Samsung Portable SSD T3 Review: Fast, Sleek USB-C Storage

Name: Samsung T3 SSD
Brand: Samsung

by Marco Chiappetta — Monday, February 22, 2016, 10:00 AM EDT

Performance Summary: The Samsung Portable SSD T3 offered very good performance throughout testing. Generally speaking, it's not quite as fast as an internally attached, SATA SSD, but it isn't too far behind either. The drive excels with larger, sequential transfers, and handles 4K transfers just fine, at low queue depths. At higher queue depths the T3 can't match and internal SSD, but an external USB-attached drive like this is not likely to be used in that type of scenario.

Samsung Portable SSD T3 -- Find Them At Amazon

The Samsung Portable SSD T3 is an updated and more refined evolution of last year’s excellent SSD T1. Just about everything with the SSD T3 is better than its predecessor, from the increased maximum capacity, to its higher-quality enclosure, and the inclusion of USB Type-C connectivity. These drives still use the same 3D V-NAND, but the overall product has been improved in virtually every way.

All four capacities of the Samsung Portable SSD T3 were just hitting etail and retail store shelves as we were putting this review together. Pricing for the four models is as follows...

At those prices, the Samsung Portable SSD T3 commands a bit of a premium, especially when you consider an external enclosure and a 1TB Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" drive can be had for a little over $300. But the T3 will be a significantly smaller, convenient, lighter-weight and elegant solution, thanks to its single USB Type-C cable and no need for additional power.

If you need some fast, portable storage, the Samsung Portable SSD T3 is a killer product. You'll pay a premium for the form factor, but we suspect many of you would be willing to make that jump for something as compact and fast as the Samsung Portable SSD T3.


Nice Enclosure Strong Performance USB Type-C / USB 3.1 Capacity Up To 2GB	Still Not As Fast As Internal SATA SSDs Price Premium

Tags: Samsung, SSD, Storage, USB, T3

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com