Use External Ssd For Gaming

(Pocket-lint) - The PlayStation 5 has been out for a good while now, and many people are starting to expand their game collections to the point where its insanely fast internal SSD gets full.

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825GB is plenty for a fair few games, but if you have a bunch of titles you might be struggling. If you're thinking about getting an external drive to store some extra games on, you might want to go for an external PS5 SSD. A recent software update means you can move both PS4 and PS5 games over to external storage, although we're also finally now able to expand internal storage, too.

While most external drives can't match the speed of the PS5's own drive, meaning you also can't play games from them directly, you'll still get way faster transfer speeds and a smaller device. We've gathered some of the very best for you right here.

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Our top pick is the Samsung T7 Touch. Other great options include the Seagate Firecuda SSD, WD_Black P50, SanDisk Extreme Portable, and Gtech G-Drive Mobile.

The best external SSD for PS5

Samsung

Samsung T7 Touch 500GB

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For

• Great biometric security
• Rapid transfer speeds

Against

• Not much wrong with it

This SSD from Samsung is a doozy - it's pretty decently priced for the storage you get, with bigger sizes available, but it also comes with a fingerprint scanner that makes it amazingly secure.

You'll get seriously fast transfer speeds through its USB-C cable, and it hardly takes up any space whatsoever. It's the best bet for most people.

Other great SSDs for your PS5

Here are four other top SSD options for your PlayStation 5.

Seagate

Seagate Firecuda SSD

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For

• Reliable
• Great speeds

Against

• A little chunky
• Pricey

Seagate is a big deal in storage, in case you didn't know, and it has a variety of drives available, but its Firecuda range is specifically aimed at gaming.

This external SSD is pretty expensive, there's no escaping that, but it's also remarkably quick and we really like its light-up design. For an extra 1TB of storage, it's a great bet.

WD

WD_Black 1 TB P50 NVMe SSD

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For

• Nice design
• Aimed at gamers

Against

• Again very expensive

If you do indeed want to double your storage amount, though, this drive from WD_Black is gaming-branded and has a really resilient design.

It's also impressively speedy and plays very nicely with other consoles, not just the PS5. However, you do again end up paying slightly over the odds for the 1TB of storage you're getting.

Pocket-lint

Sandisk Extreme Portable SSD

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For

• Really rugged
• Nice small design

Against

• Not the fastest transfer speeds

SanDisk has one of the most diminutive drives around in the form of its Extreme Portable, which is really dinky and easily clips onto even a keyring or any other loop.

That makes it great if you want to move your collection around, whether within your home or to a LAN party or another setting. It's also really nicely priced given how rugged and reliable it also is.

Pocket-lint

Gtech G-Drive Mobile SSD

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For

• Again, really strong rugged design
• Solid value

Against

• Middling speeds

G-Technology has managed a similar gambit to SanDisk here, by balancing ruggedness with speed, and this drive is specifically strong when it comes to drop protection - it isn't phased by a few bounces!

It's also well-priced and conveniently sized, though, which is the real key to making it onto this list.

Other products we considered

The Pocket-lint editorial team spends hours testing and researching hundreds of products before recommending our best picks for you. We consider a range of factors when it comes to putting together our best guides including physically testing the products ourselves, consumer reviews, brand quality, and value. Many of the devices we consider don't make our final best guides.

These are the products we considered that ultimately didn't make our top 5:

• WD_Black D30
• Samsung T7 Portable
• Crucial CT1000X8SSD9

How to choose an SSD for your PS5

Here are some questions to ask yourself as you go about picking an SSD for your PS5.

How much extra storage do you need?

The first big thing to check in on is how much extra space you really think you need. If, like us, you find yourself having to delete games too often because a monster like Call of Duty: Warzone is taking up too much of your real estate, that might mean you can work out how much added room would be useful.

Most SSDs can be found in variations from 250GB up to 1TB, so be sure to pick up the right amount for your needs. Be warned, though - bigger drives obviously cost more!

Should you get an internal drive instead?

You can also add more space for your PS5 directly by installing an internal SSD, although the limits on what type of drive will fit and work are more restrictive. This is well worth looking into, especially if you want to store primarily PS5 games, since you'll be able to play them directly from the bigger drive inside your console.

Are you planning to store PS4 games?

If the collection of games you're looking to offload from your console's built-in storage is primarily from the last generation, then an external SSD is perfect. You can plug it in and play them directly from the SSD, after all, making for minimal moving around of software.

More about this story

Every product in this list has been tested in real-life situations, just as you would use it in your day-to-day life.

With SSDs it's all about two main factors - speed and capacity. We're checking on how quickly you'll be able to move your games between the PS5 and your SSD, and once they're on there how much you'll be able to access without needing to move them back to the console.

On top of that, bonuses like biometric security, build quality and waterproofing can only add to how much a drive impresses us, while the price tag attached is also a key variable.

We aren't interested in pointless number crunching or extraneous details - we just want to provide an easy to understand review that gives you an idea of what it's going to be like to use. And don't for a second think that the products aren't tested fully because the reviews are concise.

We've been covering tech since 2003, and, in many cases, have not only reviewed the product in question, but the previous generations, too - right back to the first model on the market. There is also plenty of models we've considered that didn't make the cut in each of our buyer's guides.

Writing by Max Freeman-Mills. Originally published on

16 September 2020.

Use External Ssd For Gaming

Source: https://www.pocket-lint.com/games/buyers-guides/playstation/153824-best-ssd-ps5-playstation-5-external-storage

Posted by: kosstrumsess.blogspot.com

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