Gaming in all its various forms has always been part of our civilization. We thrive on the challenge that games present, and welcome new gaming experiences with much anticipation. Today, video games have taken the center stage, which has led to a culture bursting with new technological advancements. One such bit of tech are gaming consoles, such as the PS4 and Xbox. People have their preferences, and make their choices, and for those who choose the PS4, they are generously endowed with a massive amount of high quality games such as Grand Theft Auto V, The Last of Us, and Shadow of the Colossus.
The 10 Best Hard Drives For PS4
The PS4 console is a feature laden gaming platform that provides the best possible console gaming experience. That being said, it has to be noted that once gamers get a taste of the power of their PS4, they’ll want to play a diverse selection of games, which means they will be needing much more storage capacity than whats available on their PS4. Not only that, no gamer wants to wait around due to loading, so they’re also in the market for a faster response time.
In all truth, sooner or later you’re going to outgrow your original PS4 drive, and will want to expand for both speed and memory. We realize it’s a tough decision to make, so we’ve taken the time to create this handy PS4 hard drive review and buyers guide to help you get started. Our review contains a list of some of the most trusted drives on the market, both internal and external. Whatever you may be considering, we are sure to have an option that caters to your needs.
Table of the Best Hard Drives For Ps4
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1. Seagate 2TB FireCuda Gaming SSHD
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The Seagate 2TB FireCuda Gaming SSHD is the internal hard drive most gamers prefer among the rest. While others may have more storage capacity, many PS4 users find that overall, the FireCuda offers the best performance. Gamers love the speed, dependability and ease of installation. Speed and response time are important to gamers, and the FireCuda blends the latest NAND flash accelerated technology with standard hard drive design to give up to 5 times the speed of normal hard drives. The FireCuda allows you to store up to 80 25GB games per TB, which means you can keep your played games, without having to delete them. Features include 2.5 inch form factor, 2TB capacity, SATA 6.0 Gb/s interface, Green Hybrid reduces power consumption, Multi-Tier caching technology, DRAM media caching technology, and Adaptive Memory technology.
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2. Oyen Digital 1TB Hard Drive Upgrade Kit For PS4
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For individuals who prefer the convenience of a PS4 upgrade kit, then the Oyen Digital 1TB Hard Drive upgrade kit can get the job done. The Oyen Digital upgrade kit gives the gamer 1TB of memory, so you won’t be too concerned about running out of capacity any time soon. This should give you enough space for your games, videos, photos and music, as well as giving your PS4 a speed boost, by its higher spindle rate of 7200 RPM, as compared to the PS4’s original speed of 5400 RPM. This upgrade kit comes complete with everything you’ll need to finish the upgrade: an 8GB flash drive, Oyen Digital 2.5 inch hard drive enclosure, cable, screwdriver, and HGST 1TB 7200 RPM hard drive.
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3. Samsung 850 PRO 1TB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD
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The Samsung 850 PRO gives you the storage capacity you need, along with Samsung’s 3D V-NAND Technology. As this is a solid state drive (SSD) you are guaranteed superior performance and quick response time. You’ll find that upload speeds have increased, plus the fact that a SSD drive is free from moving parts, so you will experience reduced complications as compared to traditional and hybrid drives. Features include: Rapid Mode, TurboWrite Technology, improved energy efficiency, advanced encryption, dynamic thermal guard protection, and one-stop install navigator. As an extra, you also get access to Samsung’s Data Migration and Magician software, free for download.
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4. Fantom Drives PS4 Hard Drive Upgrade Kit
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The Fantom Drive PS4 Hard Drive Upgrade kit is a proven way to upgrade your PS4. This kit contains the Seagate FireCuda 2TB SSHD, which automatically gives you 4 times the capacity of your normal PS4 hard drive, all with outstanding SSD type performance. Your speed also increases, and we guarantee you’ll notice the speed difference. No more worrying if you have enough space to store your games and videos as you can comfortably store up to 80 25 Gig games. This kit is compatible with the following Playstation systems: PS4, PS4 SLIM, PS4 Pro and PS3. Features include Cache buffer size of 32 MB, Hard Drive RPM of 5400, 16 GB flash drive capacity.
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5. Seagate 1TB Laptop HDD
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This affordable hard drive adds a nice 1TB of storage to your PS4, which is twice the storage of a standard PS4. Spindle speed, however, remains the same at 5400 RPM, so you won’t get a speed boost. The big plus for this hard drive, is that because the price is so budget friendly, if you are only looking for storage for the price of a good game, this is the hard drive for you. This hard drive also offers you government grade encryption without sacrificing performance: TCG Opal protocol, 7mm SED Technology, Instant Secure Erase Technology. Features include: hard disk rotational speed of 5400 RPM, SATA 6.0 Gb/s hardware connectivity, and 128 MB cache memory.
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6. 2TB SATA Notebook Laptop 2.5″ Hard Drive
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The 2TB SATA Notebook Laptop 2.5″ Hard Drive is a rather nice choice to add 2TB to your PS4. This easy to install internal hard drive is manufactured by Seagate/Samsung. Cache memory is 32 MB, Digital storage capacity is 2TB, hard disk rotational speed 5400 RPM, Load/Unload Head Technology, seek time 12 ms, data transfer rate 6.0 Gbps, and the interface is a SATA 6.0 Gb/s. Designed with QuietStep technology means you’ll hear your games, not your hard drive.Native Command Queuing, or NCQ and Perpendicular Recording Technology provide an increasereliability and performance.
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7. Seagate Expansion 2TB Portable USB HDD
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The Seagate Expansion 2TB Portable USB external hard disk drive is USB powered with a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 for fast data transfer, backwards compatible with USB 2.0. Installation is simple. No need to open up your PS4, as this external hard disk drive installs simply by using your USB port on your PS4. Plug your Seagate Expansion 2TB portable hard disk drive in and you can immediately begin to store files, no software to download and no configurations necessary, it’s just that simple. Features include drag and drop file saving, up to 1000 hours of video, 250 2 hour DVD movies, 320,000 digital photos and up to 16,660 hours of digital music.
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8. Seagate Backup Plus 4TB Hard Drive
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You’re a gamer, so you want play without always nitpicking about storage capacity, shifting files around, deleting others, and with the Seagate Backup Plus 4TB, USB 3.0/2.0 Hard Drive, you won’t have to with its high 4TB storage capacity. So feel free to store all the videos, music, photos and games that are on your PS4 without worry. This high speed, external hard drive holds 4TB of storage, is USB 3.0 powered, so no external power source is necessary. Included is the Seagate Dashboard software which helps keep your files in order. As for connectivity, Cloud Connectivity works with both Dropbox and Google Drive. This unit is small and compact, so will not take up any desk space.
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9. Samsung SSD T3 500GB Hard Drive
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If you are looking for pure speed, increased file transfer times, then the Samsung SSD T3 can help you out. This external hard disk drive can also be purchased in 1TB and 2TB versions. This hard drive has fabulously fast read/speeds of up to 450 MB/s. Features include secure encryption, impact resistant encasement, 3.1 USB, weighs less than 2 ounces, so will not take up desk space when in use. The Samsung Portable SSD T3 comes with Samsung 3D vertical NAND Technology, which guarantees high quality performance and reliability. SSD means solid state drive, so you have no moving internal parts, and the impact resistant metal casing can handle up to 15DOG. AES 256 bit encryption ensures your files are secure. While it supports USB 3.1, this device can also be used with devices which utilize USB 2.0 ports via the included adapter.
#10. HGST 1TB Travelstar 7K1000 Hard Drive
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For the economically minded, we have the HGST 1TB Travelstar 7K1000 by Western Digital. This internal hard drive will tive you 1TB of storage capacity and has a spinning speed of 7200 RPM. Since your PS4 spins at 5400 RPM, you are getting a faster response time, plus 1TB of storage capacity, so it seems a good choice for most gamers. Additional features include a 6GB/s SATA, high shock tolerance, and uses less power than most of its competitors. For the eco-friendly minded gamer, this drive is classified EcoTrac, and has a halogen free design. Features include: 32MB data buffer, 12ms seek time, and 4.2ms latency time.[/lazboy_item]
How to Choose a Hard Drive for Your PS4
Note: Before you make your final purchase, please look over the specifications of each drive carefully in regards to size. Make sure that it will fit inside your PS4. Those shopping for externals drives do not need to be concerned with size.
Internal or External
The first decision is what type of hard drive do you wish to use, an internal or an external hard drive. Each drive has its pros and cons, so lets take a closer look. Although it might not seem so at first, but choosing the proper drive is a very personal matter. Each gamer has their own needs. For instance, some are looking for speed in transferring data, while others care only for optimum storage capacity. Some gamers like the idea of a portable external hard drive so they can pack it in their bag and play with friends.
Internal Hard Drives
Internal hard drives for a PS4 will usually be the 2.5 inch laptop size, low profile to fit into your PS4. The Internal hard drives require you to open up your PS4 to do the installation, which is not for everyone. Internal disk drives are usually faster, as the data is stored internally, and will not have to be transfered from an external drive.
External Hard Drives
The most obvious reason gamers use an external drive to add valuable storage capacity to their PS4 is convenience. External hard drives have the same qualities as internal drives, except they are Plug and Play devices, which means you simply plug your drive into your PS4’s USB port. Another pro, is that they are portable and small enough to not take up valuable desk space. Finally, you are not limited to a 2.5 inch laptop hard drive. With external drives, you are free to purchase a powerful 3.5 inch.
Key Features
Storage Capacity
No gamer wants to be caught in the lurch with too little memory. I’ve been there and it’s definitely not fun, so storage capacity is a huge consideration. Today, the PS4 can handle drives with up to 4TB with ease. The issue is do you need it, as the more storage capacity you want, means more cash spent. One option is to simply move all of your previously played game files to an external drive if you’re satisfied with the performance of your PS4 drive.
Speed
For many gamers, quick response time is essential. Load times seem to take forever at slower speeds, so many gamers opt for the SSD. The SSD gets you up and running much faster than the standard, mechanical HDD. If you are wanting to purchase a HDD, then remember that your standard PS4 has a mechanical or HDD and operates at a speed of 5400 RPM. So if you are looking at an HDD, consider purchasing one that spins at 7200 RPM.
Types of Hard Drives Available
When you read ourBest Hard Drives For PS4 review, you’ll notice some abbreviations, such as SSD, SSHD or HDD. If you’re new to gaming, or new to hard drives, this can be confusing, so we’ve lumped them all in one place so you can compare each one.
SSD
SSD means Solid State Drive. These drives are reliable, quick and tend to not eat up a lot of power. SSD’s are also void of any moving parts, and instead function much like a flash drive as flash memory chips take care of storage duties. Since they have no moving parts, they are more impact resistant than the standard HDD. Accidentally knocking an SSD drive to the floor does not equal the risk of data loss. Also, note that SSD drives will usually cost you more.
SSHD
SSHD refers to Solid State Hybrid Drive. Hybrid drives strive to deliver to the buyer, the best qualities of the HDD and SSD drives. Basically, a SSHD drive is simply one that uses flash memory, like the solid state drive to store files that are used most often, which means you get quicker results. The HDD contribution is the storage capacity.
HDD
Hard Disk Drive. This is the most common drive around, and also among the most inexpensive, and also slower than an SSD drive. These are the drives you’ll see in older computers. Unlike the SSD, the HDD is composed of moving parts, so there is always a risk of possible data loss if the HDD becomes damaged. When you come across specs for hard drives, you will see Form Factor 2.5″ or Form Factor 3.5″. This is because due to the spinning parts, there is a limit to how compact you can design a HDD. For PS4 the Form Factor of 2.5″ is recommended.
Conclusion
Thank you for reading our review of the 10 best hard drives and buyers guide for PS4 in 2021. We are confident that once you’ve read about the various drives and what they have to offer, and match that to your personal gaming preferences, you’ll end up with the perfect hard drive for your needs. While searching for a drive can be daunting, we made sure to include a solid variety of drives from top band name manufacturers. For instance, you can purchase an upgrade kit, an internal drive or external drive. Just be aware of the pros and cons of each, plus what you can actually afford and really need, and you’ll be well on your way to enjoying the best of your PS4 gaming experience.