It has a hardware-based encryption with optional password

Jan 6, 2015 13:46 GMT  ·  By

Samsung could have released all sorts of new storage devices at the Consumer Electronics Show, the trade show currently taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada. It decided to put everything it had into its new design though.

It makes sense really. The entire point of trade shows like this is to show off the best stuff you've got prepared for the months ahead.

Doubly important since CES basically opens a new year, and thus, needs each participant to set a good bar to achieve by the end of it.

So, shoving aside concerns of patent wars and accusations of theft thrown between it and LG, the company brought quite a few new things to the show.

Having already checked out its plans for the Internet of Things, and with new displays lacking any sort of surprise element, our eyes were eventually drawn by a certain storage device.

The Samsung portable SSD T1

This is Samsung's latest and best solid state drive to date, leveraging the benefits of 3D Vertical NAND technology to achieve a capacity of 1 TB.

There are 250 GB and 500 GB versions as well, or there will be at some point in the future, for sale through various online retailers or brick and mortar stores.

Measuring 71 x 9 x 53 mm / 2.80 x 0.35 x 2.08 inches and weighing 30 grams / 1.05 ounces, the newcomer is easy to slip in a pocket, easier and more comfortable than many smartphones actually. Lighter too.

The transfer speed isn't the best you've ever heard about, at 450 MB/s. But then you realize that this thing has to communicate with a PC through the USB 3.0 interface, not SATA or M.2, or PCI Express.

There's also the added factor of 256-bit hardware-based encryption, which is presumably done in real time and shouldn't impact transfer performance, but probably does regardless. Password setting is available as well, albeit optional.

Availability and pricing

The Samsung Portable SSD T1 has a starting price of £154.79 ($235 / €197) for the 256 GB model, with the 500 GB and 1 TB ones still untagged. Shipments should start sooner rather than later, with a three-year limited warranty. Supported operating systems include both Windows and Mac OS.

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