WD 4TB My Book Desktop External Hard Drive - USB 3.0 - WDBFJK0040HBK-NESN,Black
WD · 2 more picks →
Best for
Best desktop (WD My Book)
Amazon rating
Amazon aggregate, one input among many in the Verdict Score
Current price
$299.99
Updated Jun 27, 2026 · 1 min read
Sources behind this verdict
10 reviewers weighted by source trust
The consensus
What reviewers found
Synthesized across the trust-weighted source mix below.
The WD My Book 4TB earns the strongest high-trust backing in the pool. techgearlab, a high-trust tester, reported that among HDD-type models the My Book "easily has the fastest read/write performance" they observed, and Best Buy's verified-purchase reviews echo that it moves data several times faster than older USB drives. r/DataHoarder and r/videography contributors describe WD drives as reliable, quiet, and long-lasting, with one summarizing them as "not exciting, but they do the job, and they last a long time." The My Book's distinguishing feature, repeatedly noted in r/DataHoarder threads, is its onboard hardware encryption and password protection via a controller board that encrypts everything written to the drive.
What reviewers liked
- High-trust techgearlab rated it the fastest HDD in their testing
- Hardware encryption with password protection built in
- Best Buy and community reviewers consistently call WD drives reliable and quiet
Where it falls short
- Encryption is tied to the enclosure controller; a board failure can make data unrecoverable
- r/DataHoarder posts cite WD's backup software as weak and report noise on larger units
- Bulky and requires a wall outlet
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The WD My Book 4TB earns the strongest high-trust backing in the pool. techgearlab, a high-trust tester, reported that among HDD-type models the My Book "easily has the fastest read/write performance" they observed, and Best Buy's verified-purchase reviews echo that it moves data several times faster than older USB drives. r/DataHoarder and r/videography contributors describe WD drives as reliable, quiet, and long-lasting, with one summarizing them as "not exciting, but they do the job, and they last a long time."
The My Book's distinguishing feature, repeatedly noted in r/DataHoarder threads, is its onboard hardware encryption and password protection via a controller board that encrypts everything written to the drive. Reviewers treat this as a double-edged trait: useful for security, but a real risk if the enclosure controller fails, in which case the data can be unrecoverable. Other recurring complaints are the bulk and mandatory wall plug, and r/DataHoarder posts about larger-capacity My Book units mention "concerning noises" and clunky WD backup software. For a desk-bound backup drive, though, the high-trust speed and reliability signals make it the standout desktop pick.
- Included WD Backup software makes backing up what's important to you easy and fast
- Easy to use WD Backup software makes protecting what's important to you easy
- Downloadable version of AcronisTrue Image WD Edition software offers system-level backup for complete protection
- Compatible with Windows(R) File History, included on Windows 8 and Windows 10
- Password protection with hardware encryption keep your private stuff private
- USB 3.0 for fast data transfer rates
My Book drives have, in addition to the actual hard drive, a controller board that encrypts all the data that goes onto the drive and decrypts ...
i know a lot of people here are looking at bigger and better NAS drives and saying this is awful value, but this is a fine price for a 4TB ...
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“Western Digital 4TB My Book Unboxing and Review” · YouTube
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