I purchased a 14TB Western Digital Elements external drive recently, and I was expecting something truly remarkable considering its high capacity. What struck me initially was how quickly I filled that up all too soon with my NAS media. Given this slow growth in size, I needed an external drive capable of handling it efficiently. That's when I decided to purchase the 14TB Western Digital Elements, which at £249 for what seemed like a decent value compared to its predecessor's £179 price tag. However, if I wanted to buy the equivalent drive as a bare unit without the additional electronics, it would cost me over £300.
The WD unit has an interesting design - one edge is curved, similar to the spine of a hardcover book. This orientation provides excellent air flow around the vented top and rear edges. One advantage of this setup is that the single power/activity LED on the surface is quite small. The drive also features small rubber feet, allowing it to stand upright in a vertical position like a book on a desk case. I personally prefer drives lying flat for better airflow, but I understand why WD decided to design them this way.
In terms of performance, I was impressed with my WD Elements 14TB drive, which showed impressive sequential read and write speeds compared to the slower SMR Seagate model it replaced. The drive's head seek action is quite heavy, although not as heavy as some other high-capacity external drives I've encountered. However, I did experience a slight issue when initializing after a power-on - my internal 2TB drives seem to be more forgiving of this.
The previously mentioned 8TB Seagate had a similar heavy seek action, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly why it was so much heavier than the WD Elements. In any case, I can only imagine that some high-capacity external drives may have to do with their higher platter counts or head configurations. These external drives appear to run warmer than internal ones, so I would advise users to keep them away from other items that may block air flow.
Despite this minor issue, the WD Elements 14TB drive performed flawlessly when backing up my entire NAS to it over a horribly slow USB 2 connection on the NAS. The transfer took some 81.5 hours to complete, which is impressive considering the limitations of my poor network speed. I'd like to note that if users use fast connections like USB 3 or Ethernet, the transfer times may be significantly shorter.
In summary, I highly recommend purchasing a Western Digital Elements 14TB external drive at an attractive price. The WD unit seems smart enough to power down/enter standby mode when not in use, which is convenient for those who are away from their computers. It also comes with generous lengths of USB cables and reports an impressive amount of available space (12.7Tb) to potential users.
The drive's default volume label is "Elements", but you can easily change it if needed. I don't see any need to use the WD software for this purpose, as I prefer not to rely on manufacturer-supplied backup solutions anyway. A quick note to those less familiar with computers: there are numerous free backup programs available that can be used instead of the provided software.
Overall, my experience with the 14TB Western Digital Elements has been satisfactory, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a high-capacity external drive at an affordable price.
F. Wilson - 15/12/2025
