WD_BLACK P10 review: A beefy looking Game Drive for Xbox One

Given the size of console games these days, an external hard drive of some sort is almost a given. With the Xbox One, not only does it allow you to keep more games on your system at any given time, but it also allows you to take your games on the go with you. Heading over to a buddy’s house? Take your external hard drive, plug it into their Xbox One and all your games installed on the drive will be instantly playable. While you can use any external USB 3.1 compatible HDD or SSD drive, there are a few companies that make Xbox branded variations. Our WD_BLACK P10 review takes a look at the 5TB version of Western Digital’s Game Drive for Xbox One offering — read on to see how it performs!

Specifications

The WD_BLACK P10 Game Drive for Xbox One has the following features and specifications:

• Up to 5TB that can hold up to 125 games (Based on 36GB average game size), so that you can save old favorites and still have room for new titles.
• Comes with free 2-Months membership of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, giving you access to over 100+ game titles and Xbox Live Gold (limited time offering)
• Portable form factor that provides fast access to your gaming library, anywhere you go.
• High-performance HDD speeds up to 140MB/s read speed to optimize your console or PC gaming experience and drive your game.
• Purpose-built for gamers based on WD_Black™ quality and reliability so you can play without limits.

Capacity	1TB, 3TB, 5TB
Interface	USB 3.2 Gen 1 up to 5GB/s
Connector	Micro B
Read Speed:	Up to 140MB/s
Compatibility	Xbox One
Dimensions	• 4.65″ x 3.46″ x 0.82″ (3TB/5TB) • 4.65″ x 3.46″ x 0.5″ (1TB)
Weight	• 0.52 lb (3TB/5TB) • 0.31 lb (1TB)
Warranty	3-Year Limited Warranty

What’s in the box

• WD_BLACK™ P10 Game Drive for Xbox One™
• USB Type-A to Micro-B cable
• Quick Install Guide
• 2 Months Game Pass Ultimate (available for a limited time)

Design

The WD_BLACK P10 Game Drive for Xbox One is a beefy looking drive. In fact, when resting on its long edge, it kind of reminds me of a sea-can shipping container. Just over three-quarters of an inch thick, all four edges and the bottom of the Game Drive are white. The top and bottom feature an alternating ridged array which gives it the sea-can look. The top is black and has WD_BLACK as well as the P10 Game Drive 2.5″ HDD text printed on it lengthways in white. Each corner has a screw with a hexagon-shaped hole to round out the rugged look. The Xbox logo adorns the far right side and is oriented with the bottom of the logo towards the right.

The single USB 3.2 Gen 1 Micro B port is on the right edge of the drive. Just above this, lower towards the bottom right edge on the top is the LED power light. The bottom has four soft rubber feet in each corner to prevent it from scratching up your cabinet or your Xbox should you choose to place it on top.

The cable itself is pretty short, roughly 18-inches in length from Micro-B to USB-A end.

Overall, while the design is beefy and rugged, I’m personally not a fan of the white/black mix and wish there was just an all-black version with the white writing but it’s really a minor preference beef.

Ease of Use

As with any USB 3.1+ hard drive, the WD_Black P10 Game Drive can be used with a PC or the Xbox. Given this is Xbox branded, I hooked it up to my Xbox One X for some much needed extra storage space. Like any USB 3.1+ hard drive, you will need to format it for use to store and play Xbox One games on it but your console walks you through the very simple process.

Performance

Of course, what good is an external hard drive if it’s slow? The WD_Black P10 has read speeds of up to 140MB/s which is comparable to the Xbox One X transfer speeds that we’ve found online. During testing, I fired up Forza Horizon 4, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, and Gears 5 and timed the load times. I also tested how long it took to travel to Blizzard Mountain in Forza Horizon 4. The times listed below are after a full restart of the Xbox One X and then timed from pressing the A button on my Xbox controller to launch the game to when you actually get to the first playable menu. For Forza Horizon 4, this is actually the second menu (as the first just confirms settings) and for Gears 5 this was to the main menu where you can start a new game, continue, or hit up some multiplayer action.

	Forza Horizon 4	Blizzard Mountain load	CoD: Infinite Warfare	Gears 5
Internal HDD	2m 43s 17ms	14s 01ms	59s 47ms	1m 21s 40ms
WD_Black P10 Game Drive	1m 52s 81ms	9s 53ms	57s 89ms	1m 26s 90ms
Seagate Game Drive	1m 54s 34ms	10s 59ms	57s 49ms	1m 27s 61ms

As you can see from the table above in the case of Forza Horizon 4, both external HDD offer up considerable time savings over the internal Xbox One X HDD drive. Gears 5 was another story with the game loading up faster internally. In both cases, the WD_Black P10 loaded a second or two faster than the Seagate Game Drive but nothing notable.

Price/Value

The WD_Black P10 Game Drive for Xbox is available in 1TB, 3TB, and 5TB versions. While the regular WD_Black P10 comes in 2TB, 4TB, and 5TB configurations, the 5TB version of both is equally-priced at US$149.99, unlike some OEMs which raise the price slightly of the console version of their portable drives. The 1TB version doesn’t appear to be available at the moment, and the 3TB comes in at $109.99. When comparing regular prices, the WD_Black comes in well under the Seagate Game Drives at regular price with the 5TB costing the same as the 4TB Seagate drive.

Unlike the regular P10, the Xbox version also includes 2 free months of Game Pass Ultimate, usually a $14.99/mth cost. In addition, the 3TB drive is on sale for $79.99 while the 5TB is a pretty great deal at $119.99 (without the Game Pass) or $127.99 at Amazon — especially when you factor in the price of 2 months of Game Pass Ultimate.

Wrap-up

If you’re looking for more storage for your Xbox One console, the WD_Black is definitely a rugged looking, decent performing external HDD drive. While it is faster in some cases than the internal hard drive, it offers similar speeds to other external HDDs on the market so really, the deciding factors will be looks and price.

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Last Updated on February 3, 2021.