Have you ever felt that your storage of Xbox is limited, and downloading a couple of games could run out of its internal storage? It's time to purchase an Xbox expansion card to add extra storage to your console. This passage will cover the complete information you need, including the Xbox expansion card, the best Xbox expansion card recommendations, and the comparison of Xbox Expansion Card VS. USB. Read on and learn details about the Xbox expansion card.
What Is the Xbox Expansion Card
In order to keep storage costs low, Microsoft restricts the amount of onboard storage for consoles. Xbox Series S only offers 512GB of storage, whereas Series X has 1TB. This might seem reasonable, but as game sizes increase, your Xbox's storage drive will be filled up quickly. Microsoft allows users to upgrade and boost Xbox storage via Xbox expansion cards, making it a critical storage extension purchase. However, Xbox Series X or S don't contain an M.2 port, so you can't use the external SSD for gaming as PS5 users do.
Why would I need an Xbox expansion card? First, the Xbox expansion card can upgrade the Xbox series X/S storage, which is especially valuable in an era when many fantastic games exceed 100GB. Then, its read and write speeds are almost the same as the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S built-in SSDs. Thus, you can play games on an Xbox expansion card without stuttering during game downloading and updating.
Best Xbox Expansion Card Recommend
As an officially licensed Xbox expansion card of Microsoft, the Seagate storage expansion card is one of the best buys with multiple storage sizes: 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB. Luckily, it's not the only choice. In this section, we will introduce the Seagate storage expansion card and some amazing Xbox expansion cards that are more affordable. Below, we have rounded up some of the best Xbox expansion cards to help you decide which works best for you:
- 1. Seagate Storage Expansion Card
- 2. WD Black P40 Game Drive
- 3. Samsung T7 Shield
- 4. WD_Black P10 5TB Game Drive
- 5. Seagate Portable Drive 1TB
Now, let's get an insight into the specification of these Xbox expansion cards and choose according to your need:
1. Seagate Storage Expansion Card
Seagate Storage Expansion Card is designed to be compatible with Xbox Series X/S, which upgrades Xbox Series X/S storage and enables the user to play games without lag, framerates, or latency. The only demerit of this Xbox expansion card is the high price: it costs $129 for 512GB, $219 for 1TB, and $399.99 for the 2TB size. The cost of a 1 TB Seagate expansion card is equal to 2/3 the price of the Xbox Series S.
- Capacity: 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB
- Compatibility: Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Drive Type: SSD
- Price: $175.09~384.99 at Amazon
- Purchase link: Seagate Storage Expansion Card
| ✅Pros | ❌Cons |
|---|---|
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To help you make the decision, we extract a comment about Seagate Storage Expansion Card from a user on Amazon:
User's Review from Don Cortell: I took the larger unit as I like to keep a good selection of games on my Xbox, so it made this purchase a little painful from a price perspective, but the performance/speed is amazing!
2. WD Black P40 Game Drive
The WD Black P40 SSD is the newest model of WD external hard drives designed just for gamers, and it offers some of the greatest performance available. For example, WD Black P40 Game Drive can speed up to 2,000MB/s while reading. In addition, it's compatible with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X or S consoles.
- Capacity: 500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB
- Compatibility: Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Xbox One
- Drive Type: SSD
- Price: $118.82~254.05 at Amazon
- Purchase link: WD Black P40 Game Drive
| ✅Pros | ❌Cons |
|---|---|
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For your information, we extract a comment from a user on Amazon:
User's Review from Karim Kamel: Very quick transfer speed and the RGB light provide a nice look to it, especially on a black desk. It is the ideal gaming drive. A little pricey but worth it.
3. Samsung T7 Shield
The Samsung T7 Shield provides superior performance and speed even in tough environments. Do not be deceived by its small and stylish form factor. Its biggest feature is particularly resistant and durable to harm from water and dust due to its IP65 rating.
- Capacity: 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB
- Compatibility: Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Drive Type: HDD
- Price: $145~219.05 at Amazon
- Purchase link: Samsung T7 Shield
| ✅Pros | ❌Cons |
|---|---|
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For your reference, we have prepared a user's review of the Samsung T7 Shield on Amazon:
User's Review from Dan B.: I bought this really fast and strong SSD, and I'm super happy with how it works and how tough it is. This SSD is like a beast! It transfers data really quickly, with no waiting around.
4. WD Black P10 Game Drive
The WD Black P10 drives are the ideal ally for anyone using an Xbox Game Pass. We downloaded every game on the service for our Xbox One using a 5TB drive a while back, providing us a true at-home arcade experience with hundreds of titles at our disposal.
- Capacity: 1 TB, 2 TB, 3 TB, 4 TB, 5 TB
- Compatibility: Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Xbox One
- Drive Type: External HDD
- Price: $72~154.98 at Amazon
- Purchase link: WD Black P10 Game Drive
| ✅Pros | ❌Cons |
|---|---|
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You can take a glance at what the user on Amazon said about WD Black P10 5TB Game Drive：
User's Review from sbv: This 5TB WD black HDD, it's a perfect device to save a lot of games for my PS4 Pro. It does not require outlet electricity, so it's linked to my PS4 Pro through Pune of the USB.
5. Seagate Portable 2 TB Drive
It should come as no surprise that Seagate, who made the hard drive for the original Xbox, is the company Microsoft officially recommends as the best option for additional storage capacity for Xbox consoles. USB may plug into this Seagate Portable Drive without the need for any additional software, and it is both portable and lightweight.
- Capacity: 2TB
- Compatibility: Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Xbox One
- Drive Type: External HDD
- Price: $84.99 at Amazon
- Purchase link: Seagate Portable Drive
| ✅Pros | ❌Cons |
|---|---|
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User's Review from Marcel Roussin: Easily the best HD I have ever had was averaging 40mb transfer, its small and quiet, plan on ordering another
Along with the review from Amazon users, you can also gain some extra tips about how to choose a perfect Xbox expansion card from the EaseUS editor:
- EaseUS Editor Review
- Tight-budget users may satisfy with Seagate Portable 2 TB Drive, while people who put storage as they prior prefer the WD Black P10 Game Drive for its tremendous size of up to 5 TB. If you want to speed up a little, I recommend you try Seagate Storage Expansion Card and WD Black P40 Game Drive. The latter is more affordable. Get Samsung T7 Shield if you are finding a reliable and rugged hard drive.
Xbox Expansion Card VS. USB External Drive: Which Is Better
When the internal drive of your Xbox gets full by your game collection, Microsoft offers two available ways to expand the amount of storage. One is an Xbox expansion card, and another is USb external drive. Thus, we will discuss which is better between Xbox expansion card and USB external drive by analyzing their differences in this part. Here is an overall breakdown of how Xbox expansion cards compare to USB external drives:
| 🆚Comparison | 1️⃣Xbox Expansion Card | 2️⃣USB External Drive |
|---|---|---|
| 💵Price | Expensive | Economic |
| 🚀Speed | Around 1000MB/s | Around 160MB/s |
| 🎮Available Xbox Games | All Xbox games | Older Xbox One, 360, and original Xbox games |
| 🧑💼Suitable Users | Play Xbox games | Store Xbox games |
The comparison table shows that Xbox expansion cards are expensive because they can load games just as fast as the internal drive of Xbox. In addition, Xbox expansion cards are compatible with all games, including those upgraded for the latest console generation, while USB external drives can only install older Xbox One, 360, and original Xbox games. Moreover, you need to move them to the internal SSD when you want to play one of the Xbox games that store on USB external drives. This is a little bothersome, but at least faster than re-downloading it.
Review from Windows Central: USB drives and their lower speeds mean that you can only store next-generation games, meaning you need to move them to the internal SSD when you want to play. It means USB drives act as a sidecar for your console, as a place to offload surplus data back and forth.
If you feel hard to decide, you can refer to the conclusion that the EaseUS editor make:
- EaseUS Editor Review
- So, which is better? Actually, it depends on the user and the games they select. In other words, based on whether they want to play or store Xbox games. Xbox expansion card matches the high-speed latest game console's built-in SSDs, which means you can run next-generation games. Moreover, it can double the base storage capacity of the Xbox Series X. However, a USB external drive is still an excellent alternative for Xbox owners has a tight budget and only need to store Xbox games or play older Xbox One, 360, and original Xbox games.
Conclusion
With Xbox expansion card, you don't have to worry about where to find space for that next installation. And as the greatest storage-expanding option, the Xbox expansion card performs and operates virtually exactly like the built-in SSD of the Xbox console. Thus, gamers can run original games and store the collection of games. To help you decide which Xbox expansion card suits you best, this post explains an Xbox expansion card, provides five top Xbox expansion cards, and compares the most popular ways of extending storage to Xbox. Now, you can select the right Xbox expansion card regarding your need and preference.
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Roxanne is one of the main contributors to EaseUS and has created over 200 posts that help users solve multiple issues and failures on digital devices like PCs, Mobile phones, tablets, and Macs. She loves to share ideas with people of the same interests.
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