Congrats on the new console! Honestly, that internal drive fills up way faster than you think... I ran out of space in like two days. Just a quick heads up tho, you gotta be careful because you can only play PS4 games directly from an external drive. You can move PS5 games there to save space, but you have to copy them back to the internal storage to actually play them. Don't let that discourage you though, it still saves a ton of time compared to redownloading everything. For your $120 budget at Best Buy, I would suggest looking at the Samsung T7 Shield 1TB Portable SSD. Its really rugged and handles heat well, which is important since external drives can get pretty toasty during long gaming sessions. I use one myself and it has been super reliable. You might also want to consider the Crucial X9 Pro 1TB Portable SSD if you want to save a few bucks. It is tiny but surprisingly fast for the price. Make sure you avoid the front USB port for an SSD. I recommend using the ports on the back of the console to get the full speed. If you see a deal on the WD Black P40 Game Drive 1TB SSD, that is another amazing option specifically made for gaming. Just keep an eye on those Best Buy sales... sometimes you can even find a 2TB drive for just a bit over your budget if you get lucky. Let me know if you need help setting it up!

I actually tried using an old thumb drive I had lying around first and it was a total disaster, my PS5 wouldn't even recognize it half the time. I finally grabbed the WD My Passport SSD 1TB from Best Buy. Just a warning though: use the back USB ports. The front one is known for causing crashes with external storage, so don't risk your save data.

To add to the point above: that first reply is spot on. In my experience, people get really frustrated when they realize they cant play the new stuff directly from an external drive. Speed definitely makes a difference for those older PS4 titles tho, ngl. Just a couple technical things to look for:

• Check for at least USB 3.1 or 3.2 support
• Aim for 1000MB/s read speeds
• Stick to SSD rather than HDD for load times One thing i gotta ask... are you strictly looking for an external drive to plug in, or would you be open to installing an internal M.2 SSD? With a $120 budget, you could actually get a fast internal drive that plays PS5 games too. Its honestly way easier than it sounds to install one.