Xbox Series X|S Seagate Storage Expansion Card Review

Disclaimer: Review Unit Was Kindly Provided for the Purposes of this Review

As of this writing, we’re 8 months into a new console generation and hardware is still struggling to meet demand. Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 are still selling out whenever they go on sale at big retailers such as Walmart or Target. Supply is suspected to meet demand somewhere by the end of the year or early 2022.

In today’s day and age, there are more video games available that people can play. Every week multiple video games are released worldwide whether it’s a big AAA title or a small indie game. The fact is the video game industry is growing every single day and is surpassing other forms of entertainment rapidly.

These titles are growing in scale and scope and in turn, so is the storage capacity they retain. Every person is different when it comes to their video game storage needs. Some play multiple games at once and keep games downloaded on their console that they plan to go back to at some point. Others only have 3-6 games downloaded at one time and do not need extra storage at all. At the end of the day, it’s all down to personal preference.

Xbox Series X|S is the only current-gen hardware on the market that currently has the option to expand your storage to current-gen capabilities (PlayStation 5 will have the option at a later date). The 1TB Seagate Expansion Card was designed exclusively for Xbox hardware. After over a week of use with the product myself on my Xbox Series S, I have come to a judgment on the storage expansion card.

The Xbox Series X|S 1TB Storage Expansion Card is the only method to expanding your storage capacity to current-gen capabilities. You do have the ability to use other storage expansion options but unless it’s the card, you won’t be able to play Series X|S games. Differing storage expansion options have the option to download and play Xbox One and other backward-compatible games but you won’t have the loading times that will be a staple in this generation of hardware.

As you can see in the above image, the packaging of the Storage Expansion Card is fairly simple. The contents inside include the instructions, limited warranty, and the expansion card itself. It’s a fairly small thing to note in the grand scheme of things, but the packaging is done flawlessly and just speaks of a simple presentation that works as designed.

The first thing you’ll notice as soon as you remove the expansion card is that while it’s not that big, it sure has a ton of heft to it. The one thing that will be a staple throughout this review is simplicity. Whether it’s in the packaging, set-up, or design, everything is easy to wrap your head around and works for what it’s supposed to accomplish.

Xbox Series Consoles have a port on the back of their consoles that was made precisely for the storage expansion card. All you have to do is take off the cap, plug the card into your console, and then you have your storage expansion established in a matter of 2-4 minutes.

As I mentioned earlier, game sizes are getting larger as the possibilities in features go up with new hardware. If Call of Duty keeps it up, the next installment is likely to take up an entire storage expansion card at this rate.

I’ve tested multiple games in terms of speed and loading times and I’ve concluded that there’s little to no difference in overall performance compared to the internal SSD. Games tested include Forza Horizon 4, Grand Theft Auto 5, and Sea of Thieves. Loading into GTA Online on Grand Theft Auto 5 was the real test for me personally and the load times between the internal SSD and the storage expansion was practically identical.

If there’s one topic for the Xbox Series X|S Storage Expansion Card that is always divisive, it’s the price. In the US (barring any deals or sales), the Xbox Series SSD costs $219.99. The fact is that this Expansion Card is a considerable investment because the components inside the SSD card cost more than common hard drives.

This is by far the biggest downside to the SSD card. I know why it’s priced the way it is and how much of an investment it’ll be to some people. The upside of the investment is that in my experience, the actual product works exactly as intended. There’s no false marketing here, it functions just as Xbox and Seagate said it would. I understand the expensive protocol but at the same time, I understand the reluctant nature that some may have to spend over $200 on it.

In this generation, Microsoft has released two brand new current-gen consoles. Xbox Series X is the traditional console with the full power that this generation offers. Xbox Series S is an all-digital console with lesser specs in certain areas and is priced significantly lower than the Series X.

The standard internal 1TB storage of the Xbox Series X will be enough to suffice the majority for the duration of this current console generation. However, anyone who purchases the Xbox Series S won’t be so lucky. The internal storage of the Series S is 512GB but after the initial set-up, I believe that the internal storage goes down to 364GB.

My main point here is to illustrate that the necessity of this expansion card depends solely on your situation when it comes to next-gen hardware and how you manage your video games. There’s the argument that I’ve seen that if you plan on buying a Series S as well as an expansion card, you might as well wait for an Xbox Series X (which is still hard to obtain). There are many valid assertions in regards to the expansion card, at the end of the day, I can only give you my opinions for this review.

I review plenty of games, this year alone I’ve reviewed 10. This doesn’t even mention all of the additional multiplayer games I play on a weekly basis. I have a vital need for storage expansion especially as a console generation progresses forward. The Seagate Storage Expansion Card works exactly as advertised. The simple installation process, as well as the substantial 1TB storage size, makes this product easy to recommend for those willing to shell out the cost.