Toshiba N300 vs WD Red Plus: Noise, Power and Speed per Part Number

Toshiba N300 vs WD Red Plus: reading two different sheets

WD prints the whole Red Plus range, 2 to 12TB, on one data sheet with eleven part numbers. Toshiba Electronics Europe's N300 datasheet, dated 04/2026, gives each capacity its own page of figures. The capacities both sheets cover are 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12TB, and at every one of those WD lists two Red Plus part numbers with different figures. So this page compares part numbers, not just sizes.

The two sheets also label their rows differently. WD gives noise as dBA at idle and an average seek figure; Toshiba gives a single acoustics figure in idle mode, printed as dB typical. We have not found a statement in either sheet of how its noise figure is measured, so this page prints each figure with its own unit and does not rank one maker's noise figure against the other's. For power, WD prints idle and read/write; Toshiba prints active idle and operating.

Toshiba N300 vs WD Red Plus at 4, 6 and 8TB

Up to 8TB the power result is consistent. Every Red Plus idle figure, 2.9 to 4.1 W, sits below the N300's active idle figure at the same capacity, and every Red Plus read/write figure sits below the N300's operating figure, on rows the two makers label differently. On noise, WD prints 23 to 25 dBA idle across these six part numbers and Toshiba prints 34 dB typical for the N300 at all three sizes; we leave those side by side.

Within each size, the EFPX numbers are the frugal ones at 6 and 8TB on WD's sheet: WD60EFPX and WD80EFPX idle at 3.1 and 3.4 W, whilst WD60EFZX and WD80EFZZ idle at 4.1 W. At 4TB the order flips, with WD40EFZZ at 2.9 W against WD40EFPX's 3.1 W. If a listing names a part number, match it to its row rather than to the capacity.

Toshiba N300 vs WD Red Plus at 10 and 12TB

From 10TB the power picture changes. WD prints 34 dBA idle for both 10TB part numbers and Toshiba prints 34 dB typical for the N300 10TB. The numbers are the same but the units are not, so this is not a tie: it is two makers' readings that this page cannot set against each other. On power the N300 sits between the two WD numbers: its 5.74 W active idle is below WD100EFGX's 6.1 W idle and above WD101EFBX's 4.6 W.

At 12TB the part number decides everything on the WD side. WD120EFGX is the louder and hungrier of WD's two numbers, at 34 dBA idle and 6.1 W, against WD120EFBX's 20 dBA and 2.9 W. Toshiba prints 20 dB typical for the N300 12TB, again on its own unit. On power, WD120EFBX has the lowest figures of the three, 2.9 W idle and 6.3 W read/write against the N300's 3.30 W active idle and 6.85 W operating. Two 12TB Red Plus listings can therefore be quite different drives on WD's own sheet.

Speed, cache and error rate

Here the lines trade places. Toshiba prints 7,200 rpm for the N300 at 4 and 12TB, and a 512MB buffer at every size from 4 to 12TB. WD's Red Plus runs at 5,400 or 5,640 rpm at 4 to 8TB, with 128MB or 256MB of cache, and only reaches 7,200 rpm at 10 and 12TB, with 512MB on its EFGX numbers. So at the small sizes you are choosing between Red Plus's lower power figures and the N300's higher spindle speed and larger buffer.

Toshiba also prints an unrecoverable error rate for each N300: 1 per 10^15 at 4, 6, 8 and 10TB, and 1 per 10^14 at 12TB, as the sheet shows it.

Ratings the N300 and WD Red Plus share

On the ratings that decide what a drive is for, the two lines match. WD lists CMR, 180TB/year and a 3-year limited warranty on every Red Plus part number and describes the range as for RAID-optimised NAS systems. Toshiba lists CMR, 180TB/year, 3 years and support for up to 8 bays on the N300 12TB, and up to 8 bays on the 4TB as well. Neither line is rated for heavier duty than the other on these rows.

Toshiba N300 vs WD Red Plus: which suits your NAS

• Lowest running power at 4 to 8TB: Red Plus, on both part numbers at each size.
• Quietest Red Plus at 4 to 8TB, on WD's own figures: WD40EFPX and WD60EFPX at 23 dBA idle.
• Higher spindle speed and a 512MB buffer at small capacities: the N300, whose sheet gives 7,200 rpm at 4TB.
• At 12TB on the WD side: WD120EFBX is the quieter and more frugal of the two Red Plus numbers, so check the part number, because WD120EFGX prints 34 dBA.

Warranty and workload will not separate them, so the decision rests on power and speed at your capacity, then on each maker's noise figure read on its own terms, and then on price. Before buying, confirm the part number on the listing: a Red Plus title that names only the capacity could be either of two rows above.

Toshiba N300 and WD Red Plus prices on Amazon.co.uk

Each line has its own table of new listings, lowest pounds per TB inc VAT first. The N300 table leaves out titles containing Pro. Compare rows at the same capacity, and read the part number in each title against the noise and power tables above.

A lowest price per TB is a level and may come from a different capacity on each side, so we print no percentage between them.

Rows at capacities this page has no figures for carry price and listing data only. The Recording column prints a technology only where a document ties it to the row's part number.

Related NAS drive pages

The full ranges are on Toshiba N300 and WD Red Plus. For the N300 against Seagate's NAS drives, see Toshiba N300 vs IronWolf; against Toshiba's desktop line, Toshiba N300 vs X300.