PS5 games need to boot off a fast SSD, similar to the one in the system. Let’s start with the most important thing: The PlayStation 5 cannot run PS5 games off an external hard drive.

Here are a few things you should know before buying one: You can’t play PS5 games off an external hard drive That said, external hard drives work differently on the PS5. Adding some more hard drive space is a worthwhile investment if you plan to play lots of different games, which is more likely than ever thanks to Sony’s expanded PlayStation Plus program. The PS5’s internal storage fills up quickly the console’s operating system takes up a notable, noticeable percentage of the space, so you have only 670GB for games and apps when you first boot up. Things to consider before buying an external hard drive for PS5 I also cross-referenced those findings with reviews from critics, peers, and typical users to get a sense of which drives paired well with a PS5 and which ones didn’t. To pick out drives for this piece, I researched the best-known brands and looked for the most interesting drives: the fastest, the cheapest, the smallest, the most rugged. I’ve covered game consoles and computers for publications like TechnoBuffalo, The Tech Report, and GameSpot. How we picked the best PS5 external hard drives

Best high-speed: Samsung T7 Shield 2TB, Portable SSD.

Best portable: SanDisk 512GB UltraFit USB 3.1 Flash Drive.

Best themed drive: Seagate Horizon Forbidden West Limited Edition Game Drive.

Best value: Western Digital 8TB Elements Desktop Hard Drive.

Best overall: Seagate Game Drive for PlayStation Consoles 4TB.

You can install an M.2 drive for high-speed internal storage, or use an external hard drive to store PS4 games or put PS5 games in “cold storage.” The best external hard drives for PS5 can give you tons of extra storage for older games, so you can save your speedy SSD for your most important games.

If you play a lot of games-or just a few of the right ones-you’re going to max that out pretty quickly. The PS5 offers two ways to create more room for games on your console.

The internal 825GB hard drive feels incredibly small at a time when some games can take up more than 100GB. The PlayStation 5 features an ultra-fast solid state drive that loads games incredibly fast but it doesn’t offer a huge amount of storage, which is why you should consider attaching an external hard drive.

Best portable hard drives