Samsung Portable SSD T7 Shield Review

Portable SSDs have been an ideal data storage solution for some time now and are available in, not only different capacity points but also, the speed in which data moves between the drive and PC it is connected to.  The most common connector for external storage remains to be USB 3.1 which will transfer data at just over 500MB/s, however USB 3.2 Gen 2 seems to be moving into that space at transfer speeds twice as fast at 1GB/s.  For those media professionals, we also have the newest USB 3.2 2×2 which double things again to 2GB/s data transfer, and then Thunderbolt 3/4 which bumps things to just under 3GB/s.

Very important to understand is the drive only provides the ability to move data at those speeds, the system of course must be compatible with the chosen interface to match the speed.  A perfect example of this is the Samsung Portable SSD T7 Shield that we are reviewing today, fully capable of moving data at up to 1GB/s in our latest ASRock Z690 12th Gen Test Bench or any of our many Thunderbolt 3 ultrabooks on hand.  Very important to note, however, is that a Tblt 3/4 compatible system or laptop will only move a non-Thunderbolt USB 3.2 portable SSD at up to 1GB/s, and not the maximum 2GB/s that is described with USB 3.2 2×2 portable SSDs.  The USB 3.2 2×2 interface MUST BE matched with a system with that USB 3.2 2×2 interface to reach above that 1GB/s data transfer speed.

The Samsung Portable SSD T7 Shield is available in one and two terabyte capacities and is a USB 3.2 Gen 2 device capable of moving data at 10Gbps, or 1000MB/s.  It comes in three colours (black, blue and tan) and the packaging contents include the T7 itself, a USB Type-C to Type-C cable (1GB/s), a USB Type-C to Type-A cable (500MB/s), and a very detailed installation guide.

The T7 shield is constructed of a sealed aluminum shell with a permanently fixed silicon rubber casing covering that assists with shock and weather resistance.  This portable SSD has an IP65 rating for water and dust resistance and is drop resistant up to 3m.  One can find the Type C port on one side of the drive with a small LED beside that which lights up when there is SSD activity.

SSD performance is listed at being 1050MB/s read and 1000MB/s write with dimensions of 3.5 x 2.3 x .05 inches and a weight of 3.47 oz.  Given respect to software, the SSD itself contains Samsung’s Portable SSD 1.0 security software which works with the SSDs AES 256-bit hardware encryption and provides complete data security in only a few steps.

Just as valuable, but not included on the T7 Shield, is the Samsung Magician software which can be downloaded and serves to provide a large number of maintenance and performance features.

The Samsung Portable SSD T7 Shield is compatible with Windows, Mac and Android, comes with a 3-year warranty, and can be found on Amazon with reduced pricing at $134 (1TB) and $230 (2TB).

Let’s turn the page and take a look at performance…