Samsung Portable SSD T3 1TB Review: Compact, high-speed, Type-C storage

[Steve]

Samsung's ultra-compact T1 SSD made a strong impression around this time last year when it topped our performance charts as the quickest USB 3.0 storage device we'd ever tested. So much so that we made it our top pick for best portable storage device.

Having been based on an mSATA version of the SSD 850 Evo, the T1 shared similar performance, and although USB 3.0 doesn't offer quite as much bandwidth as SATA 6Gb/s, Samsung touted sequential read and write speeds of 450MB/s, which at the time was more than twice that of the fastest thumb drive we'd handled.

The new Samsung Portable SSD T3 drives build upon that foundation with a few key upgrades over its predecessor and capacities all the way up to 2TB. From a performance point of view little appears to have changed, but notable upgrades include the change from USB 3.0 to USB 3.1, providing the T3 series with the easier to use and more convenient USB Type-C connection, as well as a more durable metal case.

Read the complete review.

 

[fktech]

Wish I could afford a 2TB T3.....

 

[Arturo]

With that price I am happy with the cheap My Passport Ultra 2TB I bought for 110 dollars.

 

[Squid Surprise]

You can get Sata to USB 3 adapters for like $30.... while not exactly small, it would be $100 cheaper to get a 1tb 850 Pro with it...

On the other had, the T1 sells for $300 now... I'd go for that... there's no point using a 3.1 port for something that doesn't gain any performance from it - reminds me of the first USB 3 portable HDs that simply rebranded their USB 2.0 HDs...

I'm curious as to what the T4 (or maybe T5 if they skip another number in the series) will give for performance. Once they use the 10GB/s standard, they should be able to match the SATA version...

And how long until we get the M.2 versions in a USB stick? The 950 would make an even better portable drive than the 850 after all...

 

[Steve]

You can get Sata to USB 3 adapters for like $30.... while not exactly small, it would be $100 cheaper to get a 1tb 850 Pro with it...

On the other had, the T1 sells for $300 now... I'd go for that... there's no point using a 3.1 port for something that doesn't gain any performance from it - reminds me of the first USB 3 portable HDs that simply rebranded their USB 2.0 HDs...

I'm curious as to what the T4 (or maybe T5 if they skip another number in the series) will give for performance. Once they use the 10GB/s standard, they should be able to match the SATA version...

And how long until we get the M.2 versions in a USB stick? The 950 would make an even better portable drive than the 850 after all...

You would be seriously bandwidth limited by the USB interface when using an SSD capable of over 2GB/s.

 

[Squid Surprise]

You would be seriously bandwidth limited by the USB interface when using an SSD capable of over 2GB/s.

USB 3.1 is rated to 10GB/S.... So that should give decent speed, no?

 

[cliffordcooley]

USB 3.1 is rated to 10GB/S.... So that should give decent speed, no?

That is 10Gbit not 10GByte.

 

[Squid Surprise]

That is 10Gbit not 10GByte.

Yes... assumed Steve meant GBit as well.... with the T1/T3 maxing out at 400-450mb/s, I'd think that there is still quite enough headroom for improvement - like almost 400%....

 

[cliffordcooley]

Yes... assumed Steve meant GBit as well....

Small b for bit, large B for byte. 2GB/s is 4 times the bandwidth of SATA 3.0 and USB 3.0. USB 3.1 is only twice the bandwidth of USB 3.0.

 

[Squid Surprise]

But we're still talking huge room for improvement...

 

[cliffordcooley]

I won't deny that point. I don't think Steve will either. I think he was simply suggesting that M.2 would be bottle-necked on SATA or USB regardless of revision.

 

[Squid Surprise]

Very true - let's hope by then we have USB 4.... or 5...