Technically this was the first confirmed for PS5 SSD, the FireCuda 530 is the latest from Seagate and fulfills all of the requirements laid out in Sony's M.2 article. You find out more about how we test SSDs and hard drives in our hardware policy. We take a thorough approach in putting each PS5 SSD, both internal and external, through its paces before it appears on our guides. For more on storage, we've also compiled our picks for the best external hard drives as well as the best PS4 SSDs, too.
It's pretty straightforward to install an M.2 SSD in a PS5, thankfully, taking nothing more than a #1 Phillips head screwdriver and about five minutes of your time, give or take. With that said, PS5 external drives are also valid PS5 SSDs, of course, but keep in mind that you will need to transfer games onto the PS5 native storage before you can actually play them. We're already seeing some blisteringly fast speeds (upwards of 7,000 MBs in some cases) from the best SSDs for gaming on the market now, and we wouldn't be surprised if someone hits that 8,000 MB/s limit sooner rather than later. While many PS5 SSDs come equipped with their own dedicated heating solution, some may not, so we recommend turning your attention to the best PS5 heatsinks if the drive comes without (more on that below).
Now that support has been well and truly established for NVMe M.2 Gen 4.0 drives, the best PS5 SSDs are only going to continue to become faster and more efficient as more companies wrap their heads around optimizing the storage format for the console. Should you desire the fastest loading times possible then PS5 SSDs, which utilize Gen 4.0 NVMe capabilities are absolutely the way forward, with speeds matching (or exceeding) the console's native storage. If you're running out of space on your system then the best PS5 SSDs are the ideal way to expand it quickly and conveniently.