Don't waste your money on the Seagate Expansion Card, the WD Black C50 is even cheaper

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This is exactly why you shouldn't trust Amazon prices, folks.

WD Black C50 Prime Day Deal image
(Image credit: Future / Duncan Robertson)

With any big sales event comes a myriad of digital storage deals. Us gamers are spoiled for choice this Prime Day with plenty of SSDs and portable hard drives to choose from.

If you play on Xbox Series X or S, however, there are two drives we know you'll have your eye on. For most players, the go-to choice when it comes to the best Xbox Series X hard drives is the Official Seagate Expansion Card. Since the launch of the platform, that drive has been the staple solution if you want to Quick Resume games on an expanded drive, and otherwise boost your storage space without annoying transfers or slower load times. 

The Official Seagate Expansion Card has been usurped this year, however, which I feel like not everyone is aware of. Gaming storage brand WD Black released the C50 card - which is on offer for even less than Seagate's this Prime Day. In the 1TB model, the WD Black C50 is only $124.99 at Amazon in the US, and £129.99 at Amazon in the UK.

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While the two mini SSDs have battled it out with price manoeuvring in the past few months, it's WD Black's version I'd recommend today. Not only is it cheaper, but both drives do pretty much the exact same thing - so why pay more for Seagate's, which is $129.99 in the US?

US:

WD Black C50$149.99$124.99 at AmazonSave $25

WD Black C50 | $149.99 $124.99 at Amazon
Save $25 - Down to its new lowest-ever price on Amazon for Prime Day, this exclusive event deal gets you 1TB of expanded playing space for an even bigger discount than what Seagate is offering.

Buy it if:
✅ You want to Quick Resume games from an expanded drive
✅ You want the best value for money in a 1TB deal

Don't buy it if: 
❌ You want 2TB
❌ You don't mind a cheaper external drive

View Deal

UK:

WD Black C50£149.99£129.99 at AmazonSave £20

WD Black C50 | £149.99 £129.99 at Amazon
Save £20 - Also returning to its lowest-ever price in the UK, the 1TB C50 is in a Prime exclusive deal. The Seagate Expansion card even seems to be out of stock in the UK, so this is your best bet regardless of saving amounts.

Buy it if:
✅ You want to Quick Resume games from an expanded drive
✅ You want the best value for money in a 1TB deal

Don't buy it if: 
❌ You want 2TB
❌ You don't mind a cheaper external drive

View Deal

One thing I'd add is that while Seagate's 1TB listing might claim to be on sale at a 44% discount, reduced from $230 - that is a blatant lie. When the C50 launched earlier in the year, the Official Seagate Expansion card dropped in price to stay competitive, meaning it's been sitting at $150 since May.

The caveat to me recommending this card to you is that for some reason WD only decided to release it in a 512GB and 1TB model. That means, if you want upwards of 1000GB, Seagate is the brand you should look to. Hopefully, that changes and WD will launch a larger capacity in the future, but at the moment, that's the situation.

The WD Black C50 is the drive I use, and it's always a reliable drive that gives me fast transfer speeds and load times. The Quick Resume feature on the Xbox Series X is nothing short of crazy, and being able to use it with games on an Expansion Card is a big quality-of-life update.

Beyond that, it means you can experience Game Pass to its full potential. Having access to that many games is a logistical nightmare if you have to delete games to make room for them, because what happens when you don't enjoy one? That cycle repeats itself all over again. Having loads of storage space to try out every game you like the look of is amazing, and the C50 never lets me down in that regard. 

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Duncan Robertson
Duncan Robertson
Hardware Editor

One of my earliest memories is playing SuperMario64 and wondering why the controller I held had three grips, but I only had two hands. Ever since I've been in love with video games and their technology. After graduating from Edinburgh Napier University with a degree in Journalism, I contributed to the Scottish Games Network and completed an Editorial Internship at Expert Reviews. Over the last decade, I’ve been managing my own YouTube channel about my love of games too. These days, I'm one of the resident hardware nerds at GamesRadar+, and I take the lead on our coverage of gaming PCs, VR, controllers, gaming chairs, and content creation gear. Now, I better stop myself here before I get talking about my favourite games like HUNT: Showdown, Dishonored, and Towerfall Ascension.