The best hard drives are easy to set up, compatible with the PlayStation, and have tons of space to stash all of the increasingly massive triple-A games you crave. The best will sport sleek designs and not look out of place perched on your entertainment center or right on top of your console, and they will be reliable enough to keep your data secure for years. Read on to see all of our picks for the best hard drives for PS4. The FireCuda uses adaptive memory and multi-tier caching technologies to reduce loading times for your most-played games. With a data transfer rate of up to 140 MB/s, you can quickly migrate your library to the new drive and have a virtually lag-free experience playing games stored on the FireCuda. Along with a five-year warranty, you can purchase a separate data recovery plan from Seagate to protect your data from loss and corruption due to mechanical failure, viruses, and damage to the drive. Capacity: 2TB | Interface: SATA 6GB/s | Transfer Speeds: Up to 140 MB/s | Form Factor: 2.5-inch It features AES 265-bit encryption to keep your games, system, and personal data safe from unauthorized access and misuse. With a lifetime rating of 1.5 million hours and no moving parts, you won’t have to worry about mechanical failures or slow-downs over the drive’s lifetime. It has read and writes speeds of 550 and 520MB/s, respectively, so you can quickly transfer games from the console’s main storage drive to the SSD or have a virtually lag-free experience when playing games from the 860 EVO. You can use the Samsung Magician app to run benchmark tests and ensure that your SSD is giving you peak performance at any time. With storage capacities from as little as 250GB to an impressive 4TB, you can choose a size that best fits your game library and future storage needs. Capacity: 250GB to 4TB | Interface: SATA 6GB/s | Transfer Speeds: 6GB/s | Form Factor: 2.5-inch The dual drive format features RAID-0 technology for truly incredible read, write, and recall speeds, and it also allows you to create a mirror drive within the unit to keep your library safe from file corruption or accidental deletion. With a sleek, modern design on the housing, this external hard drive adds a touch of style to your console setup, and with its compact size, you can tuck it behind your console or TV to keep your gaming area looking neat and organized. Both the single and dual-drive formats feature plug-and-play functionality, meaning you won’t have to mess with downloading drivers and other compatibility software to use it with your PS4; just plug it into the console’s USB port, format the drive, and begin downloading games. The drive is also resistant to minor shocks, bumps, and drops to protect your library and other information from loss due to mechanical damage. Capacity: 3TB to 18TB | Interface: USB 3.0, USB 2.0 | Transfer Speeds: 5GB/s for USB 3.0 and 480MB/s for USB 2.0 | Form Factor: 3.5-inch The flash-enhanced memory system and Micron 3D NAND technology give you ultra-fast read and write speeds up to 560 and 510MB/s, respectively. This means you won’t have to wait for hours to migrate your games and videos, and your games will load much faster. With integrated power loss immunity, you won’t have to worry about losing your game library if your house loses power or if your PS4 dies in the middle of a match. It also features AES 256-bit encryption to protect your personal data. The MX500 comes with step-by-step instructions to make the drive easier to install for console modders of all skill levels. With a price tag of around $100, you can still treat yourself to a new game after you buy this SSD. Capacity: 250GB to 2TB | Interface: SATA 6GB/s | Transfer Speeds: 6GB/s | Form Factor: 2.5-inch This Seagate connects with USB 3.0, and boasts transfer rates of around 160MB/s. While this is average among external hard drives, it is plenty fast to be able to play most games directly from it. Other games that may have long loads or require faster speed are best moved from your external drive to your main drive. However, doing this is always faster than re-downloading the game, and ensures your game saves stay intact. This hard drive also includes two front USB ports that you can use to charge devices such as controllers, or even your phone. While it provides plenty of space and long term storage, it is nicely sized and does not take up much desk space. The sleek black design works perfectly with most setups. This drive does exactly what it promises, and not much more, but considering price and size, you will find that you are quite happy with how dependable it can be. Capacity: 4TB to 14TB | Interface: USB 3.0 | Transfer Speeds: Up to 160MB/s | Form Factor: 3.5-inch The chassis’s metal top not only gives the drive a great, rugged look, it also protects it against accidental damage. It has a capacity of 5TB, meaning you can store up to 125 games on it before you need to consider making space. With data transfer speeds up to 140MB/s, you won’t have to wait around for games to load or migrate to the drive. The P10 features plug-and-play functionality with both the PS4 and PS4 Pro, so you won’t have to worry about compatibility. The drive is optimized for gaming, giving you not only great load times in-game, but more efficient data recall for faster launch times of games and apps so you can jump right into the action after a long day of class or work. With a price tag under $150, you also won’t have to dip into the next month’s game fund to expand your console’s memory storage. Capacity: 2TB to 5TB | Interface: USB 3.0 | Transfer Speeds: Up to 140MB/s | Form Factor: 2.5-inch This hard drive is built to have the recording head never physically touch the disk media, ensuring a much longer-lasting drive and to protect against damage from vibration and shock. The internal disk spins at 7200RPM for faster read and write speeds so your games load more quickly. This will also prevent lag when playing games stored on the drive. With a 64MB cache, you can easily access your most-used apps and most-played games so you can rack up Fortnite wins on the weekend or catch up on your favorite shows before bed. It also has a dual processor and dynamic cache access algorithm to make accessing your games and apps more efficient, putting less strain on the unit and ensuring a longer-lasting drive. Capacity: 250GB to 1TB | Interface: SATA 6GB/s | Transfer Speeds: 6GB/s | Form Factor: 2.5-inch The read head features WD’s No-Touch architecture to significantly reduce wear and tear by never physically touching the disk. The disk spins at 5400RPM to give you read and write speeds of up to 147MB/s each and more efficient access to your most-played games. With WD’s Data LifeGuard algorithm, the disk monitors its own health and status to automatically alert you to problems. With WD IntelliSeek, the drive automatically optimizes disk speeds for more efficient power consumption and operation. You can download the WD Support Lite app to clone your drive and back up your data to keep your library safe from accidental deletion. Capacity: 320GB to 2TB | Interface: SATA 6GB/s | Transfer Speeds: 6GB/s | Form Factor: 2.5-inch The chassis has an IP54 dust and water resistance, meaning that accidental soda spills and flying snack crumbs won’t ruin your hard drive. With a crush resistance rating of up to 1,000 pounds, you won’t have to worry about someone accidentally sitting on the hard drive or even running it over with your car. The USB connection port has a weather-resistant cover to keep out dust, rain, and anything else that could ruin the port. You can get this external hard drive in capacities from 1 to 5TB, letting you protect hundreds of games from anything life may have in store for your library. The drive is Thunderbolt and USB-C ready, letting you take it with you into the next generation of consoles when you’re ready to upgrade your gaming space. Capacity: 1TB to 5TB | Interface: USB 3.1 Gen 1 | Transfer Speeds: 1TB and 2 TB: Up to 140MB/s, 4TB: Up to 135MB/s 5 TB up to 130MB/s | Form Factor: 2.5-inch Zach Sweat is an NYC-based editor, writer, and photographer with interests in music, technology, gaming, and the internet. Zach has dual degrees in Journalism and Photography from the University of North Florida and has worked with publications like IGN, Void Media, and Whalebone Magazine. Jordan Olomon is passionate about adventure games, pirate archaeology, and how technology can improve your productivity. Yoona Wagener has a background in content and technical writing. She has written for BigTime Software, Idealist Careers, and other small tech companies.
What to Look For in a PS4 Hard Drive:
Capacity vs. Speed
Think about what exactly you wish to get out of your hard drive. Do you want a ton of storage so you never have to redownload a game, but are okay with transferring games and managing your library? Then look for a high capacity external HDD drive. If you prefer to keep less games, but want them to run as fast as possible, then consider an internal SSD drive. You always have the option of doing both as well, as you can swap the internal drive and then connect an external drive.
Design
Consider how often you move your Playstation, or how often you game elsewhere. Do you need to carry your PS4 around to different places? Do you have Playstations or accounts in multiple places? If so, an external hard drive is probably best. If you often move your Playstation itself, then maybe an internal drive is what you’re looking for, since the drive is in your console already and is one less thing to carry.
Compatibility
Compatibility is a crucial element to consider when it comes time to make a selection for a new hard drive. Not all devices will work with Playstation, and you need to make sure you select the right form factor for internal hard drives, or else you will be spending more time returning devices, and less time gaming.
