Best PS5 external hard drives in 2024

The best PS5 external hard drives offer an effective way of storing your games. While you won't be able to natively play titles from these HDDs and SSDs, they provide a much faster method to transfer games to the system compared to constantly having to uninstall and redownload your games when space gets tight. Additionally, external drives tend to offer larger capacities (and are cheaper overall) than internal SSDs, making them a cost-effective solution.

We compiled this guide to the best PS5 external hard drives through a combination of hands-on testing and in-depth research. We considered a range of factors that are important when choosing a PS5 external hard drive, including the price, performance, technical specifications, overall design, any available customer reviews, and compatibility with the console.

For a look at some other storage options, visit our guide to the best SSDs for PS5. For the best experience we recommend owning both internal and external options together, for extra capacity and the ability to run games natively from storage. Be sure to also consult our list of the best PS5 games in order to see what kinds of titles you might want to store on your shiny new drive.

Best external PS5 hard drives - The Quick List

Best PS5 external hard drives in 2024

Best overall PS5 external hard drive

The Seagate Game Drive for PS5 is the best PS5 external hard drive given its sheer simplicity. This is an officially licensed external hard drive that has been designed specifically for PS5 and PS4 consoles. It's available in both 2TB and 5TB capacities, ensuring that even those with particularly large libraries won't struggle to store a large chunk of their games, while still offering a slim and relatively lightweight design that makes it easy to store in a rucksack and take on the go.

Seagate advertises this drive as offering read speeds up to 7,300 MBps and write speeds of up to 862.5 MBps which is more than enough to transfer games between the drive and your console easily. We also think that the Seagate Game Drive for PS5 wins major style points as, unlike many of the entries on this list, it comes with a clean white exterior that perfectly matches the look of the PS5 console. It even features its own lighting, with a small streak of blue LEDs along its base.

Although they are a little more expensive, Seagate also offer a range of special editions with designs inspired by games like God of War Ragnarok and Horizon: Zero Dawn for those really concerned with aesthetics.

Best compact PS5 external hard drive

Samsung has proven itself to be the modern master of the SSD, so it’s no surprise that its latest portable drive is impressive. It’s available in capacities between 500GB and 2TB, and there’s plenty to like: it’s barely longer than a bank card, and its 8mm thickness and 58g weight make it the smallest and lightest portable SSD in this group.

If you want to use this drive for secure functions alongside your consoles, it has AES 256-bit encryption. The T7 is quick enough to nearly max out the PS5’s USB ports, though Seagate and LaCie’s drives are faster. That speed advantage isn’t essential for PS5 use, but it could be a dealbreaker if you want to use the drive with PCs and laptops too. We tested this drive with a range of PC benchmarks and found that it could offer write speeds of 1032MBps and read speeds of 924MBps, which is still an impressive result given the small form factor and price.

Also, bear in mind that while the Samsung T7 has reasonable build quality, but it doesn’t have the drop, shock, and temperature certifications of its rivals. The price is lower than most rivals, and the Samsung combines decent speeds with tiny dimensions. It’s ideal if you want good pace at a lower price than most other portable SSDs. 

• Read more: Samsung T7 Shield Touch review

Best high-speed PS5 external hard drive

WD Black products are usually bold, and the P50 portable SSD is no different thanks to an exterior made of ridged, black metal. 

The exterior is rock-solid and withstands drops and bumps, so it’ll withstand everyday life. Beyond the design, you’ll find an NVMe drive that tops out at a mighty 2,000MBps. That pace is far beyond what the PS5 can handle, but it does mean that the P50 saturates the console’s USB ports and deliver maximum speed. It also means that you can use that pace on devices with future-proofed USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 or Thunderbolt 3 ports.

There are downsides to this drive. It’s heavier and thicker than most portable SSDs, and it’s more expensive than most. If you’ve got the cash and need a product that’s great for the PS5 and ideal for the future, though, the WD Black P50 is a tremendous, future-proofed choice. 

Best heavy-duty PS5 external hard drive

Most portable SSDs have shock and drop-resistant designs, but few drives go as far as the LaCie Rugged SSD Pro. It’s officially rated for water resistance, three-meter drops, two tons of crush resistance and dust resistance, so it’s virtually indestructible – perfect if you need a gaming drive to take on the road. It’s even got a flap that closes to protect the USB-C port. 

This tough hardware sits inside a smart and subdued rubber casing, and a generous five-year warranty protects the LaCie. The rugged design doesn’t come at the expense of speed. This is another drive that saturates the PS5’s USB ports and heads beyond 2,000MBps if you’ve got the right hardware, which makes it ideal for console use now and other devices in the future. 

The design means that the LaCie is a little heavier and thicker than most SSDs, and it’s very expensive. But if you need a drive with lashings of speed and tough design, it’s worth the outlay. 

Best high-capacity PS5 external hard drive

As with other WD Black products, the D10 places a big emphasis on bold design, and build quality is superb. Handily, the D10 has a couple of USB ports that can charge controllers and peripherals, which is a handy extra on a gaming drive.

The D10 is only available in an 8TB capacity, and it’s a little more expensive than the equivalent size on the WD Elements. The design accounts for some of that, but the price increase is also justified by a 7,200rpm hard disk. That’s quicker than the 5,400rpm drives used in rivals, and it helps bring a little extra speed to the D10.

Happily, that means the D10 is a little quicker than the PS4’s internal hard disk, so you’ll experience better loading times on the PS5 if you’ve got a hefty collection of old games, and this drive is the fastest way to transfer PS5 games without shelling out more cash for an SSD. So, while SSDs offer more pace, the D10 serves up great design and loads of capacity. It’s an ideal choice if you want a good-looking and capacious external drive. 

How to choose a PS5 external hard drive

Unlike a PS5 SSD, there are very few technical requirements to consider when choosing an external hard drive for PS5. Sony states that drives are required to be a minimum size of 250GB and can only go up to a maximum capacity of 8TB. Any external hard drive that you choose will also need to use the SuperSpeed USB standard, or USB 3.0, which supports speeds of up to 5 Gbps. Realistically, almost any recently released external hard drive that is being sold by a major manufacturer is going to meet these requirements. While it's definitely worth double checking just in case, you should really base your purchasing decision around other factors.

The most important of these is the storage capacity of the external hard drive. As a rule of thumb, you should consider a 1TB or 2TB external hard drive if you want to store a small handful of recent releases. If you have a particularly large library, you should look at 4TB or 8TB options instead. Just be aware that prices will increase quite dramatically when you're buying such large capacity drives. Also consider your specific use case. Look at particularly rugged or durable options if you know that you're going to take it out and about. Conversely, you can browse especially bulky or large drives if you intend to keep it in one place at home.

If you are particularly concerned by the overall look of your drive, it might also be worth bearing in mind which drives come in multiple colors or designs. In this case, paying a little more for an officially licensed option that matches the overall look of the PS5 console could be worthwhile.

How we test PS5 external hard drives

We created this guide through a combination of hands-on testing and thorough research. Where possible, we aimed to test each hard drive with a series of benchmark tests using a PC and compatible software such as CrystalDiskMark or AS SSD. In cases where we have not gone hands-on with a drive, we used data that was provided by the manufacturer or collected in real-world tests by our sister sites such as Tom's Hardware and GamesRadar. We used this data to compare the performance of each the drives, with careful consideration of the product's asking price in order to ensure that each choice offered good value for money.

In addition to this, we considered a range of other factors such as the drive's overall design and any unique features that might set it apart. This included important elements such as a more durable rugged design, any included warranty, or an extra large storage capacity. We endeavoured to only include picks from trusted brands and considered recent customer reviews on third-party retailers such as Amazon or Best Buy in order to avoid low-quality or potentially unreliable products.

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