In the world of rugged external storage, you'll see a lot of potential reasons why someone might need a drive that can survive extreme exposure. Construction sites, film sets, wildlife photography, or, in the case of ADATA's HD710M Pro External Hard Drive, military environs—or at least, situations encountered by hunters and weekend warriors. Though it's never explicitly stated that this hard drive was made for battlefield applications, its camouflage exterior and rough-and-ready design point to a drive made for the soldier, or at least the soldier at heart. And it's not just window dressing. The HD710M Pro ($119.99 for the 2TB version tested here) offers up a solid set of ruggedization features that will cater to any customer, whether they truly need the stealth look, or are simply sticking it in a bag for the next wargaming session or paintball match.
If there's one element of the HD710M Pro's design that sets it apart, it's the camouflage-colored silicone. A fun design element, one can't help but wonder if ADATA thought that this would be a hard drive that hunters or the military would be taking with them out into the brush, and if so, why this specific camouflage scheme, as opposed to a more conventional army green. (Myself, I'd suggest that truly hardcore, outdoorsy users also consider ADATA's Editors' Choice-winning HD830.)
Unlike that latest winner, the HD710M Pro, in both of its offered storage capacities (1TB and 2TB), weighs exactly the same. (The HD830 weighs a little more in its higher-capacity 4TB and 5TB versions than at the 2TB capacity tested by PC Labs.) Both HD710M Pro models weigh in at 9.5 ounces and measure 0.85 by 3.9 by 5.2 inches (HWD). The HD830, in contrast, is a metal-heavy beast, and about twice the weight. The HD710M Pro is 0.1 ounce lighter than the previous Editors' Choice in the rugged-drive category, the CalDigit Tuff. While not a huge difference, in the world of portable gear every ounce (or fraction thereof) counts.
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Speaking of portability, the HD710M Pro manages to be both much slimmer and much lighter than the HD830—but, surprisingly, it's rated by ADATA to survive drops from about a foot higher. (The increased weight of the HD830 likely means more acceleration, and the metal casing more shock transfer, when dropped.) That said, the HD830 is vastly more crushproof, designed for more than 3 tons of weight bearing down on it. ADATA makes no specific claims regarding crush resistance with this model.
One small touch I liked about the HD710M Pro's enclosure: the grips and channels around the edges of the drive. They allow you to keep the drive's detachable USB cable parked in the grooves and tethered to the drive at all times, even when not plugged into the USB connector. That's a key point, given that you need to detach the cable from the drive to keep it waterproof and dust-ingress-resistant. A detached cable is too often a lost cable; at least this one has a parking place.
The IP68 standard is the one in play here defining the ruggedness of the HD710M Pro. (See our guide explaining device ruggedness ratings.) Rated as dustproof, shockproof, and waterproof up to two meters for one hour (opposed to two hours with the HD830), the HD710M Pro brings a solid standard of protection against casual and more-than-casual abuse. Perhaps most important is the shockproof aspect of this drive, considering that hard drives are far more vulnerable to damage when dropped than their solid-state counterparts are.
Much like its HD830 sibling, the HD710M Pro offers a solid cost per gigabyte that's competitive with most other rugged external hard drives on the market. The 2TB version I tested comes in at around 6 cents per gigabyte at the MSRP, which, while cheap, is roughly 20 percent pricier than the HD830. Even so, it's still drastically cheaper than options like CalDigit's, which currently retails for around 9 cents per gig at the same capacity.
As for the actual drive durability, the HD710M Pro felt like it might be much more sensitive to trauma than the HD830. The housing is a sheet of anti-shock silicone wrapping and something the company refers to as "extreme" plastic. I suppose it's extreme enough; the drive still worked fine even after I dropped it from the rated 4.9-foot (1.5-meter) maximum rated drop height. Dunking, as well, did it no harm, with the USB-port cap snug in place.
In our benchmark tests, the HD710M Pro performed on par for an external 5,400rpm drive connected over a USB 3 port. Its PCMark 7 score of 1,822 was right on the, well, mark, and I saw no surprises from its BlackMagic results when tested on an Apple MacBook Pro. It racked up a read speed of 120MBps and a write rate of 116MBps.
This puts it ever-so-slightly behind competition like the CalDigit Tuff drive, but I don't expect that under most circumstances, casual or even keen-eyed users can tell the difference in mechanism speeds that granular. The PC Labs 1.2GB drag-and-drop test showed a clock time just short of 12 seconds to transfer our test folder, so there's almost nothing about the HD710M Pro that would catch even savvy observers of hard drives off-guard.
That said, the HD710M Pro is roughly $70 cheaper than the CalDigit Tuff at the same tested capacity, which makes a better value for anyone caught between these two options in particular.
Now, you might find a hunter's-style camo-coat on your mobile gear fist-pumpingly awesome, or just corny. Tastes are tastes. But considering that the HD710M Pro technically could be deployed in the battlefield, and that like-priced alternatives exist even within ADATA's own line, ADATA gets a high-five for trying something different.
Granted, nothing was noteworthy about the drive's performance in our testing versus other USB platter-based portable externals; platter drives seldom surprise us in that way. But the lightweight design and strong drop-test results make the HD710M Pro a good fit for anyone who travels with his or her data often and needs a carrier that's durable—and maybe even invisible, when hiding in the underbrush or a duck blind.
Best for Hunters, Military Applications
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Durable in drop tests.
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Good dollar-per-gigabyte ratio.
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Trim enclosure.
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Lightweight for a ruggedized unit.
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Cable storage around the edges.
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Camouflage exterior may not be for everyone.
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Plastic housing only.
Love or hate its camouflage look, the ADATA HD710M Pro external rugged hard drive provides on-par performance and fine durability at a competitive price.
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About Our Expert
I'm a senior analyst charged with testing and reviewing VPNs and other security apps for PCMag. I grew up in the heart of Silicon Valley and have been involved with technology since the 1990s. Previously at PCMag, I was a hardware analyst benchmarking and reviewing consumer gadgets and PC hardware such as desktop processors, GPUs, monitors, and internal storage. I've also worked as a freelancer for Gadget Review, VPN.com, and Digital Trends, wading through seas of hardware and software at every turn. In my free time, you’ll find me shredding the slopes on my snowboard in the Rocky Mountains where I live, or using my culinary-degree skills to whip up a dish in the kitchen for friends.
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As a former PC component reviewer and longtime gamer, almost every PC I use is one that I've custom-built. I use a system that runs an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X processor, along with an AMD Radeon RX 6800 graphics card in a black case. For mobile devices, I'm a longtime user of Apple smartphones and am deeply integrated into Cupertino's app ecosystem, and currently I have an iPhone 10X.
