Same as Spikes, I've have 6 WD Blacks from 1 to 4 gb, from 5 years old to almost new, none have died or had noticeable decreases in performance. I have a number of Seagate spinners too, a couple internal and at least a dozen external/backups. Large number of Samsung Evo/Pros from 250 to 1gb, and a 950 and 960 m.2. None have failed, but I've read reports of each and every one of those models failing. Obviously some fail at rates higher than others. IMO you should always have your important data backed up several times anyway, so even if "the best" drive dies, it's only a small financial hit, as the drives are pretty cheap now.