The best optical drives for your computer allow you to use or create discs even when your PC doesn't have a drive built in. Many of the best laptops, modern cheap laptops, and even desktops have ditched the good ol' optical drives with the rise of online streaming services and the ability to download content on the go. That being said, there's still a good chunk of people who carry around a library of movies and music.

From compact and affordable units to powerful and featured-packed drives, we've put together a collection of some of the best optical drives on the market. Whether you're an enthusiast looking for a powerful Blu-ray drive or an average Joe looking for a basic CD/DVD burner, we have some solid recommendations for you.

Our favorite optical drives in 2023

If you're in the market to buy an optical drive in 2022, then let it be the ASUS BW-16D1X-U Blu-ray drive. This featured-packed optical drive offers a long list of features, and it manages to do so without burning a huge hole in your pockets. One of the first things you notice about this drive is that it has a modern design. A lot of these optical drives tend to reflect their age-old design, but the ASUS unit we picked here is different.

The drive comes with a matte black and glossy surface on the top. There's also a cool LED indicator that lights up when the drive is active. The ASUS BW-16D1X-U Blu-ray drive is chunkier than a lot of options on the market, but it also does more than a lot of other drives out there. This Blu-ray burner offers a Plug and Play design; all you have to do is simply connect the drive to your computer, and it starts to work.

When it comes to compatibility, the ASUS BW-16D1X-U Blu-ray drive supports just about any Blu-ray, DVD, and CD format. It also supports M-discs, which are designed for long-term archiving. ASUS claims that it can last for up to 1,000 years, which is quite promising. If you're someone who's into archiving or likes to take plenty of backups, then this might be the drive for you. Do note that there's no support for Ultra Blu-ray discs.

The ASUS BW-16D1X-U also offers super read and writes speeds. The supporting software on Windows is also very reliable in terms of functionality. That being said, there's no shortage of supporting software on the market. You can use a bunch of them from Power2Go to NeroBackItUp to extract or back up files. A lot of this software also has an encryption function to secure your data. Additionally, ASUS provides a free six-month subscription to their cloud storage system with the BW-16D1X-U.

The LG GP65NB60 has a low-profile design to take up less space on your desk and to make it easier to carry around. Measuring in at 0.6 x 5.4 x 5.6 inches, the LG GP65BN60 is small enough to fit into your backpack. The drive is also compatible with a variety of standards. It can both read and write different types of disc formats including CD/DVD, DVD+R, RW DVD-R, RW DVD-RAM, and more. This particular drive also supports M-discs for backup and archival processes, making it a great option for those who like to collect data or media files. The M-disc uses a patent rock-like recording surface instead of organic dye to etch the data onto the disc. M-Discs are usually proven to outlast the existing DVDs/CDs on the market.

The LG GP56BN60 is also reliable when it comes to the overall performance of the drive. It can read CD-ROM at 24x speeds and DVD-ROM at 8x speeds. The LG GP65BN60 can write with up to 24x in CD-R and up to 8x on DVD-R. It may not be the fastest drive on the market, but it's still commendable and very reliable for the price. One of the best things about this particular drive from LG is that it only demands a single USB connection. This is for both the drive power and the data transfer needs.

It supports Windows and Mac, making it another solid option for Mac users. And the fact that it can also burn archival-quality M-discs makes it a very good optical drive option to consider, especially at this price. The only thing that's missing here is the ability to read/write Blu-ray discs. That's not necessarily a deal-breaker for those who don't want a Blu-ray-compatible drive.

The OWC Mercury Pro optical drive is also a solid option to consider if you don't want to go for the top ASUS option. The only downside is that it's slightly more expensive. One of the things you'll notice about the OWC Mercury Pro External optical drive is its rugged, durable look. Unlike the ASUS BW-16D1X-U drive, this one comes in a matte aluminum enclosure.

In terms of the IO, the OWC Mercury Pro external drive sports a USB 3.0 slot, a DC input, a power switch, and a Kensington security slot. The OWC Mercury Pro drive is tray loading, which means the drive tray slides out for the Blu-ray discs. Tray loading is much easier to use and there are fewer chances of you breaking or corrupting your discs.

The OWC Mercury Pro is compatible with almost all major formats out there. This includes M-Disc, which is essentially an archival quality disc format that lasts longer than any other standard out there. Most other Blu-ray drives aren't compatible with these long-lasting discs. The OWC Mercury Pro drive is also second to none when it comes to overall performance. Both extracting and copying files to the discs are blazing-fast. The OWC Mercury drive is the one to get if you tend to burn a lot of Blu-rays. It's also very reliable and easy to use. All you have to do is use the USB cable to connect it to your computer, and you should be good to go.

The Dell DW316 USB DVD Drive is another great option to consider if you're looking for a simple and easy-to-use optical drive that is inexpensive. Just like the LG GP65BN60 drive, the Dell unit doesn't support Blu-ray. That being said, it's a great option if you only need something to handle your CD/DVD needs. The Dell DW316 measures just 0.55 x 5.41 x 5.67 inches, which means it's also just as portable as the LG option we saw earlier. You can connect and use these drives with just a USB connector, adding to portability. The Dell DW316 officially comes with support for Windows, but it's known to work with Mac computers too. You may need a dongle or a supported adapter to use it with new MacBooks.

This drive from Dell comes preloaded with CyberLink Media Suite that lets you easily connect the drive and explore all the available options. You can use it to burn DVDs/CDs or even rip some data off the discs. You may have to download a third-party app to get the drive working with macOS since there's no official support for the same.

The overall performance of the Dell DW316 is comparable to a lot of other drives on the market right now. According to Dell, the DW316 drive boasts a maximum read speed of up to 24x for CDs and 8x for DVDs. The Dell DW316 is also known for making less noise under load. Dell is offering a one-year warranty for the DW316 drive in case something goes wrong. It's also worth pointing out that the Dell DW316 offers tray loading for discs, which is known to be better and more reliable than the top spindle loading drives.

The ASUS ZenDrive is yet another reliable option that pops up while discussing optical DVD/CD drives without Blu-ray support. We think the ASUS ZenDrive is one of the best DVD burners you can buy right now. You're getting a high-quality drive with an amazing build quality and a lot of other great features for an affordable price. The ASUS ZenDrive, unlike a lot of other optical drives on the market, only requires a single USB connector. It makes the drive very easy to use without having to carry around a bunch of cables to get it up and running.

The ZenDrive is reliable and performs well for its size. It handles read and write speeds of up to 24x for CDs and 8x for DVDs, respectively. These speeds are on par with most other optical drives on the market right now. In fact, the ZenDrive trades blows with a lot of other premium drives we've mentioned in this collection. Additionally, the ZenDrive can also access CD and DVD content in just 160ms.

Another thing that's worth making mentioning is that the ZenDrive supports burning to M-Disc. This feature isn't supported by a lot of optical drives in comparison, so that's a good addition. Being able to burn to M-Disc makes the ZenDrive a good option for those who're looking to create long-lasting archival data that can last up to 1,000 years. Another reason why we recommend picking up the ASUS ZenDrive is that it supports both Windows and macOS. The drive comes with CyberLink software to help you get started, be it storing content on discs or extracting them.

LG has some of the best optical drives on the market, including our pick for the best budget drive. We're also adding the LG WP50NB40 drive to the list as our pick for the best drive for different storage formats. Want support for both Blu-ray and DVD? No problem. Want support for M-Discs? No problem, either.

The LG WP50NB40 has a slim profile measuring just two inches thick. In fact, this is one of the few optical drives on the market that's as slim as it is with support for a variety of different formats. This particular drive is just a half-inch thick, making it one of the most portable drives around. The overall measurements are also small enough to fit inside a small backpack.

The LG WP50NB40 isn't the fastest when it comes to to write speeds (6x Blu-ray write and read) but it makes up for it with format support. It supports both M-Disc and BDXL discs, which is impressive by itself. M-discs are archival media formats and BDXL discs are high-capacity Blu-ray formats. BDXL discs are capable of holding several times the data that can be stored inside a standard Blu-ray disc.

This is probably one of the very few drives on the market that supports this many storage formats. Sure, it's going to be a little slower than a lot of other drives, but we'd trade that to get support for this many formats. Another thing that's worth pointing out is the fact that it requires two USB connections. You'll need one for your computer and the other one for a power supply. This isn't necessarily a deal-breaker, but a lot of other drives only demand one connection. This could potentially make it a little tricky to work with, especially when you're on the move. The LG WP50NB40 works well with both Windows and macOS, so you shouldn't have any issues getting it up and running.

The Pioneer BDR-XU03 is probably one of the best-looking optical drives on the market right now. This drive also happens to be the only one in the list that's compatible with just Apple's Mac computers.

The Pioneer BDR-XU03 reflects the sleek aesthetic of Apple devices with its design. It only measures 5.2 x 0.8 x 5.2 inches and weighs about 220 grams. The Pioneer BDR-XU03 sports a magnesium body and comes with a stand for a vertical orientation. Being able to orient the drive vertically makes it even more compact. Besides that, the Pioneer BDR-XU03 also supports a variety of different formats including BDXL, which means you can use this drive to burn or extract high-capacity data. The drive also comes with support for a few intelligent playback modes including PowerRead, PureRead2+, and Auto Quiet mode. All these features come together for a unique all-around experience.

PowerRead and PowerRead2+ allow the drive to provide smoother playback when it comes to music and other media files such as movies. The Auto Quiet mode, as the name suggests, automatically reduces the overall noise output of the drive by lowering the read and write speeds while playing media files. As for the read and write speeds, the Pioneer BDR-XU03 offers Blu-ray write speeds of 6x and Blu-ray read speeds of 6x. These speeds are more in-line with a lot of other drives on the market. All things considered, we think the Pioneer BDR-XU03 is a very good optical drive for Mac users.

Getting the best optical drive for you

Modern computers may be ditching these optical drives, but there's clearly a lot of them still alive and kicking for those who still rely on CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays. Optical drives vary quite a bit in size, performance, and compatibility, but we've rounded up a thorough collection here that should appeal to most users.

The ASUS BW-16D1X-U Blu-ray Drive is one of the best optical drives to consider right now if you want the complete package with fast performance and versatility, and you don't mind a larger size. The Dell DW316 USB DVD Drive is also worth considering if you don't mind giving up support for Blu-ray for a cheaper price. Those who want to explore different storage formats should definitely check out the LG WP50NB40, though it is on the pricey side.

As you'll need a PC or Mac to use these USB optical drives, you might want to check out our collection of the best laptops. And if you do have a modern system, more of the best Thunderbolt accessories can maximize performance and versatility.