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Xbox Series X Storage: Everything You Need To Know

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In any article about either of the next-generation consoles, the fact that getting your hands on one has been like trying to get the newest exclusive sneaker drop must be mentioned. The shortage in stock has been frustrating and isn’t how any gaming experience should be, but hopefully, we can all get our hands on a console at some point this year. If you’ve already been playing one for a while, congratulations. We’re jealous.

No matter which console you go with, you might have some questions about storage, something which remains essential and worth considering but continues to become more and more confusing with each passing year, especially in the gaming industry. If you’ve got questions about how much storage you’ll get with the Xbox Series X and the Series S, whether that will be enough and how you can expand storage, we’ve got you covered here.

How much storage does the Xbox Series X/S have?

How to expand Xbox Series X/S storage

Does the Xbox Series X/S support USB external hard drives?

What ports does the Xbox Series X feature?

Along with the SSD expansion port, there are 7 other ports on the Xbox Series X. Here’s a quick outline of what they are and what they’re for:

Power: No awards for guessing what this one is for. It’s an 8-figure power socket and of course, the console has an internal power supply too.

USB-A ports: There are 3 of these on the console; two at the back and one at the front. One of these is where your USB external hard drives will go, but of course, you can also charge your controller or phone through this with the wire, or you can plug in a keyboard and mouse.

HDMI 2.1: Of course, this is where the HDMI wire goes with the other end connected to your TV. The benefit of the 2.1 interfaces is that it incorporates ALLM, which stands for Auto Low Latency Mode. This means that your TV switches to its lowest latency possible when you’re gaming.

Low Latency Mode: This means that your TV switches to its lowest latency possible when you’re gaming.

Ethernet: A wired connection is always better than a wireless connection and the ethernet Cat5 cable goes here.Kensington lock: So that you can tie the console down to whatever it rests on.

Kensington lock: So that you can tie the console down to whatever it rests on.

Which external hard drive should you get?

1. Seagate Storage Expansion Card

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Polygon

If you’re willing to spend an extra $220 on top of getting your console, then this is certainly the way to go. It’s 1TB (with a very respectable 920GB of that being usable) and is the only way to retain the full performance level of either of the new Xbox consoles 100% of the time. We doubt there’ll be a price drop anytime soon, but perhaps even if this is your primary choice, it’s at least worth waiting until you absolutely need it. You should be able to manage for a while with the storage that the Series X or Series S offer initially.

Buy now, $220

2. Samsung T5 SSD

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ePHOTOzine

You can get the Samsung T5 in a few different storage options. It’s unlikely that you’ll want anything less than another terabyte, which will cost you around $140. It’s a significant saving on the official expansion card and still gets you nearly all the benefit, although of course it won’t run optimised titles.

It’s worth noting that there is, in fact, a T7 that Samsung offers that has a speed increase, but that costs around $170, so perhaps you’re better off paying an extra $50 to get the benefits of the official Seagate expansion card.

Buy now, $140

3. Seagate Expansion Portable Hard Drive

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Seagate

Made by the same company that makes Xbox’s official card, you still won’t be able to play games optimized for the Series X or Series S, but they do offer incredible value for money when it comes to storage. Their 1TB hard drive costs around $50, and if you want to quadruple that amount of space and be more than set for the entire lifespan of the console, you can still do that for under $100.

There isn’t too much of a hit on speed either, so this is an ideal option for those wanting a cheaper, albeit secure long-term option.

Buy now, $50

4. Toshiba Canvio Basics 1TB External Hard Drive

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Ebuyer

You can double the space of your 1TB Xbox Series X or Series S with a 2.5” Toshiba hard drive that will cost you just $45. The read speed is 540MB per second, which is great, especially considering it’s an HDD and not an SSD.

Buy now, $45

5. WD My Passport Portable Hard Drive

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Currys PC World

The unique selling point of this Western Digital hard drive is that you can set password protection and hardware encryption to protect your files completely. Perhaps this isn’t something you need to worry about so much if you’re just using the hard drive to store some games on, but some extra security can never hurt and it’s better to be safe than sorry.

As with a few of the options on this list, there are numerous options for size in terms of storage. Even with the extra protection it offers, you won’t have to empty out the bank account to get one of these. WD’s 2TB option will cost you just $80.

Buy now, $80
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