Seagate Game Drive for Xbox SSD review: Is premium speed worth a premium price?

Seagate and Microsoft take worked together extensively building Xbox-branded storage drives for the panel. You tin use any USB-based storage device with Xbox One, but the Seagate drives ofttimes come up with designs that more closely match the panel, complete with Xbox branding and often some additional perks.

The new Seagate Game Drive solid-state drives (SSDs) closely match the design conventions of the Xbox 1 10 and tout speed every bit a signature selling point. Xbox I X games are crammed with 4K assets, with games like Cherry Dead Redemption ii and Gears of War 4 pushing 100GB installation sizes.

The SSD comes in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB flavors, and includes three months of Xbox Game Laissez passer to sweeten the deal. Even so, they start at a beefy $140, running all the way upwardly to $600 for the 2TB model, which is more expensive than the panel.

So merely how speedy is it? And does it shave enough time off those load speeds to be worth the cost tag? Let'due south take a await.

Loading speeds on steroids

Seagate Game Bulldoze for Xbox SSD

From $135

Bottom line: Load games far faster, if you can stomach the price.

Pros:

Significant load speed improvements.
Looks sleek with a minimal footprint.
Completely placidity, say goodbye to HDD clicks.

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox SSD blueprint and setup

Like any standard USB storage device, ready on Xbox One is quick and easy. Once you plug it in, you lot're pretty much ready to go. Y'all tin assign the drive to exist your default storage solution via the Xbox One settings, after which it volition begin receiving game data from future installations.

Blueprint-wise, as external storage devices go, the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox is rather dainty looking. It sports a layered matte black finish matching standard Xbox Ane Ten consoles, complete with an Xbox logo with a mirror sheen. It's a nice touch on, merely I'm not sure how many people really consider the fashion an external storage device looks before they buy one.

The SSD besides has some prissy weight to it, which helps it sit still in your setup against the pull of the cable. It'south also completely silent. As an SSD, information technology has no internal moving parts. If you keep your Xbox in your sleeping accommodation as I do, you'll no dubiousness take noticed a hard disk drive (HDD) clicking away equally it downloads game updates overnight. No such problem here. It does have a soft white light that indicates when it'due south reading though, so you lot'll have some indication of when not to unplug it.

The Seagate Game Drive for Xbox SSD is sleek and small, with 94 cm past 79 cm by ix cm dimensions. Information technology'south barely thicker than a cell phone, and it doesn't crave any external ability, unlike some of the larger standard HDDs out in that location. It's user-friendly and portable, but how fast is information technology?

Speed heave

When I initially prepare out to exam this SSD, I wasn't particularly sure information technology would yield such significant gains to exist worth the toll bespeak, only I was pleasantly surprised. Across some of the larger open-globe titles out in that location with large amounts of assets, the benefits to load times were substantial. The Seagate SSD has a listed operation of up to 540MB/s, which is a substantial increase over the company'south own external HDDs equally you might expect, which get around 150MB/s.

I ran each test 3 times and averaged them out to give me the below results compared to the Xbox One 10's internal HDD storage. The tests involved booting up the game from the dashboard and loading into the game world as fast equally possible. The Xbox Ane Ten has a faster HDD than that of the Xbox Ane S and the 2022 Xbox One, so look even bigger performance gains confronting those models.

Game	Xbox One 10	Seagate SSD
Assassin'southward Creed Odyssey	ii minutes 32.5 seconds	one minute 37.25 seconds
Nier: Automata	1 minute 37.46 seconds	ane minute 7.75 seconds
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	2 minutes vi.55 seconds	ane minute ane.32 seconds
Country of Decay ii	3 minutes 22.79 seconds	one minute 43.fifteen seconds

As yous tin can run into, the functioning gains hither are meaning, peculiarly in the case of some less-optimized games like Land of Decay 2. Over weeks or months, that could add up to a fairly large corporeality of time saving. It has other benefits similar letting you get into an Overwatch or Call of Duty: Blackness Ops iv game before others, allowing you to select a preferred grade before other players in your squad have even loaded into the lobby.

Should you purchase the Seagate Game Bulldoze for Xbox SSD?

The 2TB model is $600, making it more expensive than the Xbox One 10 itself. However, the $135 500GB model is far more reasonable, and perhaps ideal for specific games that y'all're planning to play a lot of over the coming months. If you have a go-to multiplayer game, like me, having those sit on your SSD while keeping other games with faster load times on your internal HDD might be the best option.

This is a great drive, but it is a premium piece of kit. If you have the cash, you won't exist disappointed with the speed, nor the way it complements your overall setup. The main outcome is, really, that Seagate sells a significantly cheaper version of the same SSD, albeit without the Xbox branding and bundled Xbox One Game Laissez passer. Y'all'll have to ask yourself if that Xbox branding is worth the extra dough. If non, purchase the cheaper version.

Premium speeds for a premium price

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox SSD

From $135

The Seagate SSD Game Drive does not disappoint in the speed department, providing a significant boost to load times across the board. Yous are paying a premium for that Xbox branding, though. If you can stomach the price, you won't exist disappointed.

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

Our top picks for Xbox headsets below $100

Best deals on Xbox headsets

Our height picks for Xbox headsets below $100

Practise y'all fancy a new Xbox 1 headset? Practice you fancy not spending more $100? Let u.s.a. assistance! There's a large range of solid audio options without breaking your upkeep. And here are our top picks that nosotros've personally used.