available for internal and external use. Users can upgrade the size of their hard drive to a new one easily. Also, the hard drive has a good form factor and power consumption. So, let’s take a look at the WD Red vs WD Black, and choose which is better.
The WD Red is a Network Access Storage drive that was built primarily for NAS Systems. This hard drive runs a 24/7 operation effective and it comes with a good lifespan. The WD Black hard drive comes with high performance and a large cache size. It is a good choice for both home and enterprise desktop applications. The WD Black hard drive offers large storage capacities to store large files like applications, photos, 4K videos, games, and more.
WD Red vs WD Black – Similarities
So, let’s take a look at their similarities.
Uses
The WD Red and the WD Black can be used on a laptop or Desktop. They are durable, reliable, and designed for long-lasting use. With these devices, you can store large multimedia files of photos, applications, and videos. The devices come with an improved performance to deliver the best whenever it’s in use.
Form Factor
They both have 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch form factor. This form factor makes it portable, easy to use, and easy to install. They help to reduce system-induced vibrations and other components, ensuring adequate reliability, and performance.
Compatibility
These devices are compatible with laptops, and desktops.
Warranty
The WD Red and the WD Black both come with up to 5-years warranty.
Side by Side Comparison
| Name | WD Red | WD Black |
| Image |  |  |
| Form Factor | 2.5 and 3.5 inches | M.2 NVME, 2.5, and 3.5 inches |
| Capacity | 2.5 inch – 1TB 3.5 inch – 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, and 18TB | M.2 NVME – 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB 2.5 inch – 2TB, 4TB, and 5TB 3.5 inch – 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, and 10TB |
| Speed | 5400 rpm and 7200 rpm | 5400 rpm and 7200 rpm |
| Interface | SATA | SATA and PCIe |
| Cache | Up to 256MB for 3.5-inch form factor | Between 64MB to 256MB for 3.5 inch form factor |
| Compatibility | Laptops, Notebook, and Desktop | Laptops, Notebook, and Desktop |
| Price |
Differences Between WD Red and WD Black
In this section, we will take a look at the difference between the WD Red and the WD Black.
Capacity
They also have different storage capacities.
WD Red
The WD Red comes with a 2.5-inch WD Red Plus hard drive with 1TB storage capacity. The WD Red comes with a 3.5-inch hard drive with capacities such as 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, and 6Tb. It comes with a 3.5-inch WD Red Plus hard drive with capacities like 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, and 14TB. It also comes with a 3.5-inch WD Red Pro hard drive with capacities such as 2TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, and 18TB.
WD Black
This WD Black comes with a 2.5-inch WD Black P10 Game Drive with capacities such as 2TB, 4TB, and 5TB. This WD Black comes with a 3.5 inch hard drive with capacities such as 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, and 10TB. The WD Black has a SN750 NVME SSD with capacities such as 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB without heat-sink, and 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB with heat-sink. This hard drive comes with a P50 Game Drive NVME SSD with capacities of 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB. The WD Black also comes with an AN1500 NVME SSD Add-in-Card with capacities 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB.
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Cache
The cache serves as a temporary memory when the hard drive reads and writes data. The more cache a drive has the faster the system can work.
WD Red
The WD Blue hard drive comes with a cache of up to 256MB for a 3.5-inch form factor.
WD Black
The WD Black hard drive comes with a cache of between 64MB to 256MB for a 3.5-inch form factor.
Interface
WD Red
This hard drive only supports SATA connectivity.
WD Black
This hard drive supports SATA and PCIe connectivity.
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NASware 3.0 Technology
The WD Red hard drive can also be used in a separate environment.
WD Red
This hard drive comes with a technology that allows it to work in a 24×7 environment. It comes with NAS technology (NASware 3.0 technology) with up to 8 bays for storing archiving and sharing. This technology also provides optimal performance, increases capability, reliability, and more. The device is used on NAS devices. It offers a wide array of storage for users to build a NAS Solution.
WD Black
The WD Black doesn’t come with NASware 3.0 technology.
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Compatibility
Although both devices are compatible with a Laptop or a Desktop, the WD Red hard drive comes with other features.
WD Red
This WD Red hard drive is built and tested for personal and home NAS systems. It performs excellently in NAS and RAID environments.
WD Black
It is not used in NAS and RAID environments.
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Pros and Cons
Before our final verdict, we will go over a few pros and cons of the WD Red and the WD Black.
WD Red
Pros
- It comes with great performance and is ideal for NAS and RAID environments.
- It delivers a good transfer speed and storage capacity.
- It delivers excellent sharing with your network and devices, stereo, TV, and more.
Cons
- It gets damaged if it’s not properly managed.
WD Black
Pros
- It has great speed.
- It comes with good storage capacity.
- It processes 4K videos without any issue.
Cons
- Sometimes it produces a noise when in use.
The Final Verdict
The WD Red and the WD Black are both excellent hard drives. They come with great transfer speed. Both devices make use of the SATA interface and have large storage capacities. With these drives, you can store and share your photos, documents, videos, applications, and more.
After taking a look at their features, we decided to choose the WD Black as the better option. Although the WD Red is a good storage drive and mostly used in NAS and RAID environments and most consumers might not have such an environment. The WD Black comes with a good capacity and transfer rate. It’s compatible with most laptops, desktops, and notebooks. It is reliable, durable, and has a great performance.