The 7 Best PS5 External Hard Drives of 2024

Current-gen games are notorious for their large file sizes, which take up a lot of your console storage space for themselves. So having the best PS5 external hard drive has become mandatory. Whether you need somewhere to store all your downloaded games or space to store all your great gaming moments, these external hard drives give you plenty of room to save it all. Note that games are not intended to be played directly from external HDDs or SSDs, they are for storage purposes only. Although they offer high read/write speeds, they do not offer a noticeable advantage in gameplay.

If you’re tired of asking for the best PS5 external hard drive on Reddit or other platforms and you’re still struggling to choose a good one, it’s completely understandable. Considering there are so many people out there, it’s bound to be overwhelming. So, in the article, we have made a list of the 7 best PS5 external hard drives that will help you backup your games and free up space on your console for all the games you want to play.

How Many Games Does 1 TB External Disk Hold on PS5?

If we look at the average file size of a game at 30-40GB, you can store up to 20-50 games on a 1TB hard drive. Since the file size is specific to all games, you need to take this into consideration if you want to backup multiple games to the hard drive.

Will My Games Load Faster on PS5 with an External SSD?

When you use an external hard drive, there is no noticeable difference in game loading times, whether good or bad. The main reason to use external is just to backup your game and media files. Therefore, if you need better transfer speeds, it is recommended to use SSD instead of HDD. Since SSDs have better read/write speeds, transferring files from the drive to the console is significantly faster.

Best PS5 External Hard Drives of 2024

External hard drives are a mandatory part of any gaming console setup that will help you transfer games back and forth fairly quickly. Here are our favorite PS5 external hard drives that will do just that.

Best Overall

Best with Charging

Best External SSD

Best Durable

Best 8TB Drive

Best 4TB Drive

Most Affordable

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Why We Love

Blue LED

Light

Plug and play

Officially licensed

Seamless connection

USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB 3.0) connection

However…

You can only play PS4 games directly from HDD

Seagate has been the top choice of gamers for decades and Seagate game drive continues to be so for console users as well. With this 5TB capacity PS5 external hard drive, you can download your entire game library and take it with you wherever you go.

The hard disk, which has a simple but stylish box design, is an officially licensed product and is produced specifically for the console. It is built with firmware that works effortlessly with PS4 and PS5 without requiring any additional hardware, making it easy to use. It will perfectly match your console with its white color.

Why We Love

Economic

Plug and play

sturdy materials

Pre-formatted HDD

Quiet fanless design

Backwards Compatible

However…

I can’t download games directly to it

It always feels good to get more features in a product, and that’s 2 in 1 Avolusion D200 That’s what it’s all about. It is one of the most unique looking HDDs because it functions not only as an external HDD but also as a dock to charge your PS5. DualSense controllers. It is extremely simple and convenient to use with its USB 3.0 connection.

The durable case is made of premium quality materials to ensure durability and withstand tough use. There is 3TB of internal storage, which comes in handy when you need a lot of games or media to back up. For the price you’ll pay here, it’s worth it.

Why We Love

Compact design

USB 3.2 Gen 2 support

PCIe NVMe technology

High data transfer speeds

Multiple storage capacity types

With impressive speeds of up to 1,050MB/s, SAMSUNG T7 Portable SSD is one of the best external storage drives for PS5 console. NVMe technology helps the hard drive increase its performance to achieve high speeds, making it more reliable and a better option than many options.

The Samsung T7 even lets you save up to 4K 60fps resolution videos directly to drives, saving you the hassle of manually transferring them from your PS5. It offers twice the performance of its predecessor, the Samsung T5. So if you can spend a few hundred dollars, this is one of the best PS5 external hard drives with 4TB capacity.

Why We Love

rubber feet

7.5W power usage

USB Type A support

Massive 8TB of storage

3-year limited warranty

USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface

Thanks to WD’s undeniable reputation for high-quality hard drives, you know you’re looking at a great product. This WD_BLACK D10 Game Drive features high-speed data transfers that allow you to transfer games at super-fast speeds. To keep up with high activity, it has an active cooling system that protects the hard drive by reducing the risk of failure due to overheating. It can reach speeds of up to 250 Mbps when transferring files; This is super fast! With the storage space it offers, you can store 200 games with an average file size of 36 GB.

Why We Love

Economic

USB 3.0 interface

Premium HDD box

Preformatted hard drive

Can play PS4 games directly

If you need a large capacity hard drive this HDDGear Pro is a great choice! It has 8TB storage capacity with fast transfer speeds, which is exactly what you need. With an easy plug-and-play design, you can effortlessly add much-needed additional storage to your gaming setup.

Internally, it has an efficient heat dissipation design that ensures the hard drive runs smoothly for a long time. The exterior design has some similarities with the PS4 slim console and gives you a feeling of familiarity if you own the console.

Toshiba Canvio Gaming Portable External Hard Drive 4TB

Why We Love

Plug and play

USB 3.0 interface support

Stylish and minimalist design

Multiple storage options available

2-year manufacturer’s limited warranty

Compatible with PS4/PS5 and other consoles

However…

Decent transfer speeds

The Toshiba Canvio has a very simple design, with all the functionality you’d expect from an external hard drive; It offers instant additional storage and is lightweight and portable. It has a 4TB storage capacity that can store up to 100 games depending on the file size, so you don’t have to download games every time you come back after a long break.

Even with this 4TB variant, it falls into the affordable price category, which gives you more reasons to buy it. It also has an “Always On” mode that gives you a responsive user experience. If your PS5 needs more space for installation Call of Duty Black Ops 6You can then use this budget-friendly external hard drive to backup some of your other files or games.

Why We Love

Compact

3 years warranty

shockproof

USB 3.2 connection

Multi-platform compatible

US MIL-STD rated impact certified

Buffalo External SSD is a reliable SSD that offers better data transfer speeds than any HDD and helps transfer large amounts of data much faster. It uses a USB 3.2 connection option that allows the drive to consistently reach maximum speed.

This small 2.5-inch PS5 external SSD has a capacity of 2TB, giving you enough storage to store games and game clips. The housing has a rugged design and is made of sturdy materials that protect the SSD from external damage.

Why Can’t You Play PS5 Games from an External Hard Drive?

You can’t currently play any PS5 games directly from external hard drives because external drives can’t achieve the read/write speeds required to run PS5 games optimally. One feature the PS5 boasts is short in-game load times, which requires high data transfer speeds, and external drives are nowhere near that requirement. Therefore, they can only be used as backup devices for your games and other media files. If you want to play your backed up games, you’ll need to transfer them to your console; This is much faster than re-downloading. But there are some hard drives that allow you to play PS4 games directly from external drives. So if you’re purchasing an external drive for your PS4, this is a great option.

How We Picked the Best PS5 External Hard Drives

These PS5 external hard drives were selected by our team of experts based on their performance. They did extensive research to find a wide range of hard drives and put them through various tests such as compatibility, data transfer speed and durability tests. They also consulted other industry professionals to understand their views on these drivers. After testing and researching many products, the team finalized these seven drivers. So when you choose to buy any of these, you can be assured that you will be purchasing a well-tested and reliable PS5 external hard drive.

FAQ

Which hard drive is best for PS5?

The Seagate Game Drive is our pick for the best external hard drive for PS5.

Will any external HDD work with PS5?

You can use any external hard drive as long as they have USB 5Gbps SuperSpeed and storage ranging from 250GB to 8TB.

Should I buy an external SSD or HDD for PS5?

It is recommended to purchase SSD instead of HDD.

Which storage is better for PS5?

An 8TB hard drive like the WD_BLACK D10 Game Drive is the best way to ensure you always have enough storage space.

How many games can 2TB accommodate on PS5?

At an average file size of 36GB, the 2TB model of the PS5 external hard drive can store up to 200 movies and games.

Is Seagate HDD good for PS5?

Seagate HDD is a great storage option for PS5 as it is officially licensed for PS5.

Will it work on 8TB PS5?

Yes, 8TB hard drives are compatible with PS5 consoles.

Is 1 TB enough for PS5?

This depends on how many games you plan to backup. If you have more than 50 games to store, choose a hard drive larger than 1TB.

Is expanded storage for PS5 worth it?

Definitely! If you plan to install multiple games, the ready-to-use internal storage on the PS5 may not be enough, so you can back up all your games with an external hard drive.

Is it better to upgrade PS5 storage internal or external?

If you only need a hard drive to back up games, then an external hard drive is the way to go. However, if you want to install multiple games on your PS5, an internal hard drive is the best option.

What speed external SSD do I need for PS5?

PlayStation recommends using a hard drive with 5,500 MB/s or faster.

Will SSD make PS5 faster?

An external SSD does not show any significant speed difference. It only acts as a backup device and you cannot play games directly from it.

What is the best format for PS5 hard drive?

It is recommended to use exFAT format on your external hard drives.