The best PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 external hard drives – Upgrade your PS5 memory

If you've managed to get your hands on one of Sony's super-powered next-gen PlayStation 5 games consoles, you might have quickly realised that there isn't that much storage space for keeping your games.

It only has around 825GB on the internal SSD hard drive, and 157GB of that is already used up by the operating system, so you don't have much wiggle room for keeping many of the larger games available on the market.

Related: Best PlayStation 5 deals – PS5 offers, accessories, games and more

And this is a problem, as video games are only getting bigger now that they come with 4K graphics, ray-tracing, and even larger worlds. For context, the popular Call of Duty Modern Warfare with all its bonus content (Warzone, single-player campaign, and multiplayer) took up a 209GB slice of your internal storage pie.

Developers, Activision, have done a lot to reduce this down to a more manageable 57GB, but that then realistically means you can only really hold between 8-12 other games on your console before you have to start considering uninstalling.

The PS5's SSD internal hard drive is a technological marvel, helping you load games in seconds, but it's no use if you can't keep all your favourites on there.

Which is why we think you should consider picking up one of the many excellent external hard drives you can get elsewhere.

They are among the more useful accessories you can get for your new console and remove the need for the annoying micromanaging of your games when all you really want to do is play them. They plug straight into the PS5's USB port, and are reasonably small in most cases (about as big as a passport), which makes them perfect for tucking away behind the gaming machine and staying out of sight.

Key things you need to know

Storage space – Most models can hold at least an additional 500GB if you only need a bit more space to hold one or two games. However, if you're willing to pay extra, you can get around 12TB extra (which is 12,000GB in total). Unless you're a hardcore gamer who buys literally everything and never deletes a byte of data, you'll likely not need this much storage.

We'd recommend looking at a 1 or 2TB device to help keep your games in check for the next few years.

Type - The PS5's internal hard drive is a solid state drive, or SSD. These devices are the new standard for holding data, as they can access information incredibly quickly and present them to you on screen.

Related: Best PlayStation 5 accessories – controllers, headsets and games for the PS5

They are typically a little bit more expensive, but often have large capacities and will be better in general. The alternative option is a hard disk drive (HDD).

This will have spinning discs that will be scanned when you're on the hunt for data, meaning it takes a little longer to find what you're after. They are a good cheap alternative that still offers decent sizes.

How much should I spend on an external hard drive?

As we mentioned, SSD drives are typically more expensive, and can cost as much as £200 for some top models. These will offer you the fastest data transfers and the biggest capacity so worth considering if you have a large library of games.

However, most gamers won't really need that much space, so can probably cope with a 2TB SSD that can cost around £100.

There are budget HDD options that are as low as £30, which is a good option if you still want to keep hold of a few old games, but you don't want to spend the money on a high-end model.