Samsung has released a new addition to its popular T-series range of portable SSDs (the existing T5 SSD still earns itself a place on our list of the best portable SSDs). The new T7 Shield stands out from the rest of the T7 SSD range thanks to its drop, water and dust-resistant design. Not only is the T7 Shield IP65-rated against dust and water ingress, it can also withstand a drop of up to 3 meters, all while maintaining an effortlessly portable 88.0 x 59.0 x 13.0mm size and weighing just 98 grams.
In-keeping with other T7 SSDs, the T7 Shield boasts super-fast data transfer speeds thanks to its USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C connection. Read/write speeds are rated at 1050MB/s and 1000MB/s respectively, making it theoretically slower than a SSD such as the SanDisk Extreme Pro Portable SSD V2, but still very fast. The Samsung's speed should also be more attainable due to the T7's relatively commonplace USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface, compared to the much more obscure Gen 2x2 connection required to unleash the full speed of the rival Sandisk SSD.
The T7 Shield has been designed with demanding content creators in mind, who are likely to frequently transfer large files. Consequently, to avoid performance reductions due to heat build-up, Samsung has designed the T7 Shield to incorporate "innovations to the surface material and enhancements to software". The end result is a portable SSD which should be able to transfer files as large as 2TB with no performance degradation and minimal heat build-up - ideal for users who regularly work with large, high resolution image or video files.
The T7 Shield is compatible with PC, Mac, Android smartphones and game consoles. It also features 256-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) with hardware encryption so data can be safely protected even if the SSD is lost.
Two capacity options are available: 1TB and 2TB, each supplied with a USB Type-C-to-C cable and a USB Type-C-to-A cable. Suggested retail pricing is $159.99 for the 1TB and $289.99 for the 2TB, though at the time of writing B&H is already offering substantial discounts on the T7 Shield:
Samsung 1TB T7 Shield Portable SSD
Samsung 2TB T7 Shield Portable SSD
