The most powerful console in the world is here, finally providing true 4K gaming experiences to console players around the world -- well, if you've got a 4K TV, anyway. Unfortunately, for all that power packed under the hood, the Xbox One X only comes bundled with one hard drive option: 1TB.
While that might cut it for the casual gamer on a lesser system, it's a good bet you are going to burn through that terabyte before long if you plan on taking advantage of the HD updates for Xbox One X enhanced games. When required updates are taking up 80 gigs of space, a 1TB internal drive is going to fill to capacity in no time flat.
Only having one hard drive option feels like an oversight on Microsoft's part, since all the previous Xbox One editions come with multiple drive configurations. Just like the original Xbox One and the updated Xbox One S, the revamped X still features two USB ports, though, so it's simple to add on an external hard drive for extra room.
Any USB-enabled external hard drive will work, although you have to format the drive to work with the Xbox operating system and will lose any data that was previously stored on the HDD.
Here, we're going to round up all the best external hard drives currently available to use with your Xbox One X, focusing on different models for budget-friendly options, as well as hard drives that offer the most storage space possible -- but at a premium price.
Western Digital 1TB External Hard Drive
Price: $59.00
Buy it on: Amazon
This is your basic starting point for adding extra storage space to your Xbox One X, and keeping you from deleting old games to make room for new ones. And while there are plenty of manufacturers out there with competing 1TB versions in different sizes, what's appealing about this particular line is that there's no external power required, and they come in cool colors.
If that striking orange isn't your thing and doesn't match your decor, go ahead and pick dark red, blue, white, or the standard black to match the Xbox One X.
These are also super affordable. They aren't much more expensive than your typical thumb drive but offer vastly increased storage capacity, effectively doubling the size of your Xbox One X storage space immediately. For less than $60, it's a worthwhile investment.
Toshiba Canvio Basics 2TB
Price: $74.00
Buy it on: Amazon
Going for a sleek rounded, palm-of-the-hand look, Toshiba's offerings are a different form factor than the boxy rectangular Western Digital hard drives -- but they don't usually come in all the nifty color options.
At slightly more than your 1TB drive, this external HDD may be the best "bang for your buck" option available right now for expanding your Xbox One X storage space.
Between the 1TB onboard HDD of the console and the extra 2TB from the external drive, space won't be nearly as cramped. And it's unlikely you are going to hit capacity unless you are consistently buying the newest and biggest games every month.
Seagate 4TB External Hard Drive
Price: $97.00
Buy it on: Amazon
These Seagate HDD options provide a vertical, elegant design to set next to your Xbox One X. The upside here is that the drive doesn't take up as much horizontal space as the oddly shaped, rectangular external HDDs with smaller storage capacities.
For less than a hundred bucks, this is an excellent mid-range external option that ensures you won't be deleting games, while not hitting the bank as hard as with those 8TB behemoths. Of course, all the usual standbys like Toshiba and Western Digital have their own versions of these as well at differing price points, so you've got other options if you're considering this style of external hard drive.
Seagate 8TB
Price: $189.99
Buy it on: Amazon
When money is no option and storage space is all you care about, the 8TB HDD options are where you should be looking. Although bulky and requiring an extra spot on your surge protector for its own power supply, its unlikely you will ever run of space with this much room, even if you have a massive Xbox One X game library. Be sure to jump on the Games With Gold program for two free games every month to fill up this massive drive!
Vecrotech 1TB SSD
Price: $309.00
Buy it on: Amazon
While we've focused on the traditional external HDDs, it's worth noting that external solid state drives are also compatible with the Xbox One X for those who prefer to stay on the cutting edge.
The cost goes up significantly for less storage space, so what's the upside of an SSD over an HDD? Most notably is that these solid state drives are totally silent, adding absolutely no extra sound to your gaming area.
They also offer much faster transfer speeds, but that's less relevant since you probably won't be frequently transferring data to and from different devices when using the drive as an Xbox storage location.
While this 1TB option will set you back a pretty penny, the 512GB versions lower the price substantially, although obviously at the cost of reduced storage space.
There are more games taking advantage of the improved graphical capabilities of the Xbox One X than you may realize, so all that storage space will be warranted. Of course, the big names like Gears Of War 4, Halo 5, and Forza 7 are in on the action, but there's plenty of other games you might not expect.
From Minecraft (yep, somehow we can make the pixel blocks look more HD!) to Quantum Break to Zoo Tycoon, many titles are going to take up a whole lot of extra space on the X version of Microsoft's flagship console.
Have you picked up an Xbox One X yet, and what size external hard drive do you plan on grabbing to increase your stage space?
With the holiday season quickly approaching, expect to see many of these drives or their equivalents from other brands to go on deep discount. Be sure to let us know in the comments if you've found a better deal!
Published: Nov 10, 2017 05:04 pm