Samsung, Seagate Announce Spacious 4TB USB HDD In Slim 2.5-Inch Form-Factor

When 4TB desktop hard drives first hit the scene, I remember being impressed that we managed to reach that point -- 4,000GB is a lot of freaking space. Of course, we now have 6TB consumer drives, so the luster of 4TB has been dulled a bit. Unless we begin talking about 4TB on a mobile drive, perhaps.

That's something that has become a reality, thanks to Seagate, which is releasing two 4TB models under the Samsung HDD moniker. The Samsung P3 is designed to be sleek, while the M3 is designed to be a little more durable (and I think it looks better, too). It's hard to imagine that these slim drives have five platters under their hood, or that they can be powered using simple USB -- but both points are true.

Samsung M3 4TB Mobile Hard Drive

Interestingly, both the P3 and M3 are spec'd identically in terms of form-factor: 82mm wide x 118.2mm length x 19.85mm height. Ultimately, which drive you should go for depends on your personal tastes, because both have an identical feature set, which includes an automated backup solution and encryption. Performance numbers are not provided, but given the high areal density, it seems likely these would peak at ~100MB/s at least.

Samsung P3 4TB Mobile Hard Drive

Both drives feature a 3-year warranty, and should hit retail in the weeks ahead. Pricing information will have to wait until they hit store shelves.