Developer: Toshiba
Publisher: Toshiba
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PC, PS5
Toshiba Canvio Gaming (4TB) – Hardware Review
Back in 2022, we took a closer look at Toshiba’s Canvio Gaming storage solution for our ever-growing library of digital games. We remarked that storage is always an issue if you want to keep a lot of your favorite titles installed on your gaming device, be it a gaming PC or a current-gen console. Sadly, we are still currently suffering from a lack of storage space, so we’re always on the lookout for decent storage solutions for games and other data. Toshiba was so kind to offer us a review sample of their 4TB Canvio Gaming external hard drive. We were curious to see if it offered a similar experience to the 2TB drive we reviewed earlier.
In terms of design, the Canvio Gaming external hard drive looks classy. You’ll be treated to a very slim device that mainly has metallic-looking features and some black finishing touches. The device doesn’t come with too many bells and whistles, and you’ll have to make do with a small LED indicator shining through one of the sides and a subtle indentation of the Toshiba brand name. There’s only one connection, meaning you don’t need an additional power supply here.
Before delving into the nitty and gritty of the device, keep in mind that this is an external hard drive and not comparable to a dedicated M.2 drive that runs really demanding games. These Canvio Gaming devices are great for titles that run on HDDs. If you want to try out titles that specifically require an SSD, then this drive might not provide the experience you’re looking for. Out of the 4TB advertised storage space, 3,63TB will be available for usage. Losing some data is common for every type of drive. We tested performance via CrystalDiskMark to see how well it performed compared to other similar devices. The results were pretty consistent and always circled around the results below. All in all, performance is great for an external hard drive, and you should experience no issues running your favorite games, provided they don’t require an SSD to run.
As we did back in 2022, we decided to put this one to the test on our PlayStation as well. You can use the Canvio Gaming 4TB external hard drive for backward-compatible games. If you had an expansive digital PS4 library, then a 4TB drive might be a great solution to store all of your games in one place, while making sure your PS5’s internal memory is used for PlayStation 5 titles. The exact speed of how quickly games are installed depends on your internet connection, of course, and so this is a feature we were somewhat unable to test. Make sure you select the external drive as your preferred installation location for PlayStation 4 titles. Running games from the drive is done with ease, as the installed games show up in your library just like any other title would. When playing games, we didn’t encounter any slowdowns, and games ran perfectly. There were absolutely no issues to be noticed here, and the drive doesn’t get too hot either. As stated back in our original 2022 review of the 2TB model, you can only use the Canvio Gaming external hard drive via the back USB ports.
Conclusion
Toshiba’s Canvio Gaming external hard drive is a great addition to any gaming rig. You’ll be able to store plenty of your less demanding titles, and they run smoothly whenever you want to play them. The device itself performs great for an external hard drive, and we can imagine gamers with an ever-growing library of digital games getting a lot of enjoyment out of this affordable storage solution. Even for console gamers, the Canvio Gaming external hard drive has a lot to offer, especially for those with expansive digital last-gen libraries.
No Comments