Samsung Portable SSD T7 Touch Review

The Samsung SSD T7 Touch is a super compact and stylish SSD with top of the range read and write speeds and USB 3.2 compatibility. The higher capacities are expensive, but for the price, you do get more features than competitor products, such as fingerprint unlocking. 

The Samsung Portable SSD T7 Touch is the latest generation in Samsung's compact and speedy external storage devices range. Previously, we've reviewed the SSD T5, SSD T3 and SSD T1. Samsung say the SSD T7 Touch is almost twice as fast as the SSD T5, with read and write speeds for 1050 MB/s/1000 MB/s. The drive is USB 3.2 Gen2 compatible and is available in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB sizes. Silver and black colours are available, and prices start from £129.99.

Samsung Portable SSD T7 Touch Features

The Portable SSD T7 Touch measures just 85mm x 57mm, which is about the same size as a credit card - and the 8mm depth means it can be easily stowed in a pocket. It weighs 58g - barely noticeable if you stow it in your bag. 

Being an SSD (Solid State Drive), there are no moving parts such as the spinning platter used in HDD (Hard Disk Drives) and this means that there's less risk of the drive getting damaged in transit. SSDs also provide faster access to data thanks to the flash memory chips used. 

The standout feature of the SSD T7 Touch is the square touchpad on the front which can be set up to unlock your SSD. The drive features AES 256-bit encryption to keep your data secure. 

The SSD T7 Touch has a metal body, and is shockproof up to 2m. Samsung provides a 3-year limited warranty for the drive. In the box, you get the drive itself, a USB C to USB C cable and a USB C to USB A cable. The drive is designed for use with PC and Mac as well as Android phones, so it's great that you get both cables included. There's an app that you can use to manage data on your smartphone, and software can be downloaded for Mac/PC.

The Samsung Portable SSD T7 touch features AES 256-bit encryption and the ability to unlock your data with the touch of a finger. 

Key Features

• 500GB/1TB/2TB capacities available
• Fingerprint unlock
• Compact & 2m shockproof
• 1050MB/s/1000MB/s read/write speeds
• Works with Macs, PCs and Android phones
• Available in silver or black

Samsung Portable SSD T7 Touch Performance

The SSD T7 Touch comes ready to use, but for the more advanced features like setting up the encryption and registering your fingerprint or a password, you need to use the free software. The Samsung T7 performs well, with the speed of data transfer very much dependant on your computer. With USB 3.0 Type-A you can expect to see read/write speeds up to around 465MB/s. With a computer that supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 / USB 3.2 Gen 2, you will be able to get speeds up to around 1000MB/s. This means the drive will be very much future-proof as this latest USB technology is something that we'll be seeing more of as new computers are released.

Value For Money

The Samsung SSD T7 Touch is available from Amazon at the following price points and is currently on pre-order, set to be released on 28 Feb 2020:

• 500GB - £129.99 Amazon UK / $129.99 Amazon USA
• 1TB - £249.80 Amazon UK / $229.99 Amazon USA
• 2TB - £369.99 Amazon UK 

Other brands that manufacture compact SSDs with the same capacities include Seagate and Sandisk. Seagate's offering is more expensive for a 2TB model, at £386, yet doesn't include the fingerprint encryption and only offers read and write speeds that are half as fast. Sandisk offers a 2TB model that is compact, dust and moisture resistant, however again only has 550MB/s transfer speeds. it costs £309.95.

Currently, 2TB is the max capacity you can get in compact SSDs, if you don't mind the drive being a little larger then there are 4TB models available from brands like Seagate and WD for around £80.

Samsung Portable SSD T7 Touch Verdict

The Samsung Portable SSD T7 Touch is a portable and stylish drive that offers top of the range features such as fingerprint unlock for ease and blazing fast read and write speeds. 

Samsung are top of the game when it comes to quality, enhanced features and the sheer compactness of the storage devices they create. £369 is a lot of money to part with for a 2TB drive, but if you need the super-fast read and write speeds and lots of storage space whilst keeping everything as small as possible then this is the drive for you - not to mention the innovative touch to unlock feature. You also get both USB-C to USB-C and USB-A to USB-C cables included which is a nice touch. 

The SSD T7 Touch comes ready to use, but for the more advanced features like setting up the encryption and registering your fingerprint or a password, you need to use the free software. The Samsung T7 performs well, with the speed of data transfer very much dependant on your computer. With USB 3.0 Type-A you can expect to see read/write speeds up to around 465MB/s. With a computer that supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 / USB 3.2 Gen 2, you will be able to get speeds up to around 1000MB/s. This means the drive will be very much future-proof as this latest USB technology is something that we'll be seeing more of as new computers are released.

The SSD T7 Touch comes ready to use, but for the more advanced features like setting up the encryption and registering your fingerprint or a password, you need to use the free software. The Samsung T7 performs well, with the speed of data transfer very much dependant on your computer. With USB 3.0 Type-A you can expect to see read/write speeds up to around 465MB/s. With a computer that supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 / USB 3.2 Gen 2, you will be able to get speeds up to around 1000MB/s. This means the drive will be very much future-proof as this latest USB technology is something that we'll be seeing more of as new computers are released.

The Samsung SSD T7 Touch is ahead of its time in terms of features - fingerprint security is a nice touch but to get the most out of it you'll need a brand new top of the range PC or mobile with USB 3.1 gen 2.

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