MSI upgrades its magnetic pocket-sized portable SSD to 40Gbps USB4

[Daniel Sims]

Recap: Since smartphones began supporting portable solid-state drives, magnetic models have proliferated, offering easy attachment to devices. This year, major manufacturers started releasing portable SSDs with the latest USB protocols, making them well-suited for content creation and high-resolution video management on the go.

MSI's updated Datamag magnetic portable SSD combines high transfer speeds with massive storage, making it ideal for capturing and storing high-resolution, high-refresh-rate videos from smartphones, cameras, and other portable devices. The drive will be available soon at global retailers.

The new drive supports USB4, delivering read speeds up to 4 GB/s and write speeds up to 3.6 GB/s, depending on the device. Most magnetic SSDs currently use USB3.2, which maxes out at 2 GB/s – still fast enough to saturate the iPhone 17 Pro's 1 GB/s interface. For now, users will see the full benefit of faster drives only on newer computers with USB4 ports.

MSI offers the Datamag SSD in 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB capacities. The company highlights the drive's ability to record and store 4K 120Hz ProRes videos with the iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro, though it is compatible with many other devices. The Datamag also works as a standard portable SSD for Windows PCs, Macs, tablets, professional cameras, and game consoles.

Although pricing for the Datamag SSD remains unclear, it may be similar to Corsair's EX400U, introduced in January with comparable specs. That drive also supports 40Gbps USB4 and MagSafe technology, costing $139 for 1 TB, $199 for 2 TB, and $349 for 4 TB.

Portable devices released in 2025 are pushing pocket storage speeds and capacities higher. The Nintendo Switch 2, launched in June, uses the long-overlooked microSD Express card format to expand storage while offering faster loading times than its predecessor.

Meanwhile, GPD's latest handheld gaming PC, the GPD Win 5, introduced Biwin's new Mini SSD format. The drives are only slightly larger than microSD cards but deliver read speeds up to 3.7 GB/s, compared with microSD Express's 900 MB/s. It remains unclear whether more devices will adopt Mini SSDs, as Biwin is currently the only company using the format and may hold its rights.

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MSI upgrades its magnetic pocket-sized portable SSD to 40Gbps USB4

 

[AndreV]

"scratch the left ear with the right hand behind the back" solution that of course aims to bring more money to manufacturers and more spending for the customers.

 

[Megalomaniac]

#1 I've never been a fan of attachments. I prefer my device upgrades to be internal.

#2 I ordered the 2TB iPhone 17 Pro Max to replace my iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB. Pickup Friday.

#3 I have one of these Digiera magsafe SSD 1TB. My problem with it is that when you finalize videos on iMovie, the transfer and finalization process is slower than the internal iPhone storage.

 

[Megalomaniac]

Micro SD XC Express is the worst possible storage they could use for Nintendo Switch 2. A regular off the shelf 2230 SSD would have been way better.

 

[NerdyHulk666]

Micro SD XC Express is the worst possible storage they could use for Nintendo Switch 2. A regular off the shelf 2230 SSD would have been way better.

The Nintendo folk havent seemed to complain aboit MicroSD over the years.

Goes tho show the importance of picking up reputable stuff as opposed to penny pinching.

 

[NerdyHulk666]

If prefer my smartphone storage options to be internal as opposed to another source for USB port abuse.

MicroSD Express is now here, as well as seemingly "bite-sized" SSDs around the similar dimensions. Sadly it seems too many Android phone makers are in bed with either Google's odd viewpoint on storage, cloud everything, or some mix of the two.

I supposed it one form of option for those who don't mind, though.

 

[Megalomaniac]

If prefer my smartphone storage options to be internal as opposed to another source for USB port abuse.

MicroSD Express is now here, as well as seemingly "bite-sized" SSDs around the similar dimensions. Sadly it seems too many Android phone makers are in bed with either Google's odd viewpoint on storage, cloud everything, or some mix of the two.

I supposed it one form of option for those who don't mind, though.

"Cloud Everything" is a trap. Either you want to control the user, force them into perpetual subscription or spy on them. It is only a matter of time before there's a breech, hack or exploit.