(Pocket-lint) – Microsoft’s new consoles are nearly here, with the Xbox Series X and Series S set to bring next-generation visual performance to homes all over the world, whether in 4K or 1440p depending on which you go for.

• Xbox Series X and S storage expansion: Everything you need to know about the Seagate Storage Expansion Card

However, the size of modern game installations has become a bit of a bugbear for many of us, taking up more and more of our consoles’ storage each time we get a new one. Although the Xbox Series X will launch with a 1TB SSD, the Series S has just half that at 512GB, so you’re likely to find it filling up crazy quickly.

That’s why we’ve gathered together some excellent external SSDs that you could pick up right now to make sure that your game collection doesn’t have to get deleted in a moment of need. 

The best Xbox Series X SSD or Xbox Series S SSDs 

Seagate

Seagate 1TB Game Drive

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Seagate stands alone at the moment in offering official expandable storage for the Xbox Series X and S, not just external storage. That means that you can plug it into the devices’ expansion slots and actually play games from it direct. This 1TB drive is therefore perfect for most people’s needs.

It’s especially useful for the Series S with its smaller amount of storage, and to be honest the price tag attached is really reasonable compared to the high-end components the drive contains. However, that still makes it pretty pricey for the amount of extra space, so if you don’t care about playing your games direct from your drive you might not fancy the cost. 

Samsung

Samsung T7 Touch

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Samsung’s SSD is an easy one to recommend – in fact, it’s so good that we think it’s basically the drive for anyone, not just Xbox gamers. 

It’s priced nicely for the amount of storage, though not the cheapest around, what sets it apart is that fingerprint scanner, which means that your games will be safe and secure behind biometric security.

Sandisk

Sandisk Extreme Portable SSD

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SanDisk makes a great case for itself with the Extreme Portable largely on the price front, where it undercuts Samsung handily. It’s also got its own USP up a sleeve – that “Extreme” in the name is all about how rugged it is. 

Obviously your game collection might not be accompanying you up mountains or on hikes, but it’s still nice to know that it’s safe from damp and drops, making it useful for house moves or portability!

Gtech

Gtech G-Drive Mobile SSD

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Gtech has also managed to make its drive impressively durable, especially when it comes to drops, so if you’re particularly clumsy you might find that it works nicely for you. 

It’s also solidly priced, and you’ll get really good speeds as you transfer games back and forth depending on your whims. 

WD

WD_Black 1 TB P50 NVMe SSD

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Now, if you want to go all out, this drive from WD_Black is more explicitly aimed at gamers and packs in a full terabyte of really, really rapid storage. 

However, it’s also pricey as a result! It’s a brilliant, luxury way to store your games and you won’t get much quicker transfer speeds anywhere, but that price tag might make it a bit much for some. 

Writing by Max Freeman-Mills. Editing by Dan Grabham.