Western Digital G-Drive 24TB test

What is the Western Digital G-Drive 24TB and who is it for?

These new Western Digital drives were actually the Professional range from sister company Sandisk. Now two separate companies, Sandisk sells SSDs while Western Digital focuses on hard drives. These are often the preference for desktop use, where their large-capacity options make them a popular choice.

You still get pro-level reliability and build quality with the great value of spinning drives inside. The Western Digital G-Drive series comes in sizes from 4TB all the way up 26TB, and we tried the 24TB version.

What are the key features of the Western Digital G-Drive 24TB?

Build and drive

It uses a rugged chassis that fits neatly onto a desk, fitted with a 7200rpm Ultrastar enterprise-class hard drive.

Performance and speed

Using a 10Gbps USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 connection, the G-Drive delivers up to 280MB/s read and write speeds, making it fast enough for most needs. It’s not SSD fast, but for a spinning hard drive it’s among the best in its class. Our standard test of moving a 50GB folder of video files to and from a Thunderbolt 4-equipped Mac Studio took a little under three minutes.

Display and connectivity

The adjustable LED light on the front panel is a thoughtful touch, with three brightness levels and a switched off mode to reduce distractions. It’s plug-and-play for Mac users, but can be reformatted for Windows 10 or later. The single USB-C jack means it can’t be daisy-chained to other peripherals, and USB-C is slower than Thunderbolt.

Conclusion

For the size, it’s terrific value, speedy and – in our tests – a reliable desktop storage solution.

Western Digital G-Drive 24TB price and availability

The Western Digital G-Drive 24TB is available to buy, with a starting price of £695.

For more information, visit the Western Digital website.