So I am holding this Samsung Portable T1 1TB SSD in my hand and thinking how far we have come to make possible the actual storage of a quarter million songs, 200,000 pictures, 1 million e-books or 500 hours of video on a device 3/4 the size of a business card and 30 grams in weight. To put that weight into perspective, 30 grams is equal to two tablespoons of flour. Capacity and weight aside, that wasn’t enough for Samsung and they included performance, value and probably the most consumer friendly security we have ever seen, thus ensuring once again that their SSD is going to make a mark on the industry.

If I were to be completely honest though, I think Samsung stole my idea. Just about a year ago, I ripped open a MyDigitalSSD OTG External SSD, threw in Samsung’s 1TB 840 EVO and it has been a tech favorite of mine ever since. In fact, I can speak of several others who had done just the same since my discovery of the worlds smallest and most powerful 1TB external SSD. As hard as it is to believe, there are those that need that much storage in a pocket-sized storage medium, along with the performance to manipulate large media files wherever one may be at the time. Even so, this new Portable SSD T1 is a gorgeous piece of hardware:

SPECIFICATIONS

The Samsung Portable SSD T1 is available in capacities of 250GB, 500GB and 1TB, measures only 71×9.2×53.2mm and weighs 30 grams tops. It relies on Samsung’s newest 3D V-NAND memory, is a UASP capable device which can reach data transfer speeds as high as 450MB/s and this chart identifies the different performance specs, depending on whether one is using USB3.0 with UASP, USB 3.0 or USB 2.0:

The key to performance with the T1 is understanding if your system is Superspeed/UASP compliant. If it is an older USB 3.0 system, or even a newer USB3.0 system where you must use software to activate UASP speeds, you will only reach the area of 280MB/s, unless of course you turned Superspeed on with the software on those systems so equipped. New motherboards, systems and even the newer Macs will reach top speeds for the Samsung T1.

The Samsung Portable SSD T1 is compatible with both PC and Mac Systems and Samsung’s formatting of the drive in exFAT makes installation very simple on either OS. It uses Samsung’s own TurboWrite Technology to maximize performance and has Dynamic Guard Protection to ensure that heavy workloads don’t damage the drive due to excessive heat. Perhaps the most valuable feature of the T1 for the consumer is Samsung’s simple and effective security based on the drives embedded AES 256-Bit encryption.

When you first install the T1, a self-contained software program will guide you through a very easy setup and ask if you want to protect this SSD with a password. If so, you enter the password and it will be requested whenever and wherever you plug the T1 in.

From this point forward, the only way to access data on this drive is with password and, if you forget it, the data will be unobtainable and drive useless until the portable SSD T1 is reset by Samsung Service Center. Even after it is reset, that data is lost. Simply, your data is 100% secure unless your password is compromised.

PORTABLE SSD T1 CONTENTS AND PRICING

Our sample Samsung 1TB Portable SSD T1 arrived in a very attractive retail box and the only hardware within was the drive itself, along with a USB3.0 external cable. A bit of a side note perhaps, is the fact that the T1 will not work on Samsung SSD Magician and is not compatible with Samsung’s RAPID caching software as this is a USB3.0 connected device.

One definitely needs a magnifying glass to read the included instruction booklet, and luckily, nothing more than plugging the T1 into your system is required to get things rolling. The Samsung Portable T1 does come with a 3 year limited warranty.

The Samsung Portable SSD T1 is already available at Amazon with pricing of $179.99 (250GB), $299 (500GB) and $599 for the 1TB version we are testing today.