Updated Jan 5, 2022

Best Hard Drive for PS4

Hard Drive Model		Price	Our Verdict
Seagate 2TB FireCuda Gaming SSHD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 2.5-Inch Hard Drive		$$	Best Overall
HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5-Inch 1TB 7200 RPM SATA III 32MB Cache Internal Hard Drive		$	Best Budget Hard Drive
WD 4TB Black My Passport Portable External Hard Drive		$$$	Best Value For Money
Seagate Backup Plus 5TB Portable External Hard Drive		$$$$	Best Features
Seagate 2TB Game Drive for PlayStation 4 Portable External USB Hard Drive		$$	Most Lightweight

If you’re searching for the best hard drive for PS4, you’ve come to the right place! This buying guide and product review will help you decide which PS4-compatible hard drive will best suit your preferences.

Check out the top 5 hard drives for PS4 and computer-based applications:

5 BEST HARD DRIVES FOR PS4

Seagate 2TB FireCuda Gaming SSHD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 2.5-Inch Hard Drive – Best Overall Hard Drive for PS4

The Seagate 2TB FireCuda is considered to be one of the fastest gaming SSHD products in the market. It runs about 5 times faster than the typical hard drive. It can read up to a speed of 136.8 MB/s and write speed of 121.3 MB/s. 2TB FireCuda runs at a 5400 RPM.

The 2.5-inch device is proven to provide superior performance for PC gaming and it is the perfect upgrade for gamers, creative professionals, and PC enthusiasts. This product is equipped with the new and improved NAND flash memory technology.

With a capacity of 2TB, this device from Seagate is a fantastic choice for people looking for the best hard drive for PS4. This eliminates the need to uninstall other games to give enough space for new game titles.

In addition, its adaptive memory technology can efficiently identify all frequently accessed data to allow for speedier operations. Additionally, its multi-tier caching technology helps boost performance, thereby helping applications and files to load faster.

Ultimately, the Seagate FireCuda 2.5” SSHD provides an excellent balance when it comes to price, capacity, and performance. It’s definitely an exceptional value for your media storage needs, and is worthy to belong to this list of best hard drive for PS4.

Pros

• One of the fastest 2.5” gaming hard drives in the market
• 2TB capacity can store 80 x 25GB games
• Five times faster than traditional hard drives for non-stop performance and seamless gaming experience
• Adaptive memory technology allows quicker operations on frequently used applications
• High read performance improves loading time
• Competitive price point
• Comes with 5-year warranty

Cons

• Works better as a gaming hard drive. May not be as reliable for desktop applications as SSD.
• Needs casing to function as an external hard drive

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HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5-Inch 1TB 7200 RPM SATA III 32MB Cache Internal Hard Drive – Best Budget Hard Drive

With its 7200 RPM, 1TB storage and 6Gb/s SATA interface, HGST Travelstar 7K1000 hard drive is sure to deliver the best performance in its class. Its 4k advanced format technology improves capacity and enhances reliability. That’s why it’s included in our list for the best hard drive for PS4 and PS4 Pro.

This product is designed to support the needs of multi-tasking as it offers the desired speed without having to sacrifice its overall performance which includes its battery life, capacity, or audio. What is great about this Travelstar hard drive is that it’s packed with patented technology that ensures 100% reliability of its performance along with its quiet and eco-friendly operation.

This super-slim hard drive is also ideal for upgrading ultra-thin notebooks for a variety of different high-performance storage needs, including game files.

The HGST Travelstar hard drive is designed to ensure the highest quality standards along with worldwide technical support and integration services to enable customers from all over the world to have access to this product.

Its features will definitely not fall short in the array of the best hard drives for PS4 as it allows more storage space to accommodate several game files for a gaming enthusiast. The HGST patent technology hard drive offers a 3-year limited warranty.

Pros

• One of the most affordable in the market
• 1TB capacity in a 2.5” 9mm form factor
• High-performance 2.5-inch HDD with a 6Gb/s SATA interface
• Low power consumption

Cons

• Only available for one kind of storage capacity
• Needs casing to function as an external hard drive

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WD 4TB Black My Passport Portable External Hard Drive – Best Value For Money

Its sleek style will fit comfortably in the palm of your hand, which makes it more convenient for you to carry it anywhere you go. Because of its space-saving design, you can put it beside your PlayStation 4 while you play our favorite games.

Aside from this, you can use the hard drive to easily back-up photos, videos, music, documents, and game files onto the My Passport drive with the included WD Backup software. It is as easy as plugging the device into your PC or laptop and your files can start transferring and saving wonderful memories, important documents or your selection of video games. It makes use of USB 3.0, but it is compatible with USB 2.0 as well.

WD My Passport has been formatted for Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7 operating systems. It may require reformatting if other operating systems are used.

It has a built-in 256-bit AES Hardware Encryption with WD security to help keep your game profiles confidential and secure. The WD brand upholds its name as its hard drives are made to meet the demanding requirements for shock tolerance, durability, and long-term reliability. Performance-wise, it’s at par with most hard drives with its 128 MB/s read and 123 MB/s write capability.

With its 4TB storage capacity, any gamer will definitely consider it as the best hard drive for PS4.

Pros

• Lots of great features for its price
• Plug-and-play setup makes it convenient to use
• Comes in different vibrant colors
• Comes with a comprehensive software suite
• Has password protection with hardware encryption

Cons

• Some issues with regards to speed when reading large files

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Seagate Backup Plus 5TB Portable External Hard Drive – Best Hard Drive With Additional Features

This hard drive measures features a micro-USB port and comes with a cable that plugs into a standard USB Type A for transfer speeds of up to 5 Gbps.

One amazing feature of this Seagate hard drive is the ability to recover lost data. All you need to do is sign up for the service, download the Dashboard backup utilities, and pay around $10 for two years of access. You won’t have to cry over accidentally deleted game data!

Seagate Backup Plus 5TB is an excellent performer in writing and reading large files, as well as reading small files. It creates a backup of your game files to the Portable Drive. The dashboard would automatically back up all of the files and will continuously do the same for any new or edited files.

Additionally, it allows you to create a custom backup plan where you could choose when and what files to backup. If you use it as a file storage device, it also allows you to upload and download your media files from your Social Media accounts such as Facebook or Flickr.

Expect that this hard drive is a bit heavier and bulkier since it has a bigger storage capacity than other similar products in the market. However, it is still easy to carry it with you anywhere you go. It may not be too comfortable holding it in your hand compared to other sleeker designs, but it can still fit any small-sized bag.

The speed results of the Backup Plus Portable 5TB is astonishing fast at 147.4MB/s sequential read and 140.9MB/s sequential write. Tests show that it takes less than 3 minutes to copy a 10GB folder into the drive, and a shorter time to copy the same file from it. This means that it has great performance when it comes to speed.

The Backup Plus Portable is the biggest drive available on the market to date. Just imagine how much you can save from having to buy 2-3 storage devices by simply having this one device.

All in all, it’s no wonder that the Seagate Backup Plus 5TB is included in our list of the best hard drive for PS4.

Pros

• Monster storage capacity of 5TB
• High-speed performance
• Powered via the USB port (no AC adapter required)
• Also compatible with Mac OSX with the aid of the included NTFS driver
• Cloud backup system with WiFi connectivity to and from mobile device

Cons

• Expensive due to its huge storage capacity

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Seagate 2TB Game Drive for PlayStation 4 Portable External USB Hard Drive – Most Lightweight Hard Drive

The Seagate 2TB Game Drive is the answer to your massive collection of PlayStation video games. The high-speed USB 3.0 gives you full-speed gaming, just like playing from the console’s internal memory. This means you are assured to enjoy playing video games without lag or interruption.

This hard drive was made specifically for PlayStation enthusiasts. Simply plug the device into your PlayStation, and just wait for a few minutes for the hard drive to boot.

Its best feature is its portability. At 4.8 ounces, it’s easily the most lightweight hard drive on this list. While it is significantly smaller and lighter than other Seagate hard drives, its performance is not far behind from the rest.

Installing games to the Game Drive is a painless process, and running games off it caused no issues. The Seagate Game Drive is a worthy investment if you are looking for a stable hard drive.

Unlike the Seagate Backup Plus 5TB, this product only comes in black casing with blue outlining.

Pros

• Ultra-portable and lightweight
• Power efficient
• Value for money
• USB 3.0 connection allows faster loading of games

Cons

• No optical audio
• Not compatible with a 4k Blu-ray player

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Brief Background on Hard Drives for Gaming Consoles

Although most consoles have built-in memory space to house a few games, nothing matches the idea of having so much more game titles stored in a hard drive.

The hard drive is a convenient way of backing up data for your gaming console or PC and keep them safe from system crashes and other potential problems. You may store player information and a few games using the internal memory, but it’s not possible to accommodate every piece of data. Apart from slowing down the system, there is a big risk of losing everything that you’ve stored if you do not back up your files.

Hard drives have the ability to store practically any file type, from text files to full games. It provides a seamless gaming experience by having a significant amount of memory to run the game and store information. Having said that, you need to get the best hard drive for PS4 that will fit your specific needs.

What is the difference between HDD and SSD PS4 Hard Drive?

HDD (hard disk drive) storage houses a magnetic tape and contains mechanical parts inside. This device (3.5 inches) was traditionally used in PCs before SSD technology came along.

The SSD, on the other hand, is a flash storage and has no moving parts compared to the HDD. Using this, it is possible to move them about while transferring data to and from a PC without fear of causing damage.

To differentiate the two, SSD is smaller and more compact for use in laptops, and it uses less power.

Whether you choose an HDD or an SSD, make sure to check the best hard drive for PS4 to ensure that you get your money’s worth as well as provide you with an excellent gaming experience.

External Hard Drive vs. Internal Hard Drive For PS4

PlayStation 4 comes with a built-in internal hard drive that stores game data. Some gamers like to upgrade their HDD to a higher memory capacity, but are unsure whether to use an internal hard drive or an external variant.

If you’re considering a new internal hard drive, you’re essentially replacing the stock drive in a standard PS4 console. It’s definitely a wise move, because you get to enjoy the following benefits:

• Higher speed: The internal HDD storage that comes with PS4 is slow and relatively outdated. Replacing it with a new model will boost performance, reliability, and data transfer speed.
• Local storage: When you play with PS4, you can store trophies and game saves on an internal hard drive. You can’t do that on an external drive.
• Secure installation: The intact installation of the internal hard drive makes it more stable than an external hard drive. Your files are protected from accidental corruption due to vibration or shock.
• No additional space required: Because the internal hard drive is built into the PS4 slot, you won’t have to clear up some space on the table or stand to accommodate an external hard drive.

On the other hand, some people find external hard drives extremely useful when playing with the PS4. Here are some of the advantages of external hard drives over internal ones:

• Easy installation: You don’t have to use tools or dismantle the PS4 to install the hard drive. All you need is a USB cable, and you can already connect the storage device to the gaming console.
• Additional memory space on top of the internal drive: You don’t have to worry about using up additional memory that may slow your PS4 down. Storing other game data on an external drive will address that worry.
• Portability: Want to use your personal game data on a friend’s PS4? You can bring your external hard drive to your friend’s house and connect it to another gaming console. Making your storage device portable is an amazing feature of the best hard drive for PS4.

HARD DRIVE BUYING GUIDE – HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST HARD DRIVE FOR PS4

Acknowledging that you need a hard drive to store your files is not enough. With so many types to choose from, it is worth your time to determine which factors you should look for prior to purchasing the best hard drive for PS4.

HDD or SSD

Both have its advantages and disadvantages. SSD reads and writes data faster and has lower power consumption. It also doesn’t make noise and has a longer lifespan. The downside of SSD is that it is more expensive per gigabyte and offers a smaller capacity compared to HDD.

Hard drive size

Hard drives may come in either 2.5” or 3.5” size. A smaller storage device is more compact and can easily fit in the palm of your hand. However, the storage capacity may not be as big as those found on 3.5” devices.

Performance

Each type of hard drive offers different features such as speed performance and storage capacity. Know which performance features you need for your particular purpose.

Price

Choosing based on price isn’t a wise idea, although you may have no choice especially if you have a limited budget. Bottom line, bigger storage capacity, and higher performance means having to pay more — all for the pursuit of owning the best hard drive for PS4.

If you are a video game enthusiast, relying solely on your PlayStation to store all of your favorite games may not be a wise idea. The same goes for PC or laptop users who rely on internal memory to save files. To ensure that you can safely keep all your essential files, consider purchasing a hard drive that can securely store them.

Learning the factors on purchasing a hard drive makes it easier for you to select from the sheer amount of choices. Do you have a pick for the best hard drive for PS4? Sound off in the comments section!