If you’re running out the door to a meeting, or if you’re getting ready to jump on a plane to go on holiday, the last thing you want to be doing is waiting for your movies and TV shows to transfer. Then, when you’re travelling, what happens if your laptop runs out of juice? Samsung’s newest portable SSD can move your files around faster — and crucially, you can use it with your Android phone or tablet.
Samsung says the new Portable SSD T5 is five times faster than most other external storage devices out there — and that’s accurate, with even the speediest 2.5-inch portable hard drives rarely topping sustained 100Mbps transfer speeds, where every variant of the T5 can hit 540Mbps thanks to USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) support.
It’s more resilient than even the hardiest spinning-disk hard drive, too, purely because of the shockproof nature of SSDs’ flash storage. A shock-resistant internal frame means the T5 should resist accidental drops from as far as two metres, despite only weighing 51 grams and being identically sized to the previous T3 at 74x57x10.5mm.
Samsung bundles AES 256-bit security software with the T5, password-locking the entire drive if you want it. You can also carry that same passworded access over to your Android phone or tablet, which the T5 can connect to also — being an SSD and having low power requirements, it won’t kill your phone’s battery if you’re watching movies from it on a long-haul flight.
Importantly for a USB Type-C drive, too, Samsung includes both a Type-C to regular USB (Type-A) cable in the box — for hooking up your PC — and a USB C-to-C cable for connecting your phone or any newer laptop like Samsung’s own Galaxy Book. The drive includes a three-year warranty.
The Portable SSD T5, out today, is available in four capacities: 250GB for $199, 500GB for $329, 1TB for $649, and 2TB for $1249. The two smaller capacities are finished in a bright Alluring Blue finish while the larger two are Deep Black; you’ll be able to buy them from Bing Lee, Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi and Officeworks. [Samsung]