I have zero issues with the external drive if it's connected directly, but for the fact that it takes up the USB port so I can't charge while I'm using the drive and that makes using it for Windows dual boot a non-starter since Windows "power management" is a complete joke and the battery life isn't enough to do any serious gaming.
But if I don't mind only getting a couple of hours of runtime for games when in Windows, direct connecting the drive via USB-C and an enclosure is the only setup that seems to work. As soon as I want to get some power in the mix, it's nothing but failures all around.