Seagate’s 1TB storage expansion card for Xbox Series X and Series S consoles will be obtainable in India from February 8 at a cost of Rs 23,499 — for a restricted period, it will be obtainable with a ‘promo’ cost of Rs 22,999 even though. For these unaware, the Xbox Series X and Series S assistance custom or proprietary cards for storage expansion. Only Seagate is generating them for now with Microsoft nevertheless to confirm if there will be any more partners.
You can play older titles (and archive new ones) off any USB storage, on the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles, but do hold in thoughts that this will come at the price of losing out on all the next-gen gains. “Designed in collaboration with Microsoft, the Seagate expansion card for Xbox Series X|S is the only external storage device that enables users to achieve the same performance as the Xbox Velocity Architecture when playing games that have been optimised for next-generation of Xbox consoles,” Seagate stated in a press release.
Microsoft Xbox Series S evaluation: Potentially good
Seagate’s storage expansion card for Xbox Series X and Series S has been a lengthy time coming. Both the consoles had been launched in India on November 10, even though it has been very tough to catch a hold of them given that the very first round of sales. In the meanwhile, Sony has also – ultimately – launched the PlayStation 5 in India which, like the new Xbox consoles, also supports expandable storage with the only distinction that it supports expandable storage with normal NVMe Computer drives which are less difficult to uncover and, more reasonably priced.
That is just how proprietary tech is. You fundamentally spend ‘extra’ for its one-of-its-type practical experience. Both the Xbox Series X and Series S have a committed slot – that is more accessible – for the Seagate storage expansion card, even though the PS5 demands some manual assembly for expansion. Then once again, the PS5 does not assistance storage expansion but – this will come in future update, Sony has confirmed.
Sony PlayStation 5 very first look: Big, bold, and impressive
Storage expansion tends to make a lot of sense in the case of the Series S given that Microsoft’s ‘lite’ next-gen console comes with only a 512GB SSD of which only 364GB is usable. But the Series S expenses Rs 34,990 in India which indicates, acquiring a Series X (that expenses Rs 49,990) will – of course – make more sense. For some context, the exact same storage expansion card expenses $220 (roughly Rs 16,200) in the US, which is once again not low-cost by any indicates. In the larger scheme of issues, the Seagate storage expansion card will ‘actually’ make more sense for Series X owners for future-proofing their next-gen console.
Seagate’s 1TB storage expansion card for Xbox Series X and Series S consoles appears to be an Amazon India exclusive at launch. Between February 8 and 14, you can even get it at a discounted cost.