The best Xbox Series X hard drive for you might not be an external device you used for the Xbox One era. With so many titles from Game Pass to download and try out, you really want to go for something that will let you access them all at speed, preferably without transfer times to and from the console. Expansion cards are the solution nowadays, although it might surprise you how far an external SSD could take you as well.
Annoyingly, there's no M.2 port in the Xbox Series X or S, which means you won't quite get the benefits of the best SSDs for gaming as PS5 owners do. Having said that, you do have a similar amount of storage space out of the box. In fact, if you're opting for the new Special Edition Xbox Series X which comes with 2TB of space, you'll get even more internal space. As for the Series S, you're cutting that down to 1TB at most, and 500GB if you go for the stock version. In other words, this is a console that's in dire need of some storage boosts, so let's help you find what you need.
The fastest solution available to you (for the time being) is undoubtedly going to be the officially licensed Seagate Storage Expansion card or the WD Black C50. These allow for native performance that's on par with the Xbox Series X's very speedy internal SSD. Keep in mind that you cannot boot Xbox Series X games off of an external hard drive at present, whether it's an SSD or HDD, so we tend to view these options more as expanded storage for unused last-generation games. They also make transferring game captures and screenshots a lot easier.
Phil has installed countless games on consoles and PCs over the years, so they know exactly what to look for with Xbox Series X storage. From speedy external SSDs to expansion cards made for Microsoft's latest console, they're continually on the hunt for better ways to store big adventures and screenshots.
The Quick List
The best Xbox Series X hard drive overall
Providing a genuine expansion to the console's speedy storage while also sliding under the price of Seagate, the WD Black C50 is the best expansion card for the Xbox.
The best budget HDD
If it's cheap and cheerful HDD storage you'd prefer, go for one of these. WD's My Passport is available in lots of colors and gives you up to 4TB of space on the cheap.
The best external SSD
If it's the be-all, end-all in external storage you seek, look no further. The WD Black P40 is so speedy you'll question what external storage means in this day and age.
The best 2TB expansion card
The OG expansion card still offers something the C50 can't, and that's a larger-capacity option. It's definitely the pricy option, but it'll give you more space for those Game Pass games.
The best value SSD
The Samsung T7 is the successor to the very popular T5, and it's easily one of the best external SSDs money can buy. You can usually find it at fairly reasonable prices too.
Best budget external SSD
External SSDs aren't always the cheapest, so if you can get one for this kind of price, you're winning. The Silicon Power Bolt B75 Pro is no slouch in the speed department either.
The most portable SSD
The Crucial X10 is just as easy to carry around as one of the official expansion cards, but it can attach to a keyring too. It's not far off the P40's speeds either.
The best Xbox branded hard drive
Whether in its beautiful Halo Infinite livery or not, the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox gives long-term fans the chance to decorate with some green lighting.
Recent updates
September 26. 2024 - This Xbox Series X storage guide has been updated with a new "How we test" section alongside general housekeeping and checks across all of our recommendations.
The best Xbox Series X and S hard drive overall
There's a new king of Xbox Series X and S storage, and it's the WD Black C50. This is as close as you'll get to the best SSDs for PS5 because it boosts your console's internal capacity without dropping performance rates. In testing the C50, we found exactly what was promised, and it's almost a like-for-like match with the original Seagate Expansion Card.
If you want to maximize value as well as features, this is probably the best option on the market for Xbox gamers. You simply slot this into the back of your console, do a quick format, and you're off to the races. The speed of this small card is such that you can quick resume between games stored on the console's internals and the expansion seamlessly, without any delays signaling there are even two drives in play.
Besides some slow-downs during transfers, the C50 performs excellently, and just about keeps up with the Series X's ridiculous internal SSD. While that speedy drive managed to transfer Atomic Heart which ranges 78.96GB to the Expansion Card in just under two minutes, the C50 wrote it back in just under four. In specific speeds, that equates to the internal drive having a write speed of around 5.95GB/s, and the C50 having roughly 3.94GB/s.
All in all, if you want excellent value for a 512GB or 1TB drive, the C50 is the best you can go for. Although, there really isn't much that separates it from the Seagate option.
The best budget Xbox Series X hard drive
We've seen the outer casing change a few times in recent years, but Western Digital's My Passport series has been a great fit for expanding the storage capacities of Xbox and PlayStation consoles for a few years now. In fact, this is undoubtedly one of the best PS5 external hard drives and remains one of the best Xbox One external hard drives. This series is always on lists of recommended options from ourselves and plenty of other sites too, mainly for the capacity-to-price ratio you get with them. With cheap and cheerful HDD storage, you won't get very good speeds, but you also won't break the bank.
Via the retailer links above you'll generally land on our favored 4TB model, but you can find smaller capacity drives are more than enough depending on how many games you want immediate access to without having to re-download them all the time.
WD My Passport has been released in a wide range of colors, so you will have more options to choose from and you should never pay the full MSRP for one of these as they're seemingly always on sale. If you just want plenty of space for the lowest cost without risking losing your data, the WD My Passport is the way to go for on Xbox Series X hard drive.
The best Xbox Series X external SSD
The WD_Black P40 SSD is the latest in WD's gaming-focused external hard drives, and it's one of the best performers you can get your hands on. It takes the speedy specs and robust design of the P50 and carries both over to a small form factor body that makes use of some lovely ambient RGB lighting.
Unfortunately, the P40 is one of the more expensive options up and down this list, particularly because it's a recent release from one of the biggest names in storage. For your purchase though, you get the drive itself, WD's Windows dashboard, a USB-C cable and USB-A adapter, a quick install guide, and a 5-year warranty I'd be surprised if you need to use.
Read and write speeds were great in testing. The 2000MB/s speed you see on the box is as good as you'll get in an external hard drive, but in reality, it translates to some great load times and transfer speeds on PS5 and PC. I had a load of game capture footage stored on my PS5 I had been meaning to move across to my computer for video editing, and even though it was about 30 clips spanning a total of 22GB, the P40 swallowed it up from the PS5 in about a minute. The same was true of games once I formatted the drive for some extra storage. I transferred three games that added up to 18GB, and it moved across in just shy of a minute.
The best 2TB expansion card for Xbox Series X
The official Seagate Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X is the other best option for expanding your storage with no compromises on performance.
We've extensively tested the load times of this card vs the internal storage of the console along with performance on games enhanced for Series X and it matches the internal NVMe SSD at every turn. As we mentioned, there really isn't much separating the C50 from this when it comes to expanding your game storage. Both are the best options you can go for.
If you can afford it, this is certainly the card to go for if you want larger capacities. the WD Black C50 only goes up to 1TB drives, whereas this goes up to 2TB. Admittedly though, that 2TB is more expensive. Thankfully, the 1TB model has dropped mostly everywhere to match the price of the C50 at £159 / $159. Hopefully, as the 2TB model continues to age we see more price drops.
The best value external SSD for Xbox Series X
The Samsung T7 Shield is the latest in Samsung's range of high-speed performance-first external SSDs but this one has an emphasis on durability. As the picture above might indicate, it doesn't matter which platform you plan to use it with, this is a universal drive. In fact, it's been on our list of the best PS4 external hard drives for a while now.
Samsung says that the T7 drives should offer double the performance of the still-excellent T5 drives - and our testing proves that's very much the case. While the 1,050 MB/s read and 1,000 MB/s write won't bother NVMe counterparts, as far as external drives go, the Samsung T7 Shield is certainly offering excellent sequential performance. We found that the claimed figures were largely in keeping with the maximum sequential performance, and solid figures from an external drive plugged in via USB 3.2.
Another main selling point of this drive is the rugged nature of its outer casing. Samsung has stated that the T7 Shield is able to withstand all manner of harsh conditions, with drop tests being done four times from three meters in the air onto solid concrete with no signs of physical damage to the casings or internals.
At around $160 / £130 mark for a 1TB model or $290 / £215 mark for 2TB, it's far from the cheapest Xbox Series X external hard drive around, but those speeds, and tank-like shell, may justify the investment for you.
The best budget external SSD for Xbox Series X
Away from the mega-big boys of the best Xbox Series X hard drive market, manufacturers and brands like Silicon Power quietly go about their business of making equally dependable, robust, competitively priced, and quality hard drives. And SP's Bolt B75 Pro SSD drive is exactly that.
This is an Incredibly light, but incredibly robust unit, which means it's easily transportable yet you can have great confidence in it if you're prone to mishaps, or just want that extra protection. Its military-grade shockproof, aluminium case will look after the important stuff inside easily and the casing definitely exudes the rugged quality that was intended. The unit as a whole doesn't feel solid but that comes from its lightness - some folks may prefer a more hefty unit.
The SSD's performance is very solid, but nothing too spectacular. As a result, if you're after something that offers good value, want to upgrade from an existing HDD to SSD to ensure you get that better and faster performance without number chasing too much, and you want something robust then this is a great contender.
The most portable SSD for Xbox Series X
Crucial by Micron is no stranger to anyone that knows the digital storage market. In this portable SSD, the Crucial X10 Pro, the brand gives you either 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB of space in a tiny drive you can fit in your pocket. While I was a bit too scared to test its durability properly, it's marketed as being resistant to splashes, dust, and drops. For those reasons, we award it with the best external hard drive for portability.
Its speeds aren't too shabby either. Used with the PS5, I managed to move a hefty 439.5GB from the console to the X10 Pro in 34 mins. While that might seem like a small eternity with today's Gen 5 SSD speeds, just imagine the time it'd take to download that much raw data. Transferring 46GB worth of 2018's God of War from the hard drive to console storage, meanwhile, took only 5 minutes and 16 seconds. The speeds on the box here are 2,100MB/s read, and 2,000MB/s write, so it wouldn't shy away from the absolute best options on the top of this list.
The only problem is, this is meant for professionals, not necessarily gamers. That means it's arguably missing some gaming flare in its design, but I think for such a powerful drive in as small a package as it is, we can't make too many demands. On that "meant-for-professionals" note, it is fairly pricey. Regardless, this is definitely one of the best external hard drives on the market if you want a portable solution for gaming, work, or content creation.
The best Xbox branded HDD
Editor's note: The Seagate Halo Infinite Special Edition Game Drive can be a bit difficult to find sometimes since its popular among a lot of Xbox fans. While that specific option might not be readily available, the other Xbox-branded Seagate Game Drive (which also has green lighting) is easier to find.
US: $79.76 average price at Amazon for 2TB
UK: £74.44 average price at Amazon for 1TB
The Seagate Halo Infinite Special Edition Game Drive for Xbox is a mouthful but, in essence, what we have here is a supremely cool, special edition hard drive to team with your Xbox console.
While ostensibly this is just a simple-but-effective, and ever-reliable Seagate external HDD, the attraction comes hard and heavy with the design and RGB effects. This really sets the hard drive apart and is perfect for Xbox and Halo fans.
Yes, the performance won't be blistering - it's only an HDD after all, offering those limited speeds, but at least with USB 3.0 interfaces - so it's not going to be one for those looking for only optimized game storage and being able to play those games from the drive. But if you've got a whole bunch of older games, perhaps, that you're keen to keep within arms reach, and keep on something that looks cool as heck then this is an absolutely blinding choice.
Buying tips for Xbox Series X external hard drives
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If you're heading out to shop for your own Xbox Series X external hard drive or are considering seeing if an old drive you have at home might be usable instead, there are a few things to bear in mind.
It's worth double checking what USB type the drive has. For Xbox Series X you'll need one that has a USB 3.0 connection or higher. Legacy USB 2.0 and 2.1, often found on older drives, are a no go. Unlike the PS5, the Series X console does not have a modern USB-C (sometimes listed as 'Type-C') port, so we'd avoid drives that only have USB-C connections as even USB-C to USB 3.0 adapters aren't guaranteed to make them work. Some drives like the Samsung T5 mentioned above have a USB Type C connection going into the drive itself and a USB 3.0 connection on the other end of the cable - this is fine.
When you plug an external hard drive into your Xbox Series X, it will ask for permission to format it. Full warning - this will delete everything else on the drive. So be sure to remove or backup anything on there you were thinking of using. Sadly, you cannot use a single external hard drive to store both PlayStation and Xbox games, so if you had the smart idea to buy one massive drive to use for both, this unfortunately won't work.
If you're still unsure of what to go for, have a look at our frequently asked questions below. We've tried to cover the bases of what you need to know when buying one of the best Xbox Series X hard drives.
Best Xbox Series X hard drives: FAQs
What SSD should I get for Xbox Series X?
External SSDs are getting pretty powerful, and brands like Samsung, WD Black, and Crucial all have some excellent portable options. We prefer the WD Black P40, the Samsung T7 or T9 models, or Crucial's X10 Pro. There's also the option to go for an Xbox Series X expansion card, which gives you the very best performance possible from an Xbox SSD.
What kind of hard drive works with Xbox Series X?
If you want to expand the storage of your Xbox Series X or S, you have the choice of an officially licensed expansion card from WD or Seagate, an external SSD, or a traditional USB hard drive. If you want to launch and Quick Resume from additional storage, you'll need an expansion drive. If you're on a tight budget, an HDD will do the trick, and a happy middle ground is a portable SSD.
Can you upgrade the Xbox Series X hard drive?
With one of the best Xbox Series X hard drives, you can upgrade your console's out-of-the-box storage. For the best results, we'd recommend the WD Black C50, since it's better value than the Seagate Expansion Card. Both of these will let you increase your internal capacity, and use features like Quick Resume.
Is 1TB enough for Xbox Series X?
1TB is more than enough storage, since it's already more than double what you have to play with in terms of base internal storage. However, if you can get more than 1TB, that will definitely give you more futureproofing. As games continue to get larger, a 1TB Xbox Series X hard drive might not go as far. Whereas, a 2TB drive may not cost much more, but will definitely give you ample storage as we get further into the Xbox Series X/S's lifespan.
Should I get SSD or HDD for my Xbox Series X/S?
We'd always recommend that you get an SSD, if you can afford it. SSD, even externally, massively outperforms the fastest HDD. While it is more expensive than a typical HDD, we'd say it's worth the extra money for the transfer, read, and write speeds you get. If you're looking for larger capacity drives for more than just games, HDD is much cheaper, and we'd definitely recommend HDD in those cases. Overall though, we'd say the best Xbox Series X hard drives are SSD ones.
How many GB is the entire Game Pass library?
If you want one of the best Xbox Series X hard drives to hold the entire Game Pass library, and spend an awful long time getting it all downloaded, you'll need a hard drive that can hold give or take 10TB at last count. In short, you'd need a gargantuan size of hard drive. For example, this WD hard drive can hold the entire Game Pass library four times (and still have space left over).
How we test Xbox Series X storage options
When testing external hard drives, SSDs, and memory cards, we like to focus on specific platforms like the Xbox Series X. By doing so, it allows us to make strong storage recommendations for the console based on compatibility and suitability for Microsoft's platform. During our benchmark process, we take into account the connection type (USB, expansion card slot, etc) and base our verdict on whether each model takes advantage of maximum speeds, capacity, and features.
For more information on how we test SSDs and hard drives, check out our full 12DOVE hardware policy.
Another excellent upgrade to your new console we'd recommend looking into is audio and the best options are covered in our best Xbox Series X headsets guide. We've got you covered if you'd like to see what the best TV for Xbox Series X is too. Of course, if you're after something cheaper, take a look at the best Xbox Series X accessories on the market.
