Features
Performance
Verdict
Specification
The Samsung Portable SSD T3 is a 1TB (roughly 1000GB) portable SSD hard-drive with high transfer speeds of up to 450MB/s when using USB 3.0, with a metal case with shock-resistant internal frame, and password protection. The T3 is available for around £120 for the 250GB version, £185 for the 500GB version, £360 for the 1TB version, or £596 for the 2TB version.
Samsung Portable SSD T3 Features
SSD stands for Solid State Drive, and this, in layman's terms, means it uses flash memory chips to store data, which means that there are no moving parts, and access to data is much quicker than with traditional physical hard drives. Hard disk drives (HDD) use spinning platters and are susceptible to damage if not carefully looked after.
- Transfer Speed: Up to 450MB/sec.
- Shock resistant (2m)
- Temperature protection
- AES 256-bit Encryption
- Optional password setting
- USB 3.0, USB3.1
- Three year limited warranty
- Works with Windows 7 or higher, Mac OS X 10.7 or higher
The T3 comes with a new Android mobile app to securely manage content - so that you can use the drive with an Android smartphone, tablet or laptop if you have the right cable or a USB socket on your device. The drive comes with a USB cable that is 45cm long, which is plenty for a laptop, but could be a little short for a PC.
Samsung Portable SSD T3 Performance
The T3 drive comes ready to plug in and use, but you can also use the software which is on the drive to enhance the functionality, change the name of the device, view the serial number, and setup a password for secure data encryption. If password encryption is enabled you need to enter the password in the Samsung software (on the drive) before you can access the data.
| USB 3.0 Performance: | USB 2.0 Performance: |
We ran the T3 drive through CrystalDiskMark software using USB 2.0 and 3.0. Using USB 3.0 we were able to get very quick speeds, significantly quicker than USB 2.0. There was no loss of performance whether the drive was password protected or not.
Value for Money
The T3 is available for around £120 for the 250GB version, £185 for the 500GB version, £360 for the 1TB version, or £596 for the 2TB version, which makes it quite good value for money compared to other SSD drives with built-in security. Alternative SSD drives available that offer built-in security include the iStorage 256GB which is available for £239.
Samsung Portable SSD T3 Verdict
The Samsung Portable SSD T3 drive is a compact and stylish portable drive that gives good read and write speeds, and can also protect your data with strong password protection. For those who want to keep secure backups of data on a compact drive that doesn't take up much space, or require an external power supply, the Samsung T3 does an excellent job.
The Samsung Portable SSD T3 offers fast, secure performance in an extremely compact device.