For main hard drive backups I’m using the dd command as well. System rebooted in a live gparted session, I have Linux installed in a 240gb hard drive, and making an image of this disk in an external usb 3.0 drive it takes ~~ 15-20 mins.
Suggestion: I always use the cli parameter status=progress so I can real time monitor status of command.
I find this is the best system.