Why does WD have so many different portable models?

[dfeweer]

I’m looking for a portable drive and I was wondering if anyone can explain why WD has so many different models of portable drives.

The models are…

1. My Passport Ultra
2. My Passport
3. Elements
4. Elements SE

And from looking around, I found a couple of other drives on Walmart’s website, they are

5. WD Drive, link
6. WD Drive Plus, link

For the last 2 drives on Walmart’s website, note that the package just says “WD Drive” and “WD Drive Plus” (respectively) even though they look like My Passport drives.

My questions are…

1. So why does WD have so many different portable models?
2. What is the real difference between Elements and Elements SE (I have not been able to find anything definitive from searching online)?
3. Does anyone know what is the deal with the “WD Drive” and “WD Drive Plus” portables sold at Walmart?

Thanks in advance.

Dan

[cat0w]

@dfeweer

Have you visited their website and read the information that is provided? What do you want the drive to do?

High-Capacity HDDs for PCs, NAS, Gaming, Data Centers, and AI Data Cycles | Western Digital

[Vegan]

I found generic enclosures to be safer and multiple disks allow for redundant copies of important data.

[DataWizard0103]

WD uses different names to separate features and price points even when the drives inside are very similar. My Passport and Passport Ultra are the “feature” line with hardware encryption and bundled WD software while Elements is the no-frills option meant to be cheaper and simple. Elements SE is usually a slimmer or lower capacity variant and sometimes uses a slightly different interface or casing to hit a specific price tier for big retailers. The “WD Drive” and “WD Drive Plus” you see at Walmart are retailer-exclusive rebrands that let Walmart sell essentially My Passport class drives without price matching conflicts. Internally they’re often the same hardware just with simplified packaging and fewer bundled extras.