18 Jan 2022 4:46 PM +00:00 UTC

Best Hard Drive for PS4 and PS5 2022: Our Top Picks

When it comes to finding the best hard drive for PS4 and PS5, there are loads of options to choose from.

However, when it comes to what is and isn't compatible with PS5, the waters can be slightly muddy, especially if you want to know if you can play PS5 games from a USB drive, for instance.

An update on 14 April gave PS5 owners even more freedom than before, meaning that finally, they can store their PS5 games on an external hard drive.

And even more recently, people can now upgrade their internal storage via an M.2 SSD, our top picks of which are right here.

As for external hard drives and external SSDs, there are some products that are perfect for storing your PS4 and PS5 games, freeing up space on your console, or transporting them to PS5.

So whether you want a brilliant mid-range SSD with the Samsung T7 Touch or you're looking for a fantastic all-round HDD with the WD 4TB My Passport Hard Drive, we've got you covered right here.

Let's get into it!

Best Hard Drive for PS4 and PS5

Best Mid-Range SSD For PS4 And PS5 - Samsung T7 Touch Portable SSD

Check Amazon

This Samsung TZ Touch Portable SSD is a good choice for storing games...and quickly!

This compact powerhouse takes up hardly any space at all and comes in a stylish minimal casing, which looks super slick.

Boasting an impressive read speed of 1050 Megabytes per second, which is up there with some of the best external SSD's this small but mighty hard drive could be a good addition to your arsenal.

Best All-Round Game Drive For PS4 And PS5 - WD BLACK 2 TB P10 Game Drive

Check Amazon

This WD BLACK 2 TB P10 Game Drive is purpose-built for gaming, and definitely up there with the best hard drives available for PS4 and PS5.

2 TB is more than enough to store a large volume of games, especially important with 60GB+ file sizes seemingly on the rise.

When it comes to design, this is one of the more slick hard drives on the market, and it's durable too.

Best All-Round Hard Drive For PS4 And PS5 - WD 4 TB My Passport Portable Hard Drive

Check Amazon

This WD 4 TB My Passport Portable Hard Drive is a great go-to for the best of everything option.

4TB is a hefty chunk of storage and more than enough for most gamers out there. It's a good mid-ground that gives you some breathing room, should you want to use it to house a number of large games without having to delete them from your console.

Great for games like Call of Duty too, which have some pretty hefty file sizes.

Best Basic HDD For PS4 And PS5 - Toshiba Canvio Basics 1TB Portable External Hard Drive

Check Amazon

This Toshiba 1TB external hard drive is a great choice if you want a quick storage solution to give you some extra breathing room.

It's a 'basics' style of hard drive, so you're not going to be getting all the shiny bells and whistles with this product, but what you are getting is a very affordable, reliable and compatible piece of gear, which will take the stress out of your next big download.

And as far as hard drives go, with the matt finish, it actually looks pretty good too!

Best Mid Range Hard Drive For PS4 and PS5 - Seagate 2TB HDD

Check Amazon

This Seagate 2TB HDD licensed for PlayStation systems is a solid option for your PS4 / PS5.

If you've already got the best PS5 monitor for your set-up and want to keep the PlayStation theme, this HDD could be for you!

2TB of storage, again, is more than enough for most, and the design is suitably minimal and won't look out of place connected to either console.

Portable, durable, and just a great all-rounder if you're looking to increase your storage!

Best Looking SSD For PS4 And PS5 SanDisk Extreme 500GB Portable NVMe SSD

Check Amazon

This SanDisk SSD may be lacking in storage when compared to the goliaths which feature on the list, but what you get in its place is some serious speed.

It features a durable and life-proof build, all in a package that is easily pocket size. Did we mention it's also on sale!

A fantastic piece of kit and we think one of the slickest looking SSDs we've seen out there!

Best Game Drive For COD Fans For PS4 And PS5 - WD BLACK P10 2TB Game Drive, COD Special Edition

Best Hard Drive for PS4 and PS5 Call of Duty Special Edition

Check Amazon

This special edition Black Ops Cold War hard drive makes a great addition to COD player's arsenal of accessories.

Featuring all the things that make the super popular P10 2TB game drive amazing, such as the durable casing and super stylish finish, this special edition ramps things up a notch in the visual design department.

And with a decent chunk of storage to use up, this will more than handle those hefty download sizes from the game itself!

Best Large Storage Hard Drive For PS4 And PS5 - WD BLACK 8TB Game Drive

Check Amazon

This WD BLACK 8TB Game Drive is a strong choice if you want the ultimate storage solution for your massive games library.

You'll be able to play all the latest and greatest PS5 games as they come out and won't have to worry about how much storage they're going to take up.

Coming in the signature WD_Black style, this hard drive is still up there with the best in terms of looks, making it a fitting addition to your gaming setup.

Perfect if you want to practically never worry about running out of space!

Best Premium Large Storage Hard Drive For PS4 And PS5 WD Black P10 5TB

Check Amazon

WD make the list as usual with this quality hard drive. Again, if we take it purely on looks, this up there with some of the best-looking storage accessories we've seen, and has that signature durable build to go with it.

5TB is an enormous amount of space for most people and should do nicely for those who have substantial gaming libraries.

Best Special Edition Hard Drive For PS4 And PS5 - Seagate Game Drive The Last of Us II Special Edition

Check Amazon

This Seagate Game Drive for PS4 2 TB External Hard Drive is the perfect hard drive for fans of the epic game, The Last of Us Part II.

It features a fern print resembling Ellie's tattoo in the game, which can serve as a reminder of the amazing gaming experience itself, in addition to having some practicality too!

It's got a substantial 2TB of space, which is more than enough if you ask us.

Best Storage Hard Drive For PS4 And PS5 - Seagate Expansion Desktop 6 TB External Hard Drive HDD

View At Amazon

The Seagate Expansion Desktop 6 TB External Hard Drive is a fantastic piece of kit, and you actually get a ton of storage for your money.

6TB is actually quite challenging to fill, so you're not going to have to worry too much about running out of space anytime soon.

This hard drive sits nicely next to your PS4 or PS5 thanks to its and design-wise looks like a pretty serious customer!

Best External SSD for PS4 And PS5 - WD BLACK 1 TB P50 NVMe SSD Game Drive

View At Amazon

WD make the list again, but this time it's their WD BLACK 1 TB P50 NVMe SSD Game Drive, which can be used with PS4.

SSD's are much newer tech, so they essentially are smaller and quicker than HDDs. And, unsurprisingly, that's what you get with this awesome piece of kit.

You'll be able to store a decent 1TB of files, but the speed at which you can do so is worth the extra money.

And once again, it's one great looking SSD!

Frequently Asked Questions about Hard Drives And SSDs for PS4 & PS5

Should you go for an HDD or an SSD for PS5?

If you're after speed, then go for an SSD, but if you're after more space then HDDs deliver far more and at a much more reasonable price.

For instance, it's not unheard of to get over 8TB of space with some hard drives for the same price as some 2TB SSDs.

Does any hard drive work with PS4 and PS5?

We'd always recommend double-checking that the hard drive of SSD is compatible, as there are some exceptions out there.

Make sure you're searching for 'console compatible' HDDs and SSDs to avoid returns and disappointment.

How many TB is big for a hard drive?

2TB is a good place to start if you want to ensure you have enough space to store your bigger downloads and games.

Massive open-world games and titles with huge updates like Warzone can be moved easily onto a 2TB hard drive, but if you've got an enormous library, we'd say consider something above 6TB.

For SSDs, going up to 2TB is great, and it should be very fast to transfer files, but it will be more expensive in comparison.

What is the difference between an HDD and an SSD?

Whilst the two forms are fundamentally identical in their purposes for storing files, there are some pretty big differences between an HDD and an SSD.

Hard drives are mechanical - in that they have moving parts. Solid-state storage does not, and therefore offers faster read and write speeds.

For context, HDDs usually offer speeds of 150 MB/s, whilst external SSDs can offer speeds of 1000 MB/s and Sony's requirements of M.2 SSDs demand speeds above 5500 MB/s.

In addition, as M.2 SSDs for instance are integrated into the PS5's board, then it makes sense that their speeds will be quicker. This is thanks to the fact that the PS5 supports PCIe Gen 4.

Can you play games from an external HDD on PS5?

Given that external hard drives and SSDs are simply plug-and-play with the PS5 through the USB interface, it makes sense that you can utilise them for storing games.

However, when it comes to playing those games, it is a different story. Given how powerful the PS5 is, it makes sense that Sony has stringent requirements on the kind of drives that can be inputted into the console.

For instance, for an M.2 SSD to work with the PS5, it'll need to feature support for PCIe Gen4, alongside having read speeds of 5500 MB/s or faster, and have a width of 22mm in order to fit.

Should you get an M.2 SSD for PS5?

If you want to expand your internal memory, then you could do, however, for the price and the fact that not all M.2 SSDs will work like the PS5 internal SSD you could give it a miss.

If you do want to check out some of the SSDs available, head over to our top picks for M.2 internal drives for PS5 right here.

Read More: Best External SSDs for Gaming 2021

For more articles like this, take a look at our Deals and PlayStation page.