Break free of the Shield TV Pro's storage constraints with these drives

The NVIDIA Shield TV Pro is the best Android TV box that money can buy right now, but you'll still want to snag one of the best external drives for the Shield TV Pro. It comes with a beefy Tegra X1+ chipset and 3GB of RAM, but the internal storage is limited to 16GB. If that doesn't sound like enough storage space for your media needs, you can make use of the NVIDIA Shield TV's USB ports and mount an external storage device to easily expand your available storage. Here are our top choices for external drives for your NVIDIA Shield TV Pro.

Best value

Seagate Portable External Hard Drive 4TB

Staff Pick

Looking to get the best value for your money? Then the Seagate Portable drive should be your go-to choice. The drive works over USB 3.0, easily pairs to your Shield TV, and gives you better gigabyte-to-dollar value than the other options listed here.

From $93 at Amazon $112 at Walmart

NVIDIA approved

SanDisk - Extreme Pro 128GB USB 3.2 Flash Drive

The SanDisk Extreme Pro is one of the few flash drives that NVIDIA specifically recommends using with the NVIDIA Shield. The solid-state performance here will give you "extreme" read/write speeds, which is ideal for streaming media. We'll recommend the 128GB model, but a larger 256GB model is also available if you want to double up.

From $40 at Amazon From $40 at B&H Photo

Store everything

Western Digital My Passport Ultra 4TB

Western Digital's My Passport Ultra external hard drive is one of the best you'll find in the market today, and this particular option gives you 4TB of storage. Considering how much you're paying for it, this is one of the best deals around if you're looking to maximize the storage on your Shield TV.

$121 at Amazon $130 at Best Buy $152 at Walmart

Affordable storage

Crucial X6 Portable SSD

With the Crucial X6 Portable SSD, you have up to 4TB of storage, along with super-fast read and write speeds thanks to the onboard USB 3.2. The X6 is lightweight and compact, making it a great option if you want to bring your movies with you, or you can just leave it plugged into the Shield TV Pro and stash it away.

From $60 at Amazon $74 at Walmart From $60 at B&H Photo

Nothing flashy

Toshiba Canvio Basics 4TB

The Canvio Basics hard drive from Toshiba provides a plug-and-play experience, along with varying storage sizes. With USB 3.0, it will work perfectly with your Shield TV Pro (2019) and includes a one-year limited warranty from Toshiba.

$87 at Amazon $92 at Best Buy $87 at Newegg

Faster than fast

Samsung T5 Portable SSD (1TB)

The Samsung T5 is not just a great portable SSD for creators and those who need fast storage on the go. With its USB 3.0 compatibility, the T5 will also serve as a perfect option for those who want an external hard drive with fast speeds to pair with the Shield TV Pro. And with its super tiny and compact design, you can hide this external SSD pretty much anywhere.

$130 at Amazon $135 at Best Buy $135 at Samsung

Not just for gamers

WD Black P10 5TB

Although the WD Black P10 was designed with gamers in mind, you can use this hard drive for anything you need. With up to 5TB of storage, the P10 will be able to house just about anything, from games to movies and much more.

$122 at Amazon $125 at Best Buy $126 at Walmart

Value pick

SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive

If you're looking to keep things tidy in your home entertainment setup, you'll want to get this ultra-slim flash drive from SanDisk. It's available in your choice of storage size, but you're best off going with the 128GB to maximize your value.

From $11 at Amazon From $9 at Best Buy From $10 at Walmart

Durable and reliable

Samsung Bar Plus USB 3.1 Flash Drive

Samsung's BAR flash drive is made from metal and designed with a built-in key ring. These sleek and portable flash drives are perfect for use with your Shield and beyond. We've linked the 256GB version below, but you'll also find the same style available with 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB on the product page.

$33 at Amazon $33 at Samsung $33 at Dell

Quick and easy

PNY Turbo Attaché 4 256GB

On the surface, the PNY Turbo Attaché 4 may not look super flashy, but you'll get USB 3.0 onboard for fast transfer speeds. And if 256GB is too much, PNY offers this thumb drive in various sizes, starting at 32GB. And it has the added benefit of being backward compatible with USB 2.0 devices if you need to transfer items between an older computer and the Shield.

$28 at Amazon $28 at Best Buy $38 at Walmart

Plug and forget

Samsung FIT Plus 256GB

Although the Samsung FIT Plus features USB 3.1 speeds, it's compatible with the Shield TV Pro (2019) and its USB 3.0 ports. You'll get fast transfer speeds and a design that allows you to plug it in and forget about it. This thumb drive is even water and shockproof just in case the Shield TV Pro falls off your entertainment center.

$35 at Amazon $35 at Samsung $44 at Walmart

Store it all

PNY Pro Elite 512GB

Usually, thumb drives are limited in their capacity due to their size. That's not a problem with the PNY Pro Elite. This thumb drive offers various storage sizes up to 1TB, although the 512GB version will house up to almost 30 hours of 4K UHD video content. With the Pro Elite, you won't be disappointed when it's time to add some more videos to your Shield TV Pro.

From $50 at Amazon From $50 at Best Buy $50 at Walmart

Expand your storage with the best external drives for the Shield TV Pro

Whether you plan to use them to replace the Shield's 16GB hard drive or to download content from your PC files to your living room TV, these are the best drives. However, if you're looking to max out your internal storage, we'd recommend the 5TB Seagate Portable External Hard Drive. For what you finally pay for up to 5TB of storage, it is an absolute steal.

Note that if you decide to mount and use a USB drive as internal storage for your NVIDIA Shield, it will format the drive and wipe it clean, and you will need to reformat it again to use it with a different device. Alternatively, NVIDIA recommends selecting the "removable storage" option if you're using the drive for transferring or watching media content. We'd also recommend the SanDisk Extreme Pro USB 3.2 Solid State Flash Drive because it's one of the few external storage options actually recommended by NVIDIA.

After you've found the best external drives for the Shield TV Pro, make sure you go and grab the best gaming controller for the Shield TV, so you have the ultimate home theater and gaming system.