Taking your files on the go basically boils down to 2 choices: affordable thumb-sized flash drives and the chunkier and more expensive external hard drives. However, the Samsung Portable SSD T1 is a unique mix of both. It’s barely bigger than a thumb drive but can hold up to 1TB of files. It’s even smaller than some of the portable SSDs that are already out there, although to be fair, it isn’t exactly a wide selection yet.
Fortunately, I was able to win one in a blind raffle at the local launch, and I’ve been eager to try it out since I held the box in my hands. So does the Samsung Portable SSD T1 belong on your list of to-buy gadgets this year? Find out in my full review 🙂
Design
Even for an external SSD, the Samsung T1 is surprisingly small. It’s footprint is smaller than even your typical credit card and it’s barely as thick as most thumb drives. If you were to pick it up, you might mistake it to be empty because it’s so light, I can’t even tell whether it’s heavier than the bundled USB cable or if it’s the other way around. Thanks to the absence of any moving parts, it won’t as easily result in your files being corrupted. However, it doesn’t seem to be waterproofed, so there’s still the risk of the drive being damaged that way.
Hardware
The Samsung Portable SSD T1 comes in 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB flavors. There’s an indicator light and a proprietary port on one end, meaning you’ll need the bundled proprietary USB cable if you want to plug it into your computer or mobile device. The other end only shows device information, such as the serial number and its storage capacity, mine being 250GB.
Software
Setting up the Samsung T1 is pretty painless. When you first plug into your PC, it won’t detect the entire 232GB of usable storage. Instead, you’ll only see the software installer, which lets you format and protect the device with AES encryption. The encryption on the T1 is hardware-based, meaning you don’t have to install software every time you plug it into a new device. Just enter the password and access your files. It’s as simple as it should be. Keep in mind though that if you decide to encrypt the T1, you won’t be able to access your files without the password. If ever you do forget, you’ll need to take it to a service center where they’ll reset the entire drive, so you’d still end up losing your files anyway.
Performance
The Samsung T1 is advertized to have a 450Mbps read/write speed. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to test this one myself because I don’t have a USB 3.0 port (sucks to be me). However, at the local launch, they ran the T1 through CrystalDiskMark, which is a hard drive benchmarking software that tests a drive’s speed. The T1 didn’t quite reach 450Mbps read/write speeds, but it was pretty close. I’ll be updating this section with my own benchmark results as soon as I’m able to install a USB 3.0 expansion card, but this will have to do for now.
So Should You Buy the Samsung Portable SSD T1?
It’s difficult not to come away impressed by the Samsung Portable SSD T1, especially once you’ve physically held it in your hands for the first time. The device is incredibly small and lightweight, yet can hold up to 1TB of data. While its price is on the steep side, it’s also pretty fair to say that there are few portable SSDs on the market like it. It’s possibly the most portable storage you can get these days, so it’s no surprise it comes at a premium.
Samsung Portable SSD T1 Specs
- 250GB/500GB/1TB capacity options
- USB 3.0 interface
- Up to 450MB per second transfer speed
- AES 256-bit encrption
- Password protection: Yes (optional)
- Price: Php9,999 (250GB, pricing for 500GB and 1TB variants to be announced in August)
