This Prime Day 4TB HDD deal is the smart purchase over the Xbox Series X SSD card

(Image credit: Future)

Picking up one of the best Xbox One external hard drives has never been more important for maximizing your options as an Xbox gamer, especially with the Xbox Series X on its way and if you've recently locked down your Xbox Series X pre-order. The timing has worked out wonderfully today too, as there's a never-better $62 saving on one of the finest 4TB USB hard drives from Seagate. This marks the cheapest ever price and it's one of the strongest Amazon Prime Day deals we've seen, so don't miss it today.

Official 4TB Xbox Seagate HDD: ~~$150~~ $87.99 on Amazon

The Xbox Series X has a bespoke internal SSD that will be required to run games specifically optimized for the system, so what's the point in picking up a regular old external hard drive? Well, given the 1TB SSD installed in the Xbox Series X only has 802GB of usable storage, we think it's going to fill up pretty fast. Needing to delete games to make way for more (or just to update the monster that is Call of Duty: Warzone) is set to get old real fast when you have to wait for ages to redownload them - a big concern if your home internet has a data cap as well.

Meanwhile, an external storage solution lets you move these games off your console SSD for a while and copy them back over when you need them next, which will be outrageously quick compared to redownloading them. Plus if you're coming into your new Xbox Series X as an Xbox One owner, you can simply carry over your game collection with no need to redownload anything. You'll be able to run Xbox One (or older) titles straight from the external hard drive too, freeing up even more space on the Series X (although you will get increased load times on many Xbox One titles, so it's worth copying some of them over to the SSD).

Compare this $95 cost for 4TB with the $220 required for a mere 1TB SSD expansion card for the Series X and the value is clear. All you're really getting with the expansion card, by comparison, is a touch of convenience and a bit of time-saving.

Xbox One hard drive deal of the week

Even if you're sticking with your Xbox One for a while, we think an external hard drive is an essential purchase. I picked one up at the start of lockdown and filled it with pretty much every Xbox Game Pass title available, leaving me a huge range of playing options and allowing me to try new games at will. Plus, having Warzone, Apex Legends, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Halo Collection all installed at once along with over 100 other games meant I never had to wait. Well, except when Warzone has a new patch of course.

If you're looking to treat yourself to a few more accessories, we've rounded up the best Xbox One headsets and best Xbox One controllers. Gaming with PlayStation? Then be sure to check out our guide to the best PS4 external hard drives and best PS5 headsets too if you're getting next-gen ready.

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Brendan is GamesRadar's former Managing Editor of the Hardware & eCommerce team. He also spent time as the Deals Editor at our sister site, TechRadar. He's obsessed with finding the best tech, games, gadgets, and hardware at the lowest price. He also spends way too much of his free time trying to decide what new things to watch on Netflix, then just rewatches It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia instead. Nowadays you'll find him as the eCommerce Content Director for Future's mobile tech sites, Android Central, iMore, and Windows Central.