Samsung improves read/write speeds in its biz-card-sized SSDs with the new T7

Samsung has announced availability of its T7 external USB-C solid-state hard drive, starting at $110. Like the previous drives in this line, it’s business-card-sized (except in thickness) and relatively fast.

The T7 is available in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB configurations, and it’s also available in three colors: red, blue, and gray. Packaged inside is a USB-C-to-USB-A cable, so it should be simple enough to connect to legacy ports. It also comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable for users of modern Ultrabooks, MacBooks, and the like. The drive uses the USB 3.2 Gen 2 standard.

What’s exciting here is that Samsung claims this drive can achieve a read speed of 1050MB/s and a write speed of 1000MB/s—significantly faster than its predecessor, the T5.

Samsung also says the drive is compatible with macOS, Windows, and Android, and that it offers “password-protected AES 256-bit hardware data encryption.” The company doesn’t specifically name iPadOS support, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see it. The T7 would probably work with game consoles and other OSes, too; the password locking (which is optional) is probably what requires the supported OSes.

This product was initially announced at CES in January, and back around that time, Samsung already started selling a variant of this called the T7 Touch that had a fingerprint reader that could be used to lock the drive. This new, more standard option is a little bit cheaper, though. Most people don’t need that touch lock feature.

The previous drives in this product line have often been named by buyers’ guides and reviewers as top picks in this category of external drives. It’s niche, but the performance and small size are there for users who need or want them. Samsung also says it has improved on the previous models by using “a solid aluminum case that’s shock resistant from drops up to 2 meters,” though that sounds pretty similar to what the T5 offered to us.

The 500GB drive costs $110, 1TB is $200, and it’ll cost you $370 to get 2TB. It’s available today, but stock has been intermittent at various online stores, and some of those carrying it have been selling it at a slightly higher starting price of $120.

Listing image by Samsung

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1677434