Seagate Game Drive for Xbox review: great for Game Pass

7

TechRadar Verdict

If you’re willing to pay a little more for the Team Green branding, the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox is a compelling external hard drive option for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, or Xbox One owners. It’s quick to set up and easy to use, offering decent speeds and the option of enough storage space to fit most libraries.

Pros

  • +

    Looks great with green lighting

  • +

    Easy to set up and use

  • +

    Decent speeds for a hard drive

  • +

    Up to 5TB capacity

  • +

    Month of Xbox Game Pass is a neat bonus

Cons

  • Branding comes at a premium

  • Black aesthetic doesn’t match white consoles

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Seagate Game Drive for Xbox: One-minute review

If you’re shopping for an Xbox external hard drive, then you can’t go wrong with this officially licensed model from Seagate. Although a little more expensive than non-Xbox branded options, it’s still one of the best Xbox Series X hard drives and SSDs right now, delivering a solid level of performance and plenty of space for many of the best Xbox Series X games.

The Seagate Game Drive for Xbox is significantly more affordable than the Seagate Xbox Storage Expansion Card and comes in much larger capacities, including 4TB and 5TB, but it has some extra limitations due to its form factor. First and foremost, as an external hard drive it cannot be used to play Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S optimized games.

Its primary use case is to store large game installations between uses, cutting down on the need to constantly redownload files. This makes them particularly suitable for those with slow or limited internet connections. It’s a fantastic fit for Xbox Game Pass too, giving you the option to keep a considerable number of games on hand at a time.

It’s worth noting that older titles for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, or original Xbox will still run off the external hard drive – albeit with increased loading times compared to internal storage in most cases. If you have a large library of backwards compatible games that you don’t want clogging up your internal drive, this will be the perfect solution. This also means that those still sticking with an Xbox One can rest easy knowing that they will have no issues accessing their entire libraries.

As far as hard drives are concerned, the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox also looks superb overall. It’s constructed from a sleek black plastic, decorated with an Xbox logo and a small strip of green LED lighting. It fits perfectly next to a black Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S 1TB console, though owners of white variants like the launch Xbox Series S or recent Xbox Series X Digital Edition might prefer to go for a white alternative to better fit their systems instead.

The bright LED lighting on the front of the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox.

(Image credit: Future)

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox: Price and availability

  • 2TB costs $89.99 / £79.99
  • 4TB costs $134.99 / £116.99
  • 5TB costs $149.99 / £132.99

The Seagate Game Drive for Xbox is available in 2TB, 4TB, and 5TB capacity options which come in at roughly $89.99 / £79.99, $134.99 / £116.99, and $149.99 / £132.99 respectively. The 4TB model is the best value model, as it frequently receives substantial discounts to around the $90 mark. If you’re able to find it on sale for this price, I would definitely recommend snapping it up.

While it is the cheapest, I would try to avoid the 2TB model as that more limited storage capacity is going to fill up quite quickly – especially if you intend to use it for a few large, modern games.

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox: Specs

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Price $89.99 / £79.99 (2TB), $134.99 / £116.99 (4TB), $149.99 / £132.99 (5TB)
Capacity 2TB, 4TB, 5TB
Dimensions 0.8 x 2.99 x 4.47in / 20.5 x 76 x 113.5mm
Weight 249g / 0.55lb

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox: Design and features

  • Matches black consoles very well
  • Green LED lighting is bright and attractive
  • But looks out of place next to white consoles

As far as external hard drives go, the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox is a stylish choice. It is constructed from sleek black plastic, which is pleasant to the touch and looks perfect placed next to a black Xbox console. In addition to small embossed Xbox and Seagate logos, there is a bright green LED positioned on the front of the drive lending it some extra flair.

I don’t have any complaints about the design, but I will say that it really stands out next to a white console. Given this drive’s price compared to a generic external hard drive, it’s undeniable that you’re paying a little more for the look. This makes sense if you own an Xbox Series X (or the black Xbox Series S 1TB) and want a fully color-coordinated setup, but not when it’s going to look out of place.

There are, of course, other reasons to choose this hard drive like its strong performance but it’s just something that owners of Microsoft’s white machines should bear in mind. Seagate also makes a white Starfield Special Edition hard drive in 2TB and 5TB capacities, which could be a better choice in purely aesthetic terms.

Setup is easy right out of the box, as the drive comes packed with a Micro USB that can be slotted into a free USB port on the back of your console. It also comes bundled with a free month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate which is a fun little bonus.

A top down view of the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox.

(Image credit: Future)

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox: Performance

  • Faster than a game download
  • But slower than internal storage
  • Still a good fit for Xbox Game Pass

I tested the 5TB model of this external hard drive and found it to be perfectly sufficient as a game storage medium, though noticeably slower than both external SSD options and the console’s internal storage.

To give some real-world examples of what it can do, I moved a handful of games to and from the drive on my personal Xbox Series S 1TB. Moving to the drive, a 14.5GB installation of Dustborn was transferred in just 1 minute 54 seconds while a 16.8GB installation of Mirror’s Edge Catalyst was copied over in just 2 minutes 8 seconds.

Increasing the file size yielded roughly proportional results, with a 40.3GB copy of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2accomplished in 5 minutes and 14 seconds. The two largest games I tested, the 74.3GB Dead Island 2and the 104GB Forza Motorsportwere then transferred in 9 minutes 49 seconds and 14 minutes 19 seconds respectively.

Speeds were similar moving games back from the drive. A 48.1GB copy of Agents of Mayhem, for example, took 5 minutes 40 seconds while a smaller 5.2GB installation of Rumble Roses XX was fully playable from the internal storage in just 39 seconds.

Unless you have some kind of NASA-level connection, all of these times are going to be significantly faster than an internet download – which is exactly what you want from the external hard drive. This would be especially useful if you’re an Xbox Game Pass subscriber who loves downloading new games to try, as you will be able to keep a vast library of included titles saved and on hand whenever you want to dip back into them.

The rear of the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox.

(Image credit: Future)

Should I buy the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox?

Buy it if…

You want a more affordable storage expansion
The Seagate Game Drive for Xbox comes at a significantly lower cost than a Seagate Xbox Storage Expansion Card, letting you increase the number of games you can save locally on the cheap.

You’re sick of waiting for game downloads
An external hard drive like the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox is a great alternative to uninstalling your games. If you find yourself running out of space often and are sick of waiting for big game downloads each time you want to return to an old favorite, this is for you.

Don’t buy it if…

You want to play modern games natively
An unavoidable drawback for any external hard drive is the inability to play Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S optimized games natively. If that’s what you want from a storage device, you’ll have to look at an Expansion Card instead.

Also consider…

Consider these three alternatives if you’re not sold on the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Row 0 – Cell 0 Seagate Game Drive for Xbox Toshiba Canvio Flex WD Black P40 Game Drive Seagate Xbox Storage Expansion Card
Price $89.99 / £79.99 (2TB), $134.99 / £116.99 (4TB), $149.99 / £132.99 (5TB) $55.99 / £58.99 / around AU$85 (1 TB) $129.99 / £135.84 (1TB) $199.99 / £179.99 (1TB)
Capacity 2TB, 4TB, 5TB 1TB / 2TB / 4TB 500GB / 1TB / 2TB 512GB / 1TB / 2TB
Dimensions 0.8 x 2.99 x 4.47 in / 20.5 x 76 x 113.5 mm 4.3 x 3.1 x 0.6 in / 111 x 80 x 15 mm 4.2 x 2 x 0.51in / 106.98 x 50.82 x 13mm 2.1 x 1.25 x 0.3in / 53 x 31 x 7mm
Weight 249g / 0.55lb 150g / 0.33lbs 77.1g / 0.17lbs 30g / 0.06lbs

Toshiba Canvio Flex
This budget-friendly hard drive comes in a sleek silver color. You lose the Xbox branding, but it’s small, portable, and is available in a range of capacities up to 4TB. It’s also a fair amount cheaper.

For more information, check out our full Toshiba Canvio Flex review

WD Black P40 Game Drive
This external SSD from WD is smaller and lighter than the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox, with significantly better speeds. It is much more expensive, though, and is only available in capacities up to 2TB.

For more information, check out our full WD Black P40 Game Drive review

Seagate Xbox Storage Expansion Card
If you want to play Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S games on your storage device, and can afford its lofty price tag, then the Seagate Xbox Storage Expansion Card is for you.

For more information, check out our full Seagate Xbox Storage Expansion Card review

A close up of the Xbox branding on the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox.

(Image credit: Future)

How I tested the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox

  • Used for over a month
  • Tested with an Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X
  • Performance compared to other storage devices

I tested the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox predominantly with my Xbox Series S 1TB console, but I also spent a few hours checking compatibility with an Xbox Series X. I tested the external hard drive for over a month, using it as my primary external storage device for all things Xbox.

During my testing of the drive, I compared the performance to that of other hard drives, including the Seagate Game Drive for PS5 and WD Black P10. I also checked how it would stack up against external SSD options, such as the WD Black P40 Game Drive, and the official Xbox Storage Expansion Card.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed December 2024.

TOPICS
Dashiell Wood
Dashiell Wood
Hardware Writer

Dash is a technology journalist who covers gaming hardware at TechRadar. Before joining the TechRadar team, he was writing gaming articles for some of the UK’s biggest magazines including PLAY, Edge, PC Gamer, and SFX. Now, when he’s not getting his greasy little mitts on the newest hardware or gaming gadget, he can be found listening to J-pop or feverishly devouring the latest Nintendo Switch otome.

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