Game downloads are huge these days and show no signs of slowing down. As these gigabytes continue to grow, storage such as hard drives, solid state drives, and microSD cards must keep pace. Tomorrow and Wednesday (July 11th and 12th) will be Amazon’s annual Prime Day event with discounts on a variety of great storage upgrades, so it’s a good time to expand the capacity of your favorite console. may be
With that in mind, here’s a no-nonsense, to-the-point list of the great external and internal drive deals available during Prime Day this year. And if you’re reading this article after July 11th and 12th, 2023, the drives listed below will still be a great choice, but will be a little more expensive than they are on sale.
External SSD for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S
An external solid state drive is one of the easiest ways to expand your storage. Especially on the PS5, you have to crack the drive to plug in the M.2 drive. Discover the best deals on external storage for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Recommended: Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD (1TB / 4TB)
The Samsung T7 Shield not only excels in its speed, but it’s also extremely durable with IP65 dust and water resistance, so you can take it with you to the bath. (Don’t actually do this).
This year’s Prime sale offers two capacity choices.
Save Money and Space: Crucial X6 Portable SSD (2TB / 4TB)
Don’t be fooled by its small physical size. The Crucial X6 is a capable external solid state storage solution. It’s slower than the Samsung T7 Shield, but its slightly lower price and smaller footprint can be an advantage if you’re space constrained.
The Crucial X6 is available in two sizes.
Internal SSD upgrade for PS5
If you plan to open up your PS5 and install a new internal SSD, your PS5 can have an M.2 drive. Here are some internal M.2 drives that can handle the PS5’s high-speed storage requirements.
Recommended: Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD (2TB) for PS5
The Seagate Game Drive M.2 is a great way to triple the size of your PS5’s internal storage. It’s also the more affordable of the two Prime Day picks.
Need even more storage: WD_Black SN850x Internal Gaming SSD (4TB)
If you want to double the PS5’s internal storage, it’s going to cost you money, but consider the fact that having 4TB will probably save you from having to worry about space again for a while.
microSD card for Switch and Steam decks
If you want to expand the storage capacity of your portable device, here are two great microSD cards to consider. These also work well with Nintendo Switch and Steam decks.
Most Affordable: Samsung Pro Plus microSD Card (256GB / 512GB)
If you’re looking for a little extra storage, the Pro Plus is a solid choice with options ranging from 256GB to 512GB. They also come with a handy USB adapter. You can get the 128GB for just $16.99, but definitely spend a few extra bucks and get the 256GB instead.
Most storage: SanDisk Extreme (1TB)
Especially if you’re looking for a larger storage upgrade, like a Steam Deck, we recommend looking at a full terabyte slot.
SanDisk Extreme microSDXC (1TB) – $95.99 – July 11th and 12th
External HDD and budget options
For console use (internal or external), we recommend the more modern solid state drives, but you can also find good deals on old-school mechanical spinning hard drives. Note that these save you a dollar or two over SSDs, but are much slower. On PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, the hard drive can only be used to store games, not actually play them. To be able to play the saved game, I need to copy it to his SSD which is fast enough.
WD_Black 2TB P10 Game Drive
WD Black P10 on sale for just $62 for 2TB. Like other drives in the WD_Black line, this drive comes in a metal case and works with your PC. Note that this is a mechanical HDD, not an SSD. So while it’s a nice way to store more games on your next-gen console, you can’t actually play them from this drive. The WD_Black 2TB P10 HDD will be available on both July 11th and 12th.
As I said above, if you spend a little more money, Connect to 1TB SSD with Samsung T7 Shield.
It’s selling pretty well. So what will you end up downloading when you have more space?