NEWSLETTER
If you just unboxed a new Xbox Series x or Series S for Christmas, you'll have enough storage ready to go to download multiple games. But you'll quickly feel the pressure of installations larger than 100GB, especially if you tend to maintain high churn. Expansion cards are your only relief on Xbox consoles if you play titles optimized for Series x/S. Fortunately, you can get a 2TB expansion card cheaper than ever, with WD_Black C50 by Western Digital for $189.99 ($70 off) at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/WD_BLACK-Expansion-Officially-Licensed-WDBMPH0020BNC-WCSN/dp/B0DK74LG91?tag=theverge02-20″>amazon. You can also get it at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/WD_BLACK-Expansion-Officially-Licensed-WDBMPH0020BNC-WCSN/dp/B0C44B1VSH?tag=theverge02-20″>512GB for $69.99 ($10 off) and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/WD_BLACK-Expansion-Officially-Licensed-WDBMPH0020BNC-WCSN/dp/B0C44XVWCH?tag=theverge02-20″>1TB for $109.99 ($48 off). That said, the 2TB model is the best long-term deal.
Because the Series consoles. You can use those hard drives to store Series x/S games, but expansion cards like the C50 are the only ones you can play from. This is because they support the platform's “speed architecture”, which has a minimum speed requirement and uses unique hardware and software tricks to enable console features like Quick Resume, not to mention other benefits for developers. Still, you don't have to be a computer specialist to understand the bottom line: if you want more storage for your Series x/S games, you'll need an expansion card.
