Samsung's tiny 1TB SSD is blazing fast, but so pricey
Storage is not sexy tech. With the exception of LaCie’s fancy (and pricey) designer hard drives that double as living room decor, storage is not tech that needs to look good. What it needs to do is reliably store your data and transfer files as fast as possible.
Samsung’s Portable SSD (solid state drive) T1 ticks both the security and speed checkboxes, and does so in high style without going overboard.
The T1 measures 2.1 x 2.8 x 0.36 inches — smaller than a standard business card — and weighs a featherlight 0.9 of an ounce. It's so light that it feels like there’s nothing inside its plastic casing, let alone 1 terabyte (TB) of storage.
Samsung says you can slide it into a wallet. It fits in my normal-sized leather bi-fold, but it just won't close. So not really. It'll fit in a clutch, small purse or pocket fine, though.
In the age of potential hacking, security is everything. The T1 includes AES 256-bit hardware encryption — real NSA-level protection. Locking up your data is as easy as installing a special driver and then creating a password. Be smart: Don't use "123456" or "password."
In addition to being safe from digital snooping, the T1 is also safe — physically. Unlike hard drives, which have platter disks and moving mechanical parts, the T1 has none. Its SSD nature means it can be thrown around like a hot potato and the stored data will be safe at all times.
The T1 boasts read and write speeds of 450 megabytes per second (MB/s) when connected through USB 3.0, which itself supports transfer speeds of 5Gb/s. In practical terms, Samsung says you can transfer a 3GB movie in eight seconds. I didn’t have a 3GB movie file, so I grabbed a bunch of mixed file types totaling 3GB and put the T1 to the speed test.
Sure enough, a 3.1GB folder transferred from my 2012 MacBook Air to the T1 in about 7.74 seconds (average of three tests). Copying the same 3.1GB folder from the T1 to the Air took about 14.23 second (average of three tests).
How does that compare to a typical USB 3.0 portable hard drive? My 1TB Western Digital My Passport Slim, a popular drive which sells for about $70, was left eating the T1’s dust. It took about 35.8 seconds to transfer 3GB from the laptop — five times slower than on the T1. Transfers from the hard drive to the laptop took about 31.71 seconds, or about twice as slow.
A 15.1GB 4K-resolution video transferred from my Air to the T1 in 37 seconds. It took nearly 3 minutes with the regular hard drive.
Samsung’s T1 speed claim isn’t just hype, or a best-case-scenario theoretical number. It's really frickin' fast — perfect for people who work with really big files who need to transfer them often. Roving video editors will really like this thing.
The T1 commands a premium and then some: $179 (250GB), $299 (500GB) and $599 (1TB). But damn it if the T1 isn’t badass for such a tiny little guy.
At those tiers, the T1 is a luxury product for anyone who isn't a photographer, videographer or creative professional who can really make use of its high-speed performance while on the go. For them, time is money. Regular people will be just fine with normal "cheap" portable hard drives. They still work great; they're just not as small, and not as fast.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Samsung’s Portable SSD (solid state drive) T1 ticks both the security and speed checkboxes, and does so in high style without going overboard.
The T1 measures 2.1 x 2.8 x 0.36 inches — smaller than a standard business card — and weighs a featherlight 0.9 of an ounce. It's so light that it feels like there’s nothing inside its plastic casing, let alone 1 terabyte (TB) of storage.
Samsung says you can slide it into a wallet. It fits in my normal-sized leather bi-fold, but it just won't close. So not really. It'll fit in a clutch, small purse or pocket fine, though.
In the age of potential hacking, security is everything. The T1 includes AES 256-bit hardware encryption — real NSA-level protection. Locking up your data is as easy as installing a special driver and then creating a password. Be smart: Don't use "123456" or "password."
In addition to being safe from digital snooping, the T1 is also safe — physically. Unlike hard drives, which have platter disks and moving mechanical parts, the T1 has none. Its SSD nature means it can be thrown around like a hot potato and the stored data will be safe at all times.
Fast transfers
Waiting for big files to transfer is as exciting as watching paint dry. Depending on your drive and cable interface (USB 2.0, USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, etc.), your transfer speeds will vary.The T1 boasts read and write speeds of 450 megabytes per second (MB/s) when connected through USB 3.0, which itself supports transfer speeds of 5Gb/s. In practical terms, Samsung says you can transfer a 3GB movie in eight seconds. I didn’t have a 3GB movie file, so I grabbed a bunch of mixed file types totaling 3GB and put the T1 to the speed test.
Sure enough, a 3.1GB folder transferred from my 2012 MacBook Air to the T1 in about 7.74 seconds (average of three tests). Copying the same 3.1GB folder from the T1 to the Air took about 14.23 second (average of three tests).
Samsung Portable SSD T1
How does that compare to a typical USB 3.0 portable hard drive? My 1TB Western Digital My Passport Slim, a popular drive which sells for about $70, was left eating the T1’s dust. It took about 35.8 seconds to transfer 3GB from the laptop — five times slower than on the T1. Transfers from the hard drive to the laptop took about 31.71 seconds, or about twice as slow.
A 15.1GB 4K-resolution video transferred from my Air to the T1 in 37 seconds. It took nearly 3 minutes with the regular hard drive.
Samsung’s T1 speed claim isn’t just hype, or a best-case-scenario theoretical number. It's really frickin' fast — perfect for people who work with really big files who need to transfer them often. Roving video editors will really like this thing.
Mainly for professionals
Hard drives are cheaper than they've ever been before. You can easily get a portable 1TB hard drive for well under $100. Solid-state drives, while coming down in price over the last couple of years, still command a premium.The T1 commands a premium and then some: $179 (250GB), $299 (500GB) and $599 (1TB). But damn it if the T1 isn’t badass for such a tiny little guy.
At those tiers, the T1 is a luxury product for anyone who isn't a photographer, videographer or creative professional who can really make use of its high-speed performance while on the go. For them, time is money. Regular people will be just fine with normal "cheap" portable hard drives. They still work great; they're just not as small, and not as fast.
Samsung Portable SSD T1
The Good
Tiny and light • Blazing fast transfers • NSA-level encryptionThe Bad
Expensive • Must install security driver to use on computersThe Bottom Line
If you can afford it, the Samsung T1 is an awesomely stylish and tiny way to carry lots of files in your pocket. It's also crazy fast and secure.Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
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