Samsung’s new portable SSD is a shock-resistant speed demon

Samsung has unleashed a new portable SSD which promises blazing fast performance.

The Samsung Portable SSD T5 uses the firm’s latest 64-layer V-NAND technology to deliver transfer speeds of up to a claimed 540MB/s.

Aside from raw performance, the benefit of a portable SSD compared to an external hard disk is that it'll survive a drop, as a solid-state drive doesn’t have moving parts. Not to mention that Samsung has equipped the T5 with a shock-resistant internal frame.

All this means that the SSD can withstand a drop of up to 2m – the external case offers a rather smart-looking aluminum finish, too

As well as durability, the T5 also scores high on the security front offering AES 256-bit encryption to protect the data on board.

Seriously light

The drive is also very light at just 51g, and has compact dimensions of 74 x 57.3 x 10.5mm. Samsung supplies software for the PC and Mac, and there’s also a mobile app for Android, with two cables provided to connect from USB-C to USB-C port, or USB-C to A.

The T5 goes on sale today in the US with the 250GB model starting at $130 (about £100, AU$165) and the 500GB version weighing in at $200 (about £155, AU$255), with the 1TB and 2TB drives costing $400 (about £310, AU$510) and $800 (about £620, AU$1,020) respectively.

The two smaller drives have an ‘alluring blue’ aluminum finish, while the bigger models are black, and all of the SSDs come with a three-year warranty.