Best External SSDs For Xbox One 2019

May 18, 2023

Since every single thing has digitalized in our lives, the storage space always seem less given the amount of data we have. Whether we are playing games or downloading movies, the data always seems to grow with not enough space to store.

In cases like these, one must consider buying an SSD. These SSDs provide additional space to your tech piece and you can easily store as much data as you want and also create backups of it.

Today, we are reviewing some of the best external SSDs for Xbox One available in the market that you can buy. The games for Xbox come in huge sizes which is why one can never store all of his favorite games on the internal hard drive. Which is why we recommend you buy external hard drives so you can store as much data as you want?

But before we tell you about our recommendations, you need to look at a few tips. Buying an external SSD isn’t an easy job. There are a lot of things that you must consider, and we have come up with top 3. Keep these things in perspective and you will buy the best external SSDs for yourself

Capacity

You only spend money once on tech pieces like these so make sure you choose the right option. Think about how much data you will be storing and see how much capacity you need for that. There are several options available in the market and they start from 250GB, 500GB and so on. Decide for yourself and then choose your device.

Power Source

Some SSDs need a power source like electricity to run while some don’t. We recommend you buy those SSSDs that do not require a power source and work like flash drives. These are more convenient, and they will not need you to depend on electricity. Not to mention, these are extremely fast in speed as well.

Price

They are hundreds of companies in the market that have launched their own SSDs. Choose for yourself that which company do you want to go for according to your price range. Do not overburden yourself and decide your budget. Once you have your budget, compare different SSDs and choose the one that provides with maximum functionalities in minimum budget.

These were a few tips that will help you in buying the right SSD. Now, moving on, these are a few recommendations for you in this regard.

Best External SSDs For Xbox One (Comparison)

SSDSpeed 
Samsung T5540 MB/sCheck Price
Seagate Game Drive550 MB/sCheck Price
SanDisk Extreme Portable550 MB/sCheck Price

Samsung T5

As we have always been impressed by Samsung’s internal SSDs, our first recommendation regarding external SSD for Xbox one is also one of the best SSDs launched by the same company. Samsung has pushed their boundaries when it comes to manufacturing fast and capacitive SSDs. Their products are widely appraised for the quality and functionality which is why the Samsung T5 Portable SSD is among the best external storage unit you will find in the market.

If we talk about the previous external hard drives, the downside of them was that we couldn’t get enough speed due to the USB connection. But, as Samsung launched the T5, it took away that problem altogether by integrating USB 3.1 Gen 2 in the hard drive which has maximum throughput of 10Gbit/sec. Samsung’s drive has a USB Type-C connector on it, but the corporation considerately offers both a Type-C cable and a Type-C-to-Type-A cable.

Most of the people prefer internal SSDs because they require less room as compared to external hard drive but in this, Samsung has got that covered too. The T5 is extremely small in size and highly compact, its dimensions are 74x57x11mm and it weighs around 51g, all of this not just makes it a smaller piece to carry but also makes it extremely lightweight that won’t even know it is there in your bag. Samsung has wrapped it up in a beautiful casing, blue for 250 and 500GB whereas black for 1 and 2TB so it is entirely up-to which color would you rather go for.

The T5 uses company’s 64-bit TLC NAND and on the inside, it is one of Samsung’s own 1.8inch SSDs. This gives three bits per cell, which makes the drive slightly cheaper to manufacture than if MLC (two bits per cell) or SLC (one bit per cell) were used. The read speed is 540MB/s whereas the write speed for T5 is 515MB/s which is quite fast as compared to the speed of other external hard drives that you may find in the market. However, Samsung does recommend using this SSD on USB 3.1 Gen 1 if you want to experience the most out of this hard drive. The price of this product is a lot as compared to other options that you may have but this SSD is one of a kind and you will not find performance like this from any other external unit.

ProsCons
Enigmatic SpeedExpensive
High Capacity
Portable
Reliable

Conclusion

If you want to up your gaming capacity for Xbox one, so you can have as many games as you want, you should definitely consider spending some money this SSD. The T5 does cost a lot as compared to other available external SSDs in the market but the performance it provides is unmatched.

Seagate Game Drive

The next recommendation in our list of best external SSD for Xbox One is from a brand that you must be familiar with since you have an Xbox. Seagate, the company is well known for manufacturing external hard drives for Xbox users so they can expand the capacity of their console. The latest SSD Game Drive they have launched comes with a speed and high-performance ratio that is going to up your game most definitely, but it does come with a price tag that you will need to match.

Seagate is known for collaborating with Microsoft for quite some time now. The companies have been bringing their forces together to manufacture external hard drives that can match the console of Xbox and provide the users with enough capacity so they can store their favorite games without a hassle. The SSD we are talking about is Seagate’s newly launched external hard drive that matches the console of Xbox one quite perfectly and its unique selling point is the optimal speed it provides to the users.

The following SSD comes in three different capacities; 500 GB, 1TB and 2B along with that, it offers three months of Xbox Game Pass that just adds crisp to the entire deal. As for setting it up with the Xbox One, the drive is very easy to use like any USB storage drive. All you have to do is set up your Xbox One and plug in your external hard drive, Xbox will provide you an option in the storage settings where you can make your hard drive the default storage unit. Once you do that, the Xbox One will start receiving data from the unit and you can move on and play.

As for the design, the external hard drives need to be portable and this one fulfills all the requirements of being an extraordinary external storage unit. The design is nice and it supports a layered matte black finish. The SSD is completely silent and really lightweight that is going to make little to no difference while sitting on your console.

As for the speed of this unit, the Seagate SSD has a listed performance of up to 540MB/s, which is a substantial increase. The drive performs really well and is among our highly recommended SSDs for Xbox One. The price of this unit is however a bit high as compared to the available options but if you are looking for something extremely compact, functional with high capacity, this product is a total steal.

ProsCons
Significant Speed ImprovementsExpensive Compared To HDD
Sleek Design
Quiet

Conclusion

This is a great external hard drive for Xbox One. If you have the cash in your pocket and you are willing to buy something out of the box, the speed and the overall performance of this device is not going to disappoint you at all. Seagate Portable SSD is one of the best external storage units you will find in the market for your game console.

SanDisk Extreme Portable

Last but not the least, this recommendation of ours is not just compact and highly functional but it also comes in a very affordable price range, SanDisk 2TB Extreme Portable External SSD. This is by far, one of the best external SSD you will find in the market and let us tell you all about it.

The design of this external SSD is highly compact not to mention it is extremely thin for an external SSD. The thickness of this drive is 8.85mm and you can easily slip it into your back pocket, without even giving it a second thought. The footprint of this drive also happens to be really small, so small that it looks really compact in front of recently launched smartphones.

Orange plastic circle at the top-right that can be cast-off to securely assign it to an item. The edges are smooth while the corners are a bit textured that makes it easy to grip. While it is very convenient, some people are off the view that it looks like a cheap Bluetooth speaker but nonetheless, the functionality is optimal that makes this drive all the more worth it.

The device is also dust and water resistant because it comes with an integrated IP55. The SanDisk is also shock resistant so if you happen to be clumsy, this SSD is the one you have been looking for.

The device also claims to have a maximum data transfer rate of 10GB/s but that never really happens due to the limitations caused by the connectivity.

The Portable SSD comes to you in pre-formatted version as exFAt that means you can use it on both, MAC and Windows. In case, you want to reformat it to NTFS, you will lose the compatibility to Windows however this will enable you to have the TRIM function that will improve the longevity of the drive. The device is highly compatible with Xbox one and since it is extremely lightweight, you can carry it around in your pocket wherever you want.

ProsCons
PortableDesign Isn’t That Nice
Dust & Water Resistant
Fast

Conclusion

If you are looking for an extremely portable SSD that you can carry around in the back of your pocket, go ahead and by SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD. It is highly functional, provides a lot of capacity and is really fast in terms of transferring and reading data. It is among our highly recommended external SSDs.

Conclusion

So, these were a few of our recommendations regarding the best external SSDs for Xbox One. These are all highly portable external SSDs and one of the best in the market. If you think there is another external SSD that we should know about, let us know in the comments below.