Should you use the internal SSD that comes with the Xbox One or get an extra external SSD for good measure?
The reliability of the Solid State Drive (SSD) is such that it can durably last for many years without ending up with any sort of error or failure. This advantage ensures that the SSD will last much longer than even your Xbox One, One X, or One S.
It’s also as fast as an eye blink. More like an eye blink, really. It’s like you’re using as NES or SNES in your childhood, where everything is loaded instantaneously.
With that in mind, let’s talk about:
Xbox One Internal SSD vs. External SSD
Long story short, the external SSD, like the external HDD, offers you extra storage for all your game save files, DLC, and emulated games you’ve bought from the Microsoft Store in case your Xbox One’s internal HDD or SSD couldn’t handle all that space even with its 1 terabyte capacity.
However, an internal SSD (whether it came with a refurbished Xbox One or swapped from the HDD that the system came with) offers more advantages as the native system where the Xbox One operating system lies.
It actually helps out loading times, assists in the processing power, increases access to the RAM along with the ROM, and various other things you’d expect SSDs to do when they upgrade a PC or similar computing device.
What is a Solid State Drive?
A solid state drive (SSD) is an improved version of the hard disk drive (HDD) that can speed up your computer, Internet speed, and graphical processing way better than those clickbait downloads for Trojans or malware would promise.
It lasts for many years without error or failure and can have write speeds of up to 1,000 MB/s (megabytes per second, as opposed to Mbps or megabits per second) and read speeds of up to 1,050 MB/s.
If you can’t wrap your head around those speeds then consider this. On a Windows machine, it takes roughly 3-5 minutes to boot or startup your computer. With an SSD, you can clock in a reboot or restart in just 11 seconds.
Xbox One Internal SSD vs. External SSDHow Do SSDs Benefit the Xbox One Player?
Whether you’re a serious player or a casual one who wishes to be entertained, everyone wants a streamlined gaming experience with as few wait or loading times as possible. Like with a gaming PC, the Xbox One X and One S deliver True 4K gaming at its finest.
The graphical or number-crunching power of the highest-spec Xbox One line gets assistance from a blistering fast SSD with at least 400 MB/s of read/write speed or upwards of 1,000 MB/s because everything gets loaded and processed faster.
The errors, the lag, the “red rings of death” usually root from an overtaxed and much slower HDD. The SSD can handle games much faster, even the really taxing ones with Ultra 4K HD graphics that require high refresh rates and input responsiveness.
What Can You Get Out of an External SSD?
You can use external data to backup your save files in case of a sudden failure while being assured that the SSD itself has a lower likelihood of failure when push comes to shove. It should assist the stock internal HDD or SSD of your Xbox One superbly.
It’s much faster than external HDDs when it comes to reading and writing data. You won’t have to wait for long updates to get your saves done, especially in light of all the online updates you have to deal with just to play modern games nowadays.
However, it works as nothing more than a much bigger and more spacious SD card or memory slot saving paraphernalia like in the days of the Xbox 360 and original Xbox. If you wish to improve upon the graphics and processing power of your Xbox One, you need to go internal.
What Can You Get Out of an Internal SSD?
The solid state drive ensures high-speed improvement in loading the game itself if you’re using an internal SSD that houses the operating system of the console itself along with all your downloaded games and DLC packs galore.
You’ll get to enjoy more than 60 percent speed improvement compared to the original stock HDD of the original Xbox One. Your operating system for the console will load faster and any apps or games you’ve saved locally should also appear immediately.
The internal SSD enhances your online or local gaming experience because your processor chip, graphics card, sound card, and so forth can work in tandem with the SSD to give you a gaming experience that’s practically gaming PC like.
Should You Get an Internal or External SSD?
It depends on what you need. If you wish to have a convenient SSD that you don’t have to plug into the console every time in order for it to work then go with an internal SSD and replace/swap it with your stock HDD. You can get refurbished units with SSD already installed at Wal-Mart, even.
The SSD isn’t responsible for refresh rates or anything but it does keep itself from hampering your Xbox’s processing chip with inexcusably long loading times.
This will ensure a faster user interface and an operating system that won’t easily hang or freeze on you, especially now that the Xbox units nowadays have become more PC-like than ever before, with their accompanying benefits and detriments.
Safeguarded Backups versus Faster Gaming
On one hand, an internal SSD makes 3D 4K games more fluid at 60FPS and beyond as if you’re really watching something happen on live TV as opposed to a more cinematic 24 FPS. You’re also less likely to bump or drop the internal SSD since it comes built into the system.
On the other hand, there’s a camp that alleges external SSDs work the best. They’re portable, you can store them safely, they last longer, you can take them with you for use in other Xbox units, and they can also be used on other PCs as well.
The Verdict
Portable external SSDs you can take with you anywhere and they can be used on other things like your laptop or desktop computer as well as photo and video storage from your smartphone downloaded straight from the cloud or its hard dive.
However, a dedicated internal SSD does more than do backups for your Xbox One. It can also make Blu-Ray loading times faster and help increase the graphical processing power or number-crunching needed to display your True 4K or Ultra HD games at their highest fidelity.
