Best External Blu-Ray Drives in the UK

If you'd like to extend the life of the digital data that is precious to you, the best thing to do would be to burn them on the M-Disk. It's a revolutionary storage solution that claims to store data over 1,000 years, much more than most of the traditional hard drives or flash drives on the market. This has been achieved thanks to the innovative M-Disk burning technology which engraves your data into the patented rock-like layer that is highly resistant to extreme conditions.

It is quite surprising that with so many Blu-ray burners available for sale, only a few of them can support M-Disk formats, and the ASUS SBW-06D5H-U is one of them. It's a very reliable solution that stands out from the competition as one of the most compact options supporting M-Disk burning. The M-Disk format, in turn, is supported by DVD, Blu-ray, and BDXL discs, so the available recording capacities here range from 4.7 GB to enormous 128 GB. And owing to the accelerated writing speed, the ASUS SBW-06D5H-U needs no more than an hour to backup large data files. When it comes to simple DVD disks, you'll be able to burn them at 6x speed (dual-layer DVD requires approximately 45 mins).

Another perk of this model is that it's capable of handling the latest USB 3.1 technology, meaning it's able to transfer data 10x faster compared to traditional USB 2. The package includes a USB 3.1 Type C cable and a USB 3.1 Type A cable, making it compatible with a variety of laptops including Windows PC and Mac. Also included are the CyberLink Power2Go 8 and Nero BackItUp. The former simplifies the disc-burning process and offers optional encryption functionality while the latter provides the auto backup data, ensuring the highest level of your personal data protection.

What we have here is one of the smallest and most lightweight BD/DVD/CD burners supporting BDXL and M-Disk formats. Measuring just 133 x 133 x 14.8 mm and weighing less than 230 grammes, the Pioneer BDR-XD07TB is a super-portable device that won't take much space inside your laptop bag. For safe transportation, it has a clamshell design and is made entirely of metal. It has great anti-shock properties and will stand up well to the abuse of travelling. What also makes it highly portable is its ability to be powered directly via a USB port (a double-USB3 connector is included in the box).

Yet, despite its compact design, it packs a big punch and can give many other Blu-ray drives a run for their money. This USB 3.0 drive boasts an advanced power laser that is capable of burning and reading not only standard formats but BDXL-format discs and M-Disc media as well. Using this drive with BDXL discs, you'll be able to achieve really impressive capacities of 128 GB and 100 GB. It easily handles BD-R triple-layer 100GB media, BD-R quad-layer 128GB media, as well as BD-RE triple-layer 100GB media. So, if you need to handle the data at such scale, the Pioneer BDR-XD07TB external Blu-ray burner can be an excellent option for you.

If you've got a PC without an internal drive and are looking for an external Blu-ray drive to perform basic tasks or watch HD movies mostly, there is no reason to overpay for fancy options (unless you want). And for those who agree with this, we have included the PiAEK Blu Ray DVD Drive into our shortlist. Compared to other drives produced by big names, this one comes at a comparatively low price, however, despite that, it has quite a lot to bring to the table.

To begin with, it is capable of reading CD discs at up to 24x speed, DVD discs at up to 8x, and Blu-ray discs at up to 6x. This is a good speed for smooth playback of any type of media, including high-resolution 4K videos and even 3D films. The only restriction is that your disc shouldn't exceed 50GB. Also, you should keep in mind that this drive can't be used for TVs or tablets since it's intended only for PCs and laptops.

When it comes to burning capabilities, the PiAEK external drive writes well to common DVDs and CDs with 8.5G, 4.7G, and 700M capacities. On average, it needs about 15 minutes to burn a full HD film (it’s approximately 4 GB) to a DVD disc. The drive is compatible with Windows OS (10/8/7/98/ SE/ME/2000/XP/Vista) and all versions of Mac OS, so we believe there will be no problems with synchronisation.

The CIpotZIZ External Blu-ray Drive Combo is one more great product for those computers that don't include a Blu-ray drive and those users who're looking for a simple drive to add this feature to their PCs. It's a cheap, no-frills drive that perfectly copes with playing Blu-rays flawlessly. So, if you'd like to get a lot of fun for not a lot of money, it may tick all the right boxes for you.

First off, we would like to stress that it's a high-speed drive that despite its modest price is fitted with the USB 3.0 technology. This provides fast data transmission and stable performance. The unit comes with both a USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 cable. Whereas it basically requires users to connect a USB 3.0 cable only, you can optionally connect the USB 2.0 plug for enhanced stability.

As an interesting peculiarity, the manufacturer has done this external drive with a detachable design - the outer casing and the optical disk drive (ODD) here is separable and can accommodate a 12.7-mm mobile hard disk drive (HDD). The inclusion of a mobile hard disk makes this drive a good mobile storage product that will provide you with considerable storage capacity wherever you are. So, if you'd like to have portable, on-the-go storage at your fingertips, the CIpotZIZ External Blu-ray Drive may be a good investment.

Although KuWFi isn’t a well-known name on the electronics market, the brand offers a good-quality computer peripheral that can help save you lots of money on buying a sophisticated computer with a Blu-ray drive. The KuWFi External drive is capable of both Blu-ray disc burning and playing, allowing you to enjoy high-resolution video content on your laptop or home computer. It easily handles not only ultra-HD formats but 3D films as well.

Besides Blu-rays, the drive lets you record CD/DVD/BD discs, music, videos, or installing software. To be more precise, it supports BD-ROM, BD-R, CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD-ROW, and DVD-R disks. And owing to the strong error-correcting ability, you won't face any problems during the burning process regardless of the format you choose. The strong side of this driver is that it works ultimately quietly when reading and writing disks. Equipped with noise reduction technology, it doesn't make an annoying buzz and, actually, all you'll hear is just disc spinning inside when it's working.