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WD Black P10 Review: More than Just a Simple Gaming Drive

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The WD Black P10 is the first in a series of Game Drives announced earlier this month. But you don’t need to be a gamer to appreciate it.

The portable drive is fast in my testing, and its rugged, cool-looking design is a boon for any user.

On the downside, the new portable drive is quite expensive, costing some 50 percent more than others, including those from WD, of the same capacities. Also, its lack of support for USB-C can be a turnoff.

But if you’re looking for a well-built portable storage device, especially to use with a game console, this is still a good buy, though not a must-have.

WD Black P10 Hand
The WD Black P10 has a look that means business.

WD Black P10: An all-new plug-n-play WD portable drive

The P10 is unlike any other portable drives you’ve known from WD, like the My Passport family. For one, as the name suggests, it comes in complete black with a metal casing that dubs as passive cooling. Also, the drive uses a micro-USB 3.2 port (formerly micro-USB 3.0 port) to connect to a host instead of a USB-C port.

Though the lack of USB-C support is disappointing, considering all existing game consoles and most computers still have regular USB ports, this is not a huge deal. But if you have those that only have USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports—like those Macbooks—the WD Black P10 is not for you.

Out of the box, the P10 is formatted in the exFAT file system, making it compatible with all intended hosts, including Windows, macOS, and game consoles.

There’s no bundled software, and there’s none needed to make it work. All you have to do is plug the drive into your system’s USB port.

WD Black P10: Detail photos

WD Black P10
The WD Black P10 comes in a nice box.

WD Black P10 Port
The portable drive uses a micro-USB 3.2 port instead of a USB-C port.

WD Black P10 Cable
The P10 includes a standard USB cable.

WD Black P10
The WD Black P10 is a rugged portable drive.

WD Black P10: Hardware specifications

Like all portable drives, the P10 is bus-powered and includes a standard USB-A to micro-USB cable. On top, it has a small white indicator light that pulses to show data activities.

Part NumbersWDBA2W0020BBK-WESNWDBA3A0040BBK-WESNWDBA3A0050BBK-WESN
Capacity2TB4TB5TB
DesignCompact and bus-powered
USB portMicro-B SuperSpeed
USB standardUSB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps)
Stop speedUp to 120 MB/sUp to 130 MB/sUp to 130 MB/s
Dimensions4.65 x 3.46 x .50 in (118 x 88 x 12.8 mm)4.65 x 3.46 x .82 in  (118 x 88 x 20.8 mm)4.65 x 3.46 x .82 in  (118 x 88 x 20.8 mm)
Weight.31lb (.14kg) .52lb (.23kg)
CompatibilityPlayStation 4 Pro, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows 8.1 (and later), Mac
  OS 10.11 (and later)
MSRP$89.99$129.99 $149.99
Warranty3 years
WD Black P10’s hardware specifications.

The P10 doesn’t support encryption. It’s quite understandable since game consoles generally don’t have a mechanism to open an encrypted drive. And there’s no real need to keep your game-related info private in the first place. However, if you need a portable drive to store sensitive data, the P10 is not suitable.

WD Black P10: Fast performance

I tested the 5TB version, which is the highest capacity but slightly slower than the 2TB version, and was still quite happy with its performance.

WD Black P10 Performance

In the copy tests, the P10 averaged almost 120 MB/s for reading and writing—clearly above the average on the charts. I also tried it with my Xbox One, and games stored on it loaded about as fast as those stored on the console’s internal drive.

Overall, while the drive’s performance wasn’t earth-shattering, it’s fast enough for my needs.

WD Black P10 Game Drive's Rating

7.6 out of 10
WD Black P10 Box
Performance
8 out of 10
Features
6 out of 10
Ease of Use
8.5 out of 10
Value
8 out of 10

Pros

Solid and stylish design

Fast performance

Plug-n-play out of the box

Cons

Expensive

A little bulky

No USB-C or encryption support

Conclusion

The WD Black P10 Game Drive is not strictly a gamer-only portable storage device, nor is it a must-have.

Anyone needing a portable drive can enjoy it, and the truth is you can use most, if not all, portable drives with your game console—at most, you only need to do some reformatting.

But the P10 is also a statement. It feels solid and looks professional. Whether or not you’re into gaming, getting the WD Black P10 shows that you’re not messing around.

Also, WD promises that it’s built to last. I’m not sure if that’s enough to justify its high cost, but the P10 sure is a cool drive to carry around.

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28 thoughts on “WD Black P10 Review: More than Just a Simple Gaming Drive”

  1. I intend this to be formatted NTFS for use with Windows and\or a backup drive for a Synolgy NAS. Does this drive require\install the (annoying) WD-SES driver?

    There are now apparently 2 versions of this (5TB) drive.
    WDBA3A0050BBK-WESN
    WDBA5G0050BBK-WESN

    Do you have a clue what the difference is? As best I can tell it’s a Gamepass subscription.

    Reply
  2. Amazon currently has these on sale for $94. However, I did research and found a picture of the actual PCB, and it has the USB interface directly soldered to the board rather than adapting normal SATA connectors. While this will make no difference for its intended use, if anyone is entertaining the idea, like I was, of shucking these to use in a computer system, forget it!!

    Reply
    • Many new portable drives are like that in the past few years, Matt, so they can be more flexible in their physical design.

      Reply
  3. Excellent and helpful review, honestly the most complete i found!

    Q/ Is possible to use it as PS4 HDD and also keep using it for PC whenever i need to.

    Thanks again for your review.

    Mike

    Reply
      • that is actually incorrect when using the ps4, while it does use ex-fat thats not all its doing, maybe linux file structure cross? no idea sony has been pretty silent about their file system for obvious reasons and the entire drive mist be formatted to work in a sony console, though im not sure if partitioning the drive would work, the PC wont even read the EHD if plugged into the pc after formatting it for sony consoles.

        Reply
        • Thanks, Robert. You’re right. If you use the PS4 to format the drive, it’ll use a proprietary file system. But if you format the drive using Windows with exFAT, then plug it in the console, that should work. But then again, things can change via firmware updates, etc.

          Reply
  4. Got this drive today, really appreciated your thorough review (I found a 5TB version for less than the Passport, so yippee!). I do worry about how much it heats up, to be honest – so it goes with a non-fan HD! I’m not 100% certain it is a metal housing though, but if so, its super-thin like ductwork sheet metal! As I read in an Amazon review, you can physically squeeze the top and bottom of the drive without much effort. I might have to carry it in a case, y’know.
    Do you find in your experience there’s a break-in timepoint where one can fully accept it’s status as a stable back-up?

    Anywho, thanks so much for your reviews Dong!

    Reply
    • Thanks, Mike. You can count it as a stable backup from day one as long as you use it as a BACKUP, meaning the original is in good shape. Seriously, as a backup, there’s no need to worry about it at all. Glad you got a good deal on it.

      Reply
  5. WDBA3A0050BBK-WESN 5 tb gaming drive is $110 today. I heard it is 5400 rpm and not that fast compared to 7200 rpm. I want to use it for ps4. We have big games like spider man, god of war and some latest games as well. Do you recommend buying it for this price? Is the speed worth the price?

    Reply
    • I think the storage space is worth the price, Usha. But it’s not going to be any faster than the console’s internal drive. If you want your game to load fast, you need to invest in the P50 which will make a huge difference.

      Reply
  6. Just saw the 4tb one go for $99 + $5 off on NewEgg, was curious what drive was inside to see if maybe I can toss it into my laptop. Looks like a 15mm thick drive which is incompatible with the internal mounting solution but the Helios 500 is thick enough for modding. At that price, it’s a literal steal.

    I wonder if the 3v SATA power pin needs to be covered in order to work like a standard 3.5″ shucked drive.

    Reply
  7. I have the 12TB one and the light never turns off even when my Xbox is off, is it supposed to stay on at all times?

    Reply
  8. Could you not use Bitlocker or Truecrypt (if you want to risk it) to encrypt the drive? I mean for general files, not games. The 5TB price seems reasonable from the WD shop.

    Reply
  9. what is the model of the internal hdd? (tip: using cristaldiskinfo, you can get this information. You get a number at this format: wd50xxxxxxxxx).

    Reply

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