Best overall
WD 4TB My Book
Western Digital's My Book series offers a set of solid performers when it comes to external hard drives. We found the 4TB option struck the ideal balance between storage capacity and affordability. It adds another $163.89 to the Xbox One or Xbox One X, but the addition of 4TB of storage will ensure you'll be able to bolster the game collection for many months to come.
Bottom line: The WD My Book offers great value, reliability, portability, and capacity.
One more thing: It can also be purchased in 6TB and 8TB variants, as well as double hard-disk drive (HDD) configurations.
Why the WD 4TB My Book is the best external hard drive for Xbox One S
We found the WD My Book series, specifically the 4TB variant, to offer the best in value, storage space and reliability when it comes to adding an external drive to your Xbox One S.
Not only are you investing in a quality brand, Western Digital, when it comes to storing data, but the prices of the company's My Book line of external enclosures are incredibly competitive. Some purchasers have even found the drives contained within the products to be priced more as standalone units than inside the My Book protective casing, so you know you're getting a solid deal for the Xbox One S or Xbox One X.
With games becoming more complex and sizes hitting insane numbers for downloads, it makes sense to pick up an external drive to offset some of the burdens, since the Xbox One S only comes with either 500GB, 1TB or 2TB of internal space, which simply isn't enough in 2017. Throw in a 4TB Western Digital My Book and you have up to 5TB of storage space.
The My Book itself is essentially a WD drive plugged into a daughter circuit board, which then runs via USB to the Xbox One S. That's pretty much it, aside from the protective plastic casing, of course. No thrills, no cool LED lighting, but when all you require the drive to do is spin up with the Xbox and store titles, that's pretty much all you could ever need in an external drive.
WD offers the My Book series in 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 12TB and 16TB configurations. The latter two options are dual-drives, sporting larger cases with two drives inside. It all depends on how much you wish to spend.
How to choose and use external drives with Xbox One
Best SSD
Samsung 1TB 850 Pro
Buying an SSD, especially one with a large capacity, in 2017 is still a more pricey option than a mechanical drive. Newer SSD solutions are becoming more affordable, but 1TB variants and above are still hundreds of dollars. Should you have the funds available and want to take full advantage of the increased read and write speeds of SSDs over traditional hard drives with games, the Samsung 850 Pro series ($399.99 for the 1TB model) is the best of the best.
Bottom line: It's expensive, reliable and super quick. Adding an external SSD to the Xbox One S will increase game load times.
One more thing: You'll need an external enclosure for internal drives like the Samsung 850 Pro. An example would be this unit from ORICO.
Best portable SSD
Samsung 500GB T5
Sporting read and write speeds of up to 540 MB/s, the Samsung T3 external SSD package (around $150) is a great solution to improve performance and expand memory without decimating the bank balance. There's also no need to purchase cases or cables, as everything is already included.
Bottom line: It's a great option for those who wish to take advantage of an SSD without spending too much money.
One more thing: Shock resistance and secure encryption also make the cut.
Best Affordable HDD
WD 1TB My Passport
Should you not require TBs of extra space, but want a portable drive you can take with you to various LAN events and Xbox parties, the My Passport family of drives are worth a look. The 1TB model will set you back just $53.99.
Bottom line: It's more affordable than other options but comes with substantially lower capacity. You'll be effectively doubling the storage available.
One more thing: You have a choice of some bold colors to bring the Xbox One and your surrounding furniture to life.
Best Capacity HDD
Seagate Expansion 8TB
With a massive capacity of 8TB ($149.99), this Seagate Expansion external hard drive is ideal for those who need to store a colossal library of Xbox One titles on their console but only wish to make use of a single drive. It's also not too pricey, meaning you get incredible value for what you pay for in terms of storage space.
Bottom line: For the serious Xbox One gamer. You'll likely never run out of space.
One more thing: It's rather bulky and you'll need to make sure you have a spare socket in range.
Conclusion
While you cannot go wrong when it comes to external hard drives, especially if you have a few units lying around and simply need to purchase an enclosure, we believe the best option for the Xbox One S and Xbox One X is the WD 4TB My Book. Not only does it add an insane amount of storage to the console, but also offers great reliability and portability.
Best overall
WD 4TB My Book
Western Digital's My Book series offers a set of solid performers when it comes to external hard drives. We found the 4TB option struck the ideal balance between storage capacity and affordability. It adds another $163.89 to the Xbox One, but the addition of 4TB of storage will ensure you'll be able to bolster the game collection for many months to come.
Bottom line: The WD My Book offers great value, reliability, portability, and capacity.
One more thing: It can also be purchased in 6TB and 8TB variants, as well as double hard-disk drive (HDD) configurations.
Updated January 05, 2017: We've double-checked the list and believe it to offer the best options available to Xbox One owners seeking to increase console capacity.