Western Digital
Western Digital 4TB Gaming Drive works with Playstation 4 Portable External Hard Drive
Bottom line: The Western Digital 4TB Gaming Drive works ($219.09 on Amazon as of 2026-10-21 12:15 UTC): 4TB capacity ends the delete-a-game-to-install-a-game cycle on PS4; main trade-off: PS4 formatting wipes the drive, so back up existing data first.
As an Amazon Associate, SpecPicks earns from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure →
*Price sourced from Amazon.com. Last updated 2026-10-21. Price and availability subject to change.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- ✓ 4TB capacity ends the delete-a-game-to-install-a-game cycle on PS4
- ✓ USB 3.0 bus-powered, so no separate AC adapter to carry
- ✓ PS4 formats it natively; no PC software or drivers needed
- ✓ Portable enclosure travels with the console between rooms or houses
Cons
- ✗ PS4 formatting wipes the drive, so back up existing data first
- ✗ Platter-based drive, so load times trail an internal or external SSD
- ✗ Formatted for PS4 use, it won't read on a PC without reformatting
- ✗ USB cable dangles from the console; no low-profile mounting option
Manufacturer description
The WD 4TB Gaming Drive is built to solve one problem cleanly: your PS4's internal storage filled up faster than you expected. Connect it to your PlayStation 4 with the included USB 3.0 cable, run through the console's formatting step, and you have up to 4TB of extra room for game installs, patches, captures, and save data. Western Digital designed this drive for portability as much as capacity, so the slim enclosure travels with you if you take your console to a friend's place or move it between rooms. Setup is deliberately minimal. There's no separate power brick to manage and no companion…
SpecPicks Verdict
SpecPicks scored Western Digital 4TB Gaming Drive works using a rating × review-volume × price-fit model applied to published specs and reviews across the external storage category. Western Digital's external storage lineup sits within the broader category mid-tier; price and specs are the deciding factors over brand loyalty here. Judge it on the specification table and the price rather than on sentiment: check the figures that decide your use case, then put it side-by-side with two or three close alternatives in the Compare tool before clicking through.
Common buyer scenarios for external storage of this kind: matching it to an existing build, replacing a failing part, or upgrading from a previous-generation equivalent. Check the spec table below against your current setup — particularly socket / form-factor / power-rating fields — and confirm compatibility on the retailer's listing before purchase. Prices and stock are set by the retailer and may have moved since this page was last updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will this work with a PS5 as well as a PS4?
Western Digital markets this specific model as a PS4 Gaming Drive. PS5 consoles do support USB external drives for storing PS4 games and for archiving PS5 titles, but check Sony's current external storage requirements and the product listing before buying it for PS5 use.
Do I need to install anything to set it up?
No. Connect the drive to the PS4 with the USB 3.0 cable, then use the console's own storage settings to format it as extended storage. There is no PC software step and no separate power adapter.
How many games will 4TB actually hold?
It depends entirely on title size. Large modern PS4 releases run 50-100GB each, while smaller and indie titles are a few gigabytes, so 4TB comfortably covers dozens of full-size installs alongside patches and save data.
Can I move the drive to another PS4 and keep my games?
Yes. Extended storage drives can be safely disconnected and reconnected to another PS4, though you'll need to sign in with the account that owns the games to play them. Always use the console's safe-remove option before unplugging.
Is it worth the price compared to cheaper external drives?
You're paying for the 4TB capacity, the PS4-ready packaging, and Western Digital's track record. Smaller-capacity drives offer a lower entry point; check the current listing for warranty terms.
Key Features
- Expand your PS4 gaming experience
- Play anywhere
- Fast and easy setup
- Sleek design with high capacity
Full Specifications
| Brand | Western Digital |
|---|---|
| Color | Black |
| Model Name | WDBM1M0040BBK-WESN |
| Form Factor | Portable |
| Model Number | WDBM1M0040BBK-WESN |
| Compatibility | PS4 |
| Built-In Media | Quick Start Guide, USB 3.0 cable, WD Gaming Drive |
| Item Type Name | Western Digital WDBM1M0040BBK-WESN Gaming for Playstation 4 4TB Portable External Hard Drive |
| Hard-Drive Size | 4 TB |
| Mfr Part Number | WDBM1M0040BBK-WESN |
| Number of Items | 1 |
| Special Feature | Portable |
| Hardware Platform | PS4; PC |
| Installation Type | External Hard Drive |
| Compatible Devices | Gaming Console |
| Enclosure Material | Aluminum |
| Additional Features | Portable |
| Hard Disk Interface | USB 1.1 |
| Warranty Description | 3-year manufacturer's limited warranty |
| Customer Package Type | FFP |
| Full listing title | Western Digital 4TB Gaming Drive works with Playstation 4 Portable External Hard Drive - Western DigitalBM1M0040BBK-WESN |
Ready to buy?
Western Digital 4TB Gaming Drive works with Playstation 4 Portable External Hard Drive - Western DigitalBM1M0040BBK-WESN is listed on Amazon. Price, availability, shipping and returns are set by Amazon and its sellers — check the listing for current terms. SpecPicks earns a small commission on qualifying purchases — thank you for supporting independent review work.
*Price sourced from Amazon.com. Last updated 2026-10-21. Price and availability subject to change.
Related External Storage
More guides & deep dives from the SpecPicks archive
Browse all articles & guides →- Emulation Hardware in 2026: FPGA, Software, and Cart-Reader Ecosystems
- Best 1440p Gaming GPUs in 2026
- The Complete Voodoo5 5500 AGP Driver Guide (2026 Edition)
- Best Retro Handhelds in 2026 — From $35 to $500
- RTX 4070 Super vs RX 7800 XT — Which to Buy in 2026
- Best Budget Gaming PC Build 2026 — ~$1,000 ($800 on Sale)
- How to Build a Windows 98 Retro PC in 2026
More reviews from the SpecPicks archive
Browse all reviews →- Second Streaming PC vs NVENC: What an Old i7-9700K Is Still Good For
- IBM Granite 4.1 (3B / 8B / 30B): Local Inference Benchmarks and Hardware Picks
- Best CPU Cooler for High-TDP Builds (2026)
- Open WebUI vs LM Studio: Best Local Chat Front-End for a 12GB GPU
- Intel Arc AI Training in 2026: What Workloads Actually Work
- Best Plug-and-Play Retro Console and Handheld to Buy in 2026: 5 Ranked Picks
- Chrome Using Too Much RAM? Fixes + Hardware Upgrades
- RTX 3090 vs RTX 4090 for LLM Inference: Same 24GB (2026)
- Best Controller for PC and Steam Gaming in 2026: G7 SE vs 8BitDo Pro 2 vs DualSense
- Local Video-Gen on 12GB: What an RTX 3060 Does in the Gemini Omni Flash Era
- Best Single-Board Computers for Home Lab in 2026
- Best SSD for a 4TB Steam Game Library Under $250 (2026)
- Kingston 2GB DDR Modules: Identifying and Buying RAM for a 2004-Era Retro PC
- NVK Open-Source Vulkan Driver Gains Experimental DLSS on Linux
- OpenAI Says 'Chat Is Dead': Building a Local Agent Rig in 2026
- Orange Pi 5 Plus vs Raspberry Pi 5: The Honest Head-to-Head (2026)
- Build a 2001 GeForce 3 Windows 98 Gaming PC in 2026: Parts and Setup
- In Brief: Best Buy Cuts $1,000 Off RTX 5070 OLED Gaming Laptop with Core Ultra 9 275HX
- ComfyUI on an RTX 3060 12GB: Stable Diffusion & Flux Throughput in 2026
- GTX 1050 Ti in 2026: Performance, Use Cases, and Modern Comparisons
- Gemma 3 12B: RTX 3060 12GB vs Ryzen 7 5800X CPU Offload (2026)
- Qwen MTP on LLaMA.cpp + TurboQuant: What's Actually Verified
- Genesis Mini and SNES Classic on a 4K Gaming Monitor: What Actually Happens to 720p
- Qwen3.6-35B-A3B VRAM Optimization: Why Bigger Quants Win
Earliest SpecPicks reviews
Browse full archive →- Best GPU for Llama 3.1 8B (2026)
- Best GPU for Qwen 3 14B (2026)
- Best GPU for Qwen 3 32B (2026)
- Best GPU for Llama 3.1 70B (2026)
- Best GPU for DeepSeek-R1 32B (2026)
- Best GPU for Llama 3.1 405B (2026)
- How to run Llama 3.1 8B on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
- How to run Qwen 3 14B on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
- How to run Qwen 3 32B on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
- How to run Llama 3.1 70B on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
- How to run DeepSeek-R1 32B on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
- How to run Llama 3.1 8B on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090