Seagate Game Drive for Xbox 2 TB Review

The Microsoft Xbox One is an expensive gadget, but its storage limit is 500 GB, which is not too much if you want to download multiple games with large capacities. Games that are available for download require a good space on the disc to run, and this creates a problem for Xbox users because they don’t have enough storage onboard. The good thing is that Microsoft has introduced the external storage option to make the gaming experience better. Now, gamers can expand the storage of their Xbox One by attaching a USB hard drive.

There are many external hard drives available on the market. People buy different hard drives to expand the storage of their Xbox One. The Seagate Game Drive is a 2-terabyte hard drive that allows Xbox One players to download more games on the gadget. It is the dream of every gamer that the game they want to play runs with excellent graphics and in a smooth manner. This external hard drive allows all gamers to download and run all major Xbox games smoothly and entertain themselves.

Specifications

• USB-powered
• USB 3.0 connectivity of high speeds
• Easy plug-in and play setup
• Dimensions: 4.6 x 3.1 x 0.6 inches
• Weight: 6 ounces
• USB 2.0 compatible
• Storage: 2 TB HDD
• Speed: 140 MB/s

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox  Design

The Seagate Game Drive is a green and black external hard drive and is very lightweight. It weighs just 6 ounces and measures 4.6 x 3.1 x 0.6 inches. The hard disk drive is present inside the green shell that has an Xbox logo engraved on it. It supports USB 3.0 interface and doesn’t require any external power to be set up. As it is very lightweight, it is considered a portable HDD and you can even keep it in your pocket if you want to take your games along with you.

This external hard drive has a green light that flashes when it is reading or writing data. The Seagate Game Drive is working and sending updates even when the Xbox is in standby mode, and this is indicated by the green light that keeps on flashing while it is working.

The game drive doesn’t have a premium feel, but it feels solid when held. It is advised that you keep this game drive in your gaming room and not the bedroom because it makes a mechanical clicking sound while it reads or writes. However, this sound is very low and can be heard only when the surrounding is very quiet.

Setup

The Xbox One provides a very easy method to set up external storage. Just like other external storage drives, Seagate just needs to be plugged into the Xbox, and the Xbox will offer a prompt that will ask you to format the drive if required. You can also name the drive if you want. You will get an option to set up the Game Drive as a media drive or as a storage option when you plug it in.

You can also use the Game Drive as a regular USB hard drive and store music and movies on it and play them using the media player of the Xbox One. If you want to do this, when you plug it in, you should not format it or else you’ll lose all your data.

The Xbox One has amazing external storage support that allows you to run the Game Drive within minutes. All you have to do is plug in the Game Drive and name it. You can start saving your games to it and even move all of your games from the Xbox One to the Game Drive. This Game Drive is specifically designed for Xbox One and Xbox 360 and thus, it won’t work as an external drive for a PC or Mac.

The USB 3.0 connection is very speedy and you’ll be able to install all your games in a few minutes.

The package includes the Game Drive and an 18-inch USB 3.0 cable. This USB cable powers the Game Drive and you won’t need any other connections to run it. This Seagate Game Drive comes pre-formatted with NTFS, and configuring this game drive is also very easy. After you’ve installed the Game Drive on the Xbox, it will inquire whether you want it to fix it as a default for saving games and other downloads.

Pooling makes a hard drive easier to use, but this drive is not pooled by Xbox, so you’ll have to move the existing games if you want them there. The advantage of pooling is that you can easily use your drive with another Xbox, and you can easily start playing because your games will all be there.

Storage

The Seagate Game Drive is a very smooth and fast one and because of its storage, it performs better than the drive present inside the Xbox One. Using this game drive, you’ll be able to improve the graphics, loading, and speed of the games because the storage is fast and large enough. However, if you want to use the Game Drive to just improve the speed of your Xbox, you won’t be able to feel a big difference.

You can easily play major games such as Halo 5 and The Witcher 3 because of the 2 TB space available on this hard drive. This Game Drive is ideal for expanding your storage capacity as 2 TB is enough for storing and playing all the major games on Xbox One. The Xbox One can, however, support much larger external hard drives than this 2 TB one, but this Game Drive is enough to provide you with the space needed to store and load all major games. If you are the type of gamer who buys loads of games and never deletes them, then you’ll need a larger external hard drive.

While this Game Drive offers enough storage, it doesn’t appear bulky as it has no cooling fans that can increase the volume.

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox  Ease of use

The Seagate Game Drive is very easy to use, as all you have to do is plug it in through the USB 3.0 cable to the Xbox One, and it will detect and show a prompt to ask you how you want to use it. You’ll have to name it and then, you can start using it for downloading and installing new games on it.

Copying the games from the internal drive of Xbox One to this Game Drive is also very simple, as it involves just a few steps. Enter the Games & Apps tile, select the game, use the controller to press the menu button, and then choose the Manage Game option. This option allows you to copy or move the game to the chosen destination.

Another function that makes this Game Drive very beneficial is that it enables you to carry your favorite games along with you. Just download the games on this Game Drive, unplug it, and take it along with you to use it on your friend’s Xbox One. After plugging your game drive into another Xbox One, you’ll have to wait for a few minutes and then you’ll be ready to use it.

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox  Performance

This Game Drive has a speed of 140 Mb/s, but it will actually perform below this figure. To measure its performance, we’ll compare the reading and writing speeds of this hard drive to the Seagate Seven and Seagate Plus Slim. The Seagate Game Drive 2 TB will take less than 15 minutes to transfer three major games to the external drive, while some large games will take less than 6 minutes to be moved to this hard drive. When you’ve loaded the game to the drive, it will take almost the same time to start. Hence, if we talk about its performance on transferring and loading games, this Game Drive works very efficiently.

When we tested its sequential speeds, this Game Drive delivered 130.9 MB/s read and 75.8 MB/s write speeds. On the other hand, the Seagate Plus Slim delivered 88.6 MB/s read and 119.3 MB/s write speeds and the Seagate Seven recorded 114.9 MB/s read and 113.78 MB/s write speeds. As compared to other Seagate external storage, this Game Drive has a faster reading speed but slightly slower writing speed.

Copying from the Xbox One to the Seagate Game Drive

You can use this Game Drive for both copying games to it and from it. Copying from and to this game drive is very easy, and it will take only a few minutes to copy the games from the internal drive to this external drive. We copied two games from our Xbox One to this Game Drive, and the results were quite impressive. The game Forza Horizon 3 (52.73 GB) took 19 minutes to be copied from the Xbox One to the Game Drive, while Gears of War (44.6 GB) took 13 minutes.

Copying from the Seagate Game Drive to the Xbox One

To start copying from the Seagate Game Drive to the Xbox One, you have to press the A button on the controller when you have chosen the Manage Game option. We copied three games from this Game Drive to the Xbox One to check the time duration. The game Gears of War (44.6 GB) took 9 minutes to be copied to the Xbox One, Forza Horizon 3 (48 GB) took 11 minutes, and Call of Duty (53.2 GB) also took 11 minutes. According to Seagate, there is not much difference when you copy the games to an external HDD or SDD, and there is only a slight difference between the time duration.

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox  Price

The Seagate Game Drive 2 TB for Xbox is quite affordable, and it wouldn’t cost you much. It costs USD $119.99 and is currently on sale on Amazon for USD $99.99 only. This Game Drive is very well priced and delivers good value for money. It can be compared to other external hard drives, and the prices are more or less in the same category. This Game Drive offers easy usability as it is very portable and you just have to plug it into your Xbox One to start using it. Given its price, this drive is also nicely designed as it has the Xbox logo on it, which looks cool and gives it a personalized look.

Pros

• The game drive offers a good storage option as it can save up to 50 Xbox One games.
• For DVR functionality, you can use this external storage.
• It has quite fast read speeds.
• It is very simple to set up and easy to use.
• The USB 3.0 interface is very fast.

Cons

• This device offers only a few advantages as compared to other, more affordable devices.
• It is expensive.
• You can’t use this game drive for media storage and gaming at the same time.

Bottom line

External game drives are a necessity for Xbox gamers as Xbox does not have enough onboard storage. The Seagate Game Drive 2 TB offers an excellent way to Xbox gamers to expand their Xbox One’s storage and improve their gaming experience. The only thing that breaks the deal is the price, but if you want something reliable and more personalized, you should try this gaming drive to expand your Xbox One’s storage.

This game drive looks amazing lying next to your Xbox One and it performs equally well. It is beautifully designed and the Xbox branding on it makes it unique from other low-cost options.

You can use this Game Drive to expand the storage of your console and play games in an improved and smooth manner. It is easy to use and set up and has a very user-friendly interface. It can be easily used by beginners. If you’re looking for an option to copy games from your Xbox One to an external hard drive, the Seagate Game Drive 2 TB is a must-have.