Verdict

All are CMR NAS drives. The ST12000NM001G has the lowest measured failure rate (0.97% AFR), making it the safer long-term choice.

HUH721212ALE604
WD Ultrastar DC HC520 · 12TB · Enterprise
$349 ($29.08/TB)
ST12000NM001G
Seagate Exos X16 · 12TB · Enterprise
No US price yet

Value at a glance

Price / TB
HUH721212ALE604 $29.08
ST12000NM001G $39.71
Failure rate (AFR)
HUH721212ALE604 2.98%
ST12000NM001G 0.97%
Capacity
HUH721212ALE604 12 TB
ST12000NM001G 12 TB
Noise (idle)
HUH721212ALE604 20 dB
ST12000NM001G 29 dB

Price history · US, cheapest per day

HUH721212ALE604 $349 ST12000NM001G $499
zoomed · drag to zoom
$521 $363 $204 Aug 2024 Dec 2024 May 2025 Sep 2025 Feb 2026 Jul 2026
HUH721212ALE604 ST12000NM001G
Capacity 12 TB 12 TB
Recording tech CMR CMR
RAID / NAS safe Yes Yes
Class Enterprise Enterprise
Spindle speed 7200 RPM 7200 RPM
Cache 256 MB 256 MB
Noise (idle) 20 dB 29 dB
Fill Helium Helium
Interface SATA SATA
Failure rate (AFR) 2.98% 0.97%
Price / TB $29.08 $39.71
Buy
$349
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No US price yet

Highlighted cells mark the stronger spec for a NAS build. Failure rates from Backblaze Drive Stats where available; $/TB uses the cheapest live price. Buy links are Amazon affiliate.

HUH721212ALE604

2.98% AFR vs 1.34% fleet avg

95% CI 2.79-3.17%

25,665 drives · ~32,114 drive-years · 957 failures · Backblaze thru Q1 2026

5yr warranty · 550 TB/yr rated · 2,500,000h MTBF

ST12000NM001G

0.97% AFR vs 1.34% fleet avg

95% CI 0.83-1.14%

13,216 drives · ~16,448 drive-years · 160 failures · Backblaze thru Q1 2026

5yr warranty · 550 TB/yr rated · 2,500,000h MTBF