Samsung has just announced a new line of external SSDs with excellent transfer rates, but one of the most interesting aspects is the tiny form factor. The T1 series will come in three capacities – 250 GB, 500 GB and 1 TB – and connects via USB 3.0. Needless to say, they are not quite as affordable as the average USB hard drive.
According to Samsung, all three capacities offer speeds of up to 450 MB/s, as well as random read/write transfer rates of up to 8,000/21,000 IOPS. While not on par with a high-end, internal SATA 6Gbps-based drive, it might be enough to claim the performance crown for USB storage.
256-bit AES encryption is also available and some added protection in the form of Dynamic Thermal Guard, which automatically limits performance if the drive gets too hot.
As previously mentioned, the T1 SSDs don’t conform to the standard 2.5″ form factor and the usual procedure of placing a regular drive inside an external casing. Instead, Samsung has gone the extra mile to offer maximum performance in a highly portable format. Even the 1TB model is nearly as small, if not as thin, as a credit card.
The price tags match the drives’ performance, being almost on par with the current top-ranking SATA SSD 850 Pro; the 250GB, 500GB and 1TB models will sell for $179, $299 and $599, respectively.
