Unbelievable to think we are coming up on the one-year anniversary of Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and S consoles. If you managed to capture the more sought-after Series X I can imagine you are running out of space or damn near close to it. Luckily Xbox and Seagate partnered together to bring you an option on expanded memory that not only is seamless but can run just as fast as the internal hard SSD. Meet the Seagate Storage Expansion Card.
Style
The Seagate Storage Expansion Card is a very compact memory cartridge that is designed to in the Storage Expansion slot on the back of your Series X/S consoles. This helps it connect directly to the Xbox Velocity Architecture. Its size is about 5×2 inches and weighs a little over 2oz. It has a two-tone color of black and silver and includes a cover. It’s a slick little device that will never be seen plugged into the back of the Xbox console.
Performance
With this utilizing the Xbox Velocity Architecture does it run just as good as the internal SSD? Without a doubt it does. If you weren’t looking you couldn’t tell which is which. This card is speedy to say the least. Transferring files from internal to the Expansion Card had me able to move almost 67GB of Watch Dogs: Legion in a little over a minute. Now this was in comparison of doing a transfer of Burnout Paradise Remastered from Internal to Seagate’s Game Drive which a bit over a minute to move a close to 8GB.
Quick Resume and jumping from game to game with titles such as Far Cry 6 and Forza Horizon 4 is instantaneously and mirrored the internal SSD. This also helps with the latest Xbox X/S games all the way back to Backwards Compatible XBox or Xbox 360 games. With the Xbox Series X/S you have the option of making the Expansion Card your default for installing if you can always use it for backups.
As you know with hard drives what’s advertised isn’t always the case but the 1TB version I was provided by Seagate gives you at least 920GB. That’s not bad considered the Xbox Series X has a 1TB SSD but only allows usage of 802GB. Or if its worth mentioning the PS5 which is 825GB but only has a usable 667GB.
I did mention I’m using a 2TB Seagate Game Drive from my days of the Xbox One and One X, but I use it mainly for just in case extra storage at this point.
Verdict
The Storage Expansion Card can be a great addition to your Xbox Series X/S and doesn’t require any installs under than plug/play in the back of your console. Speeds are just as fast as the internal SSD and presents a seamless transition for your gaming storage and capabilities.
Originally Seagate had only a 1TB model that was $219.99 which may have been costly for some but recently Xbox announced two new versions in a 512GB for $139.99 and a massive 2TB that’s more expensive than an Xbox Series S console at $399.99.
Any size you go the cost is worth the rewards in storage mixed with a speedy gaming experience.
