This 4TB SSD gave my chonky old PS5 a new lease of life, and it's down to a record-low price at Costco

Updating my chonky launch model Sony console with the 4TB Lexar PLAY 2280 SE PS5 SSD saved me from forking out over $400 for a PS5 Slim, and it's still one of the best gaming decisions I've ever made.
The Costco-exclusive drive is currently down to $179.99 today, and if you're equally as fed up with the limited onboard storage of your old PS5, it's a must-buy. Since easily popping it into the M.2 port of my console, I've not had to stress about large updates for Fortnite and Marvel Rivals, nor worry about making space for the latest PlayStation Plus games ever since, and every PS5 player deserves that peace of mind.
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Lexar 4TB PLAY 2280 SE PCIe 4.0 SSD with Heatsink for PS5 | $224.99 $179.99 at Costco
Save $45 - The 4TB PS5 SSDs don't come cheap, no matter the brand, so any saving is worth making a big deal over. However, this Lexar 4TB Play 2280 SSD deal feels especially noteworthy as ther'/s a huge $45 off today, meaning you get 4,000GB worth of extra storage for your PS5 for just $179.99 - a price I've seen for half that amount of space. Not only that, you don't need a Cosco membership to grab it either.
Buy it if:
✅ You own a PS5
✅ You're a PS Plus member
✅ You want a drive that can run PS5 games
Don't buy it if:
❌ You'd rather save up for a PS5 Pro
❌ You struggle to fill up your console's onboard storage
UK: £259.99 at Amazon (Lexar NM790 model)
Should you buy the 4TB Lexar PLAY 2280 SE PCIe 4.0 SSD for your PS5?
Having a PS5 Slim in my living room would still be nice, as it's an eternal struggle to find furniture that has shelving space that fits the huge original Sony console. However, this Lexar PS5 SSD not only saved me a huge chunk of cash ($300 to be exact, when you consider the $5449.99 MSRP of the disc-edition Slim and the $249.99 MSRP of this drive at launch), but it provided far more storage than the Slim or the Pro model PS5 could.
Both the disc edition and digital edition of the PS5 Slim are equipped with 1TB worth of onboard storage. The PS5 Pro has double that with 2TB, but in my experience, that can still fill up fast, especially if you like online games and happen to be a PlayStation Plus Premium member.
Ever since I upgraded my old PS5 with this 4TB drive, I've been able to spend more time playing games and less time worrying about storage issues. In fact, this drive got me back into playing Fortnite, which I only gave up as I was struggling to make space for the over 90GB install size and its many updates. It's also pretty straightforward to install, which I can say from personal experience. Like I mentioned in my Lexar PLAY 2280 SE PCIe 4.0 SSD review, the drive even comes packaged with a tiny screwdriver so you don't have to go hunting around for your DIY tools. (Though I still needed the aid of my fiancé as I'm a bit of a weakling.)
$179.99 is still a lot to pay for a PS5 accessory, and you could always save that towards grabbing a PlayStation Portal instead, or just give in and grab a PS5 Slim. Decided on picking up a new console means you have the opportunity to buy the Ghost of Yotei limited edition PS5 Slim for $599 at Amazon, which looks far better than my old PS5 ever could.
However, I'm glad I chose an SSD over a whole new console, as I don't have all the cash and space in the world for even more devices right now. If sticking with a new SSD sounds good to you too, I recommend grabbing this Lexar one asap, as its current $179.99 deal price is only available until October 26 - or until Costco runs out of stock.
Grabbing one of the best PS5 accessories, like the best PS5 controllers or the best PS5 headsets, can also help give your old Sony console a well-deserved boost.
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Ever since I first held a NES controller in my hand I've been obsessed with gaming, and the hardware it runs on. I could hook up a NES and SNES to a telly, without instructions, before I could walk. Even now, nothing is more exciting then taking a console, or handheld, out the box for the first time and setting it up. This obsession transformed into a love of games and game music, which lead to my music degree and dream of becoming the Scottish Nobuo Uematsu. After sharing my love of games through music, I began to share my love through words on sites like TechRadar and iMore. This lead to becoming a Hardware staff writer for PCGamesN, and later the Senior Tech Writer for Dexerto, covering all things Steam Deck, PlayStation and Nintendo. With that experience, I was able to level up as Hardware Editor for GamesRadar+, where I'm still just as Nintendo, PlayStation and gaming tech obsessed as ever.
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