This 4TB USB-C SSD is perfect for PS5 and Xbox Series X gamers
The Crucial X6 has enough space to satisfy hardcore gamers, but it carries a big price tag
PS5 and Xbox Series X gamers will be well aware that you can never have too much SSD space. Despite packing 825GB and 1TB drives respectively, they can quickly fill up with the latest space-hungry games.
But Crucial now has the answer — at a cost. The new 4TB X6 external SSD is fully compatible with both the Sony and Microsoft's new games consoles, but at $489.95, it basically costs as much as the consoles themselves.
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Still, for that price, you do get what looks like an excellent external SSD drive.
The 4TB of space is enough to keep most gamers busy for years without needing to delete anything and it comes with USB-C for easy connection to the PS5 — assuming you are actually able to buy one. An adapter lets you hook it up to the Xbox Series X or Series S, or older consoles such as the PS4 and Xbox One.
It's also impressively compact — you'd have no problem slipping this in your pocket and it weighs less than 40 grams.
Read speeds are pretty good too: at up to 800 MB/s, it's not in the same league as the SSD within the PS5 itself, but it's faster than many of the best external hard drives. The fact that it's drop-proof up to 6.5 feet is a further bonus.
There is a caveat here in that you can't run PS5 games or Xbox Series X games directly from an external SSD. You can run PS4 and Xbox One games from an external SSD or HDD, however, meaning you don't have to give up precious internal storage for backward compatible titles.
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And you can use an external SSD to store PS5 and Xbox Series X games, meaning you could use Crucial's X6 as a form of cold storage for games you don't play that often but don't want to re-download.
Of course, the 4TB model isn't only suitable for console gamers. It works with any USB-C device and photo and video obsessives will also enjoy that large capacity and small footprint, if not the big price tag.
Fortunately, Crucial has also released a smaller, budget-friendly option in the form of a 500GB version. This costs just $69.95 but read speeds here drop to 540 MB/s.
The range also includes existing 1TB and 2TB models at $129.95 and $189.95 respectively.
Formerly Editor in Chief (U.K.) on Tom’s Guide, Marc oversaw all gaming, streaming, audio, TV, entertainment, how-to and cameras coverage, and was also responsible for the site’s U.K.-focused output. He is now U.K. Editor in Chief on TechRadar. Marc previously edited the tech website Stuff and has tested and written about phones, tablets, wearables, streaming boxes, smart home devices, Bluetooth speakers, headphones, games, TVs, cameras and much more. He also spent years on a music magazine, where his duties mainly involved spoiling other people’s fun, and on a car magazine. An avid photographer, he likes nothing better than taking pictures of very small things (bugs, his daughters) or very big things (distant galaxies). When he gets time, he also enjoys gaming (console and mobile), cycling and attempting to watch as much sport as any human can. He's also fallen in love with Wordle over the past six months and is the author of our today's Wordle answer column, in which he supplies hints and strategy tips for the mega-popular word game. Given he's completed every single Wordle so far and only lost once, and analyzed every Wordle answer in search of patterns, he's well qualified to help you safeguard your streak.