Don't buy an SSD for your PS5, even if it's on sale for Black Friday

WD SSD
WD SSD (Image credit: Western Digital)

You might see a shiny new internal SSD on sale for Black Friday, but if you're thinking about getting it for your equally shiny and new PS5, don't. While there are some amazing Black Friday deals for PS5 going on right now, the console doesn't actually support expanded SSD storage — at least internally. Sony hasn't even clarified which internal SSDs will be compatible with the PS5, so for this reason you should hold off on buying one. Buy one of these external SSDs and HDDs on sale instead to store your backward compatible PS4 games.

PS5 games can only be stored on its internal SSD, so that rules out a lot of great SSD deals. Since the PS5 is backward compatible, though, it is recommended you store your PS4 games on an external drive to save room on the internal for your PS5 games. It's not an ideal scenario, but it's one we need to live with until Sony updates the console to support internal NVMe SSDs.

Considering how quickly its internal 825GB SSD can run out, I'd imagine Sony will update the system to support NMVe drives sooner rather than later. It's been a constant talking point online and one of the most requested features from fans. Not only that, but it's a problem that Microsoft has already solved with the Xbox Series X, offering its own 1TB expansion SSD in partnership with Seagate.

I personally use Western Digital for my HDDs, but there are several reliable brands to choose from and you can't go wrong with any of the above. Just keep in mind what price point you're looking for and how much storage you need. If you don't have too many games, a 1TB drive should suffice.

Jennifer Locke
Games Editor - PlayStation, Android, VR

Jennifer Locke has been playing video games nearly her entire life. You can find her posting pictures of her dog and obsessing over PlayStation and Xbox, Star Wars, and other geeky things.