External SSD group test

Running out of bytes? It pays to pick up one of the best external SSDs.

If you want speedy storage performance on the go or between devices, your best option is an external SSD with plenty of bandwidth. That’ll net you the enticing possibility of actually running your games from a portable drive, which is not only great for laptop gamers, it’s a must-have with the latest generation of consoles, too.

The best USB Type-C drives deliver performance well beyond internal PC SSDs from just a few generations ago. Some external SSDs now crank out as much as 2Gbps of raw bandwidth. Admittedly, that’s a long way off the latest PCIe 4.0 M.2 drives for PCs let alone the crazy-quick integrated storage in the new Microsoft Xbox Series X and Sony PlayStation 5. But it’s enough for reasonably nippy game loads.