Amazon deal makes WD 20TB external drive an enticing storage bargain for backups

The WD 20TB Elements Desktop External Drive drops to $550 during Prime Big Deal Days, offering a high-capacity, budget-friendly option for large backups and media storage, with reformatting needed for Mac users.

Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days has pushed the WD 20TB Elements Desktop External Drive down to $550, according to PC Guide, cutting $265 from its $815 list price. That takes the model back to its lowest level since April and makes it a more compelling buy for anyone looking for high-capacity local storage rather than a faster, more complex system.

The appeal of the drive is straightforward: it is designed for large backups and bulk file storage. PC Guide says it is well suited to photos, home videos, coursework, work files and full-system backups, and notes that the drive’s real-world usable capacity is closer to 18TB. In other words, this is a storage device for archiving and redundancy, not a performance-focused external SSD.

It connects over USB 3.0 and works as a plug-and-play drive on Windows, which keeps setup simple. PC Guide also says it can be used with macOS, but only after reformatting it, since it ships configured for Windows. That is a practical point for buyers who want cross-platform use, because the initial format change can take time on a drive this large.

Reviews elsewhere broadly back up the same positioning. Electronics Ranker describes the WD Elements as a solid option for backups and media libraries, while cautioning that it is not intended for low-latency work or SSD-like responsiveness. Review Rating similarly highlights the drive’s capacity and ease of use, but notes that some users mention noise during operation and the inconvenience of reformatting for Mac. Tom’s Hardware has also previously underlined the product’s value proposition when discounted, framing it as a budget-conscious way to get very large external storage without paying for a more feature-rich NAS enclosure.