The Samsung T5 250GB Portable SSD elevates data transfer speeds to the next level and unleashes a new experience in external storage. Massive 250GB capacity Compact and stylish Transfer speeds of up to 540MB/s Shock-resistant – withstands drop from up to 2m Includes USB Type-C to C cable and USB Type-C to A cable With a compact, durable design and password protection, the Samsung T5 2TB Portable SSD is easy to carry and stores data securely. It has no moving parts and a sturdy metal body, so it can handle drops of up to 2 metres. Fast transfer speeds With Samsung V-NAND flash memory and a USB 3.1 Gen 2 interface, the T5 provides transfer speeds of up to 540MB/s. Transfers and backups of large-sized data including 4K videos and high-resolution photos will be much quicker and faster. Connect with ease Connect the T5 to an extensive range of devices from PCs, Macs, smartphones and other devices. The included USB Type-C to C cable and USB Type-C to A cable give you seamless connectivity without the hassle of purchasing additional adapters. Compact and light Smaller than the average business card, weighing just 51 grams, and only 10.5 mm thick. The compact, light and slim T5 is the perfect portable storage. Ready anytime, anywhere Take everything, all your work and entertainment, with you. The Portable SSD T5 gives you simple and efficient access to your massive data so you can complete tasks quickly and on the move. Take along your documents, large-sized photos or videos and get things done wherever you go.
The Samsung T5 250GB Portable SSD elevates data transfer speeds to the next level and unleashes a new experience in external storage. Massive 250GB capacity Compact and stylish Transfer speeds of up to 540MB/s Shock-resistant – withstands drop from up to 2m Includes USB Type-C to C cable and USB Type-C to A cable With a compact, durable design and password protection, the Samsung T5 2TB Portable SSD is easy to carry and stores data securely. It has no moving parts and a sturdy metal body, so it can handle drops of up to 2 metres. Fast transfer speeds With Samsung V-NAND flash memory and a USB 3.1 Gen 2 interface, the T5 provides transfer speeds of up to 540MB/s. Transfers and backups of large-sized data including 4K videos and high-resolution photos will be much quicker and faster. Connect with ease Connect the T5 to an extensive range of devices from PCs, Macs, smartphones and other devices. The included USB Type-C to C cable and USB Type-C to A cable give you seamless connectivity without the hassle of purchasing additional adapters. Compact and light Smaller than the average business card, weighing just 51 grams, and only 10.5 mm thick. The compact, light and slim T5 is the perfect portable storage. Ready anytime, anywhere Take everything, all your work and entertainment, with you. The Portable SSD T5 gives you simple and efficient access to your massive data so you can complete tasks quickly and on the move. Take along your documents, large-sized photos or videos and get things done wherever you go.
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last seen 15 May 2026
The lowest price we last saw for Samsung Portable 250GB SSD T5 was , compared across 3 retailers (last seen 15 May 2026). Prices may have changed since.
Samsung Portable 250GB SSD T5
The Samsung T5 250GB Portable SSD elevates data transfer speeds to the next level and unleashes a new experience in external storage. Massive 250GB capacity Compact and stylish Transfer speeds of up to 540MB/s Shock-resistant – withstands drop from up to 2m Includes USB Type-C to C cable and USB Type-C to A cable With a compact, durable design and password protection, the Samsung T5 2TB Portable SSD is easy to carry and stores data securely. It has no moving parts and a sturdy metal body, so it can handle drops of up to 2 metres. Fast transfer speeds With Samsung V-NAND flash memory and a USB 3.1 Gen 2 interface, the T5 provides transfer speeds of up to 540MB/s. Transfers and backups of large-sized data including 4K videos and high-resolution photos will be much quicker and faster. Connect with ease Connect the T5 to an extensive range of devices from PCs, Macs, smartphones and other devices. The included USB Type-C to C cable and USB Type-C to A cable give you seamless connectivity without the hassle of purchasing additional adapters. Compact and light Smaller than the average business card, weighing just 51 grams, and only 10.5 mm thick. The compact, light and slim T5 is the perfect portable storage. Ready anytime, anywhere Take everything, all your work and entertainment, with you. The Portable SSD T5 gives you simple and efficient access to your massive data so you can complete tasks quickly and on the move. Take along your documents, large-sized photos or videos and get things done wherever you go.
The Samsung T5 250GB Portable SSD elevates data transfer speeds to the next level and unleashes a new experience in external storage. Massive 250GB capacity Compact and stylish Transfer speeds of up to 540MB/s Shock-resistant – withstands drop from up to 2m Includes USB Type-C to C cable and USB Type-C to A cable With a compact, durable design and password protection, the Samsung T5 2TB Portable SSD is easy to carry and stores data securely. It has no moving parts and a sturdy metal body, so it can handle drops of up to 2 metres. Fast transfer speeds With Samsung V-NAND flash memory and a USB 3.1 Gen 2 interface, the T5 provides transfer speeds of up to 540MB/s. Transfers and backups of large-sized data including 4K videos and high-resolution photos will be much quicker and faster. Connect with ease Connect the T5 to an extensive range of devices from PCs, Macs, smartphones and other devices. The included USB Type-C to C cable and USB Type-C to A cable give you seamless connectivity without the hassle of purchasing additional adapters. Compact and light Smaller than the average business card, weighing just 51 grams, and only 10.5 mm thick. The compact, light and slim T5 is the perfect portable storage. Ready anytime, anywhere Take everything, all your work and entertainment, with you. The Portable SSD T5 gives you simple and efficient access to your massive data so you can complete tasks quickly and on the move. Take along your documents, large-sized photos or videos and get things done wherever you go.
The all-time low we recorded was $63.26 on 17 July 2025.
Prices last updated 15 May 2026.
Last updated at 15/05/2026 06:30:13
Samsung T5 Type-C Portable SSD 250GB
60-day returns
Samsung Portable SSD T5, USB 3.1 (250GB)
Delivery $14.37
SAMSUNG T5 Portable SSD 250GB
originally posted on bhphotovideo.com
I have used this SSD for 6 years now, but unfortunately 500GB is just not enough these days for the large file sizes now. I have since upgraded to two Samsung T7 Shield drives with much more storage.This drive has served me very well for years. I really do abuse my electronics. This SSD has been dropped on the ground, I've tripped over the USB cord before, and have stayed in my backpacks on long photoshoots, hiking trips in the wilderness, etc... It is rugged even though it is not the shield version. The speeds are extremely fast. I use it to carry my music on the go, and also to backup photos and videos at the end of the day on a road trip. I have used it to store maps, and even an encrypted password database on the go.Works with Windows and Mac! Money well spent!
originally posted on bhphotovideo.com
Received the drive, tested it several times before taking it on the road. First time trying to backup all my photos, the drive became unresponsive. Verified the drive was defective by trying it access it on a variety of devices, including Windows, Mac and Android. (Was able to backup my photos to my spinning drive which I hoped to replace with the SSD.) Called Samsung and they exchanged the drive.The exchanged drive is apparently a refurbished one as it had some different markings than the new one. Upon plugging that drive in, it was only recognized as a USB device, not as a disk drive. Samsung's website had no information for troubleshooting, saying only that all drives are shipped formatted for Mac and Windows but this one was not recognized by either. A call to ... MoreReceived the drive, tested it several times before taking it on the road. First time trying to backup all my photos, the drive became unresponsive. Verified the drive was defective by trying it access it on a variety of devices, including Windows, Mac and Android. (Was able to backup my photos to my spinning drive which I hoped to replace with the SSD.) Called Samsung and they exchanged the drive.The exchanged drive is apparently a refurbished one as it had some different markings than the new one. Upon plugging that drive in, it was only recognized as a USB device, not as a disk drive. Samsung's website had no information for troubleshooting, saying only that all drives are shipped formatted for Mac and Windows but this one was not recognized by either. A call to the help desk walked me through formatting with the person arguing that none come formatted.If you do have to contact their support, do not use the voice recognition as it is not programmed for T5 or SSD, instead sending you to mobile phones.While this one is currently working (as was the original) I do not trust it enough to transfer photos.
originally posted on bhphotovideo.com
This SSD is small and seems tough and well made. I bought this T5 for the express purpose of cloning my Mac OSX Mojave iMac 27 for part of my back-up plan with Time Machine plus a clone. For that purpose it works well. I run Time machine on a separate drive, and cloned my machine to the T5. This allows for specific file back-up access with Time Machine, or using the T5 for a fully functional start-up and disk repair with my whole computer in the event of a primary drive failure or repair need. The T5 is a very fast SSD. It comes formatted FAT32, I think, I have forgotten! I use it over USB 3.1. If you wish to do as I have done, you must erase and reformat the drive to APFS for Mojave/Catalina in Disk Utility. You may be able to clone your system then, though from ... MoreThis SSD is small and seems tough and well made. I bought this T5 for the express purpose of cloning my Mac OSX Mojave iMac 27 for part of my back-up plan with Time Machine plus a clone. For that purpose it works well. I run Time machine on a separate drive, and cloned my machine to the T5. This allows for specific file back-up access with Time Machine, or using the T5 for a fully functional start-up and disk repair with my whole computer in the event of a primary drive failure or repair need. The T5 is a very fast SSD. It comes formatted FAT32, I think, I have forgotten! I use it over USB 3.1. If you wish to do as I have done, you must erase and reformat the drive to APFS for Mojave/Catalina in Disk Utility. You may be able to clone your system then, though from what I read a primary installation of your Mac OSX is required first for a firmware install that allows use to start up. So I installed Mojave on the T5, then cloned my iMac with Carbon Copy Cloner, and now have a fast, perfect clone from which I can start up on the iMac 27 and access my primary Mac HD for any purpose. I highly recommend it for bang for the buck. But if you do not want to do the reformatting/install heavy lifting, you can find a different SSD already formatted for Mac, for a little more money.
| Solid state drive | |
| Write speed | 540 MB/s |
| Read speed | 540 MB/s |
| Solid-state drive capacity | 250 GB |
| Ports & interfaces |
Samsung T5 Type-C Portable SSD 250GB
60-day returns
Samsung Portable SSD T5, USB 3.1 (250GB)
Delivery $14.37
SAMSUNG T5 Portable SSD 250GB
I have used this SSD for 6 years now, but unfortunately 500GB is just not enough these days for the large file sizes now. I have since upgraded to two Samsung T7 Shield drives with much more storage.This drive has served me very well for years. I really do abuse my electronics. This SSD has been dropped on the ground, I've tripped over the USB cord before, and have stayed in my backpacks on long photoshoots, hiking trips in the wilderness, etc... It is rugged even though it is not the shield version. The speeds are extremely fast. I use it to carry my music on the go, and also to backup photos and videos at the end of the day on a road trip. I have used it to store maps, and even an encrypted password database on the go.Works with Windows and Mac! Money well spent!
Received the drive, tested it several times before taking it on the road. First time trying to backup all my photos, the drive became unresponsive. Verified the drive was defective by trying it access it on a variety of devices, including Windows, Mac and Android. (Was able to backup my photos to my spinning drive which I hoped to replace with the SSD.) Called Samsung and they exchanged the drive.The exchanged drive is apparently a refurbished one as it had some different markings than the new one. Upon plugging that drive in, it was only recognized as a USB device, not as a disk drive. Samsung's website had no information for troubleshooting, saying only that all drives are shipped formatted for Mac and Windows but this one was not recognized by either. A call to ... MoreReceived the drive, tested it several times before taking it on the road. First time trying to backup all my photos, the drive became unresponsive. Verified the drive was defective by trying it access it on a variety of devices, including Windows, Mac and Android. (Was able to backup my photos to my spinning drive which I hoped to replace with the SSD.) Called Samsung and they exchanged the drive.The exchanged drive is apparently a refurbished one as it had some different markings than the new one. Upon plugging that drive in, it was only recognized as a USB device, not as a disk drive. Samsung's website had no information for troubleshooting, saying only that all drives are shipped formatted for Mac and Windows but this one was not recognized by either. A call to the help desk walked me through formatting with the person arguing that none come formatted.If you do have to contact their support, do not use the voice recognition as it is not programmed for T5 or SSD, instead sending you to mobile phones.While this one is currently working (as was the original) I do not trust it enough to transfer photos.
This SSD is small and seems tough and well made. I bought this T5 for the express purpose of cloning my Mac OSX Mojave iMac 27 for part of my back-up plan with Time Machine plus a clone. For that purpose it works well. I run Time machine on a separate drive, and cloned my machine to the T5. This allows for specific file back-up access with Time Machine, or using the T5 for a fully functional start-up and disk repair with my whole computer in the event of a primary drive failure or repair need. The T5 is a very fast SSD. It comes formatted FAT32, I think, I have forgotten! I use it over USB 3.1. If you wish to do as I have done, you must erase and reformat the drive to APFS for Mojave/Catalina in Disk Utility. You may be able to clone your system then, though from ... MoreThis SSD is small and seems tough and well made. I bought this T5 for the express purpose of cloning my Mac OSX Mojave iMac 27 for part of my back-up plan with Time Machine plus a clone. For that purpose it works well. I run Time machine on a separate drive, and cloned my machine to the T5. This allows for specific file back-up access with Time Machine, or using the T5 for a fully functional start-up and disk repair with my whole computer in the event of a primary drive failure or repair need. The T5 is a very fast SSD. It comes formatted FAT32, I think, I have forgotten! I use it over USB 3.1. If you wish to do as I have done, you must erase and reformat the drive to APFS for Mojave/Catalina in Disk Utility. You may be able to clone your system then, though from what I read a primary installation of your Mac OSX is required first for a firmware install that allows use to start up. So I installed Mojave on the T5, then cloned my iMac with Carbon Copy Cloner, and now have a fast, perfect clone from which I can start up on the iMac 27 and access my primary Mac HD for any purpose. I highly recommend it for bang for the buck. But if you do not want to do the reformatting/install heavy lifting, you can find a different SSD already formatted for Mac, for a little more money.
I had really high hope for this ssd because it seemed to check every box. And it turns out that the best file transfer rate it can deliver is no more than 100MB/s, which is about 10% of its claimed rate. For most part it was hovering around 50MB per second, slower than a regular SD card.Tried everything. Used the USB cables come with it. Tried on multiple computers both Windows (10 & 11) and Macbooks that are equipped with both USB 3.1 and USB 3.2 cards, including using my own very beefy and expensive USB-C 3.2 cables to no avail. The same terrible file transfer rate persisted.Spent more than 3 hours with Samsung tech support. They remotely tested it on my brand new my Samsung Tab S7 with every trick up on their sleeves. The same sad result.I'm grateful for ... MoreI had really high hope for this ssd because it seemed to check every box. And it turns out that the best file transfer rate it can deliver is no more than 100MB/s, which is about 10% of its claimed rate. For most part it was hovering around 50MB per second, slower than a regular SD card.Tried everything. Used the USB cables come with it. Tried on multiple computers both Windows (10 & 11) and Macbooks that are equipped with both USB 3.1 and USB 3.2 cards, including using my own very beefy and expensive USB-C 3.2 cables to no avail. The same terrible file transfer rate persisted.Spent more than 3 hours with Samsung tech support. They remotely tested it on my brand new my Samsung Tab S7 with every trick up on their sleeves. The same sad result.I'm grateful for B&H graciously taking it back. Thank you B&H.
This little drive is amazing! I decided to try it because I needed a capacity of flash storage beyond 256 GB. They do make thumb drives that are larger than 256 GB, but they're all trash, even the one made by quality company PNY. This thing is tiny and fast. It comes with both USB A and USB C connector cables so it should fit anyone's storage connection configuration.About the only downside is the price per capacity for SSD's. For instance, you can get this T5 for about $100. For the same $100, you can get a mechanical portable HDD in the form of WD's My Passport. I have one of those only because I needed high capacity. The Passport, as a mechanical HDD, is, of course, slower and there's the risk of shock from dropping it. But, if you want higher capacities, you ... MoreThis little drive is amazing! I decided to try it because I needed a capacity of flash storage beyond 256 GB. They do make thumb drives that are larger than 256 GB, but they're all trash, even the one made by quality company PNY. This thing is tiny and fast. It comes with both USB A and USB C connector cables so it should fit anyone's storage connection configuration.About the only downside is the price per capacity for SSD's. For instance, you can get this T5 for about $100. For the same $100, you can get a mechanical portable HDD in the form of WD's My Passport. I have one of those only because I needed high capacity. The Passport, as a mechanical HDD, is, of course, slower and there's the risk of shock from dropping it. But, if you want higher capacities, you probably can't even get 4 GB in an SSD. And 2 TB SSD's will run you about $400.Another possible downside is the same downside of all SSD's. They will stop writing to them sooner than a mechanical SSD. However, that's the trade off you make for the speed of SSD's.In general, I think you'll find switching to an SSD to be well worth the investment and the few trade offs.
The SAMSUNG T5 500GB 2.50" USB 3.1 V-NAND Portable SSD is very compact with less surface area than a credit card. It has a very sturdy feeling metal construction and the box advertises 6.6ft drop resistant, although I did not test this feature. The drive has a single reversible USB-C connection and includes two USB cables. One cable with USB-C on both ends and the other with USB-A on one end making the drive fully backwards compatible with previous USB generations. After plugging the drive into a USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 connection, Windows found the drive in less than a second. The drive is pre-formatted to exFAT with 465G total space. Samsung provides optional password protection software with the install packages for Windows and Mac included on the drive. With the ... MoreThe SAMSUNG T5 500GB 2.50" USB 3.1 V-NAND Portable SSD is very compact with less surface area than a credit card. It has a very sturdy feeling metal construction and the box advertises 6.6ft drop resistant, although I did not test this feature. The drive has a single reversible USB-C connection and includes two USB cables. One cable with USB-C on both ends and the other with USB-A on one end making the drive fully backwards compatible with previous USB generations. After plugging the drive into a USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 connection, Windows found the drive in less than a second. The drive is pre-formatted to exFAT with 465G total space. Samsung provides optional password protection software with the install packages for Windows and Mac included on the drive. With the password protection enabled, the drive only shows the Samsung software install packages and none of the files I copied to the drive and reports 0 bytes free. Once the password is entered to allow access to the entire drive, I encountered no difference in drive speeds and all previously copied files are visible with the full capacity available. The drive at idle, hovers around 32 degrees celsius while when copying data to the drive for 10 minutes, the drive reached a max of 49 degrees celsius. Testing the drive, it reached 487.6MB/s sequential read and 488.2MB/s sequential write. However, when copying multiple files to the drive in Windows, it only reached 135MB/s. Unfortunately, the drive is pre-formatted to exFAT which is a not a default file system supported on the CentOS distro of Linux I prefer. After reformatting the drive to NTFS I was able to move the drive between my Windows and Linux machines without issue reading or writing and it still functioned at the previously tested speeds. This drive is a great option for a fast and compact USB drive while still offering larger capacity.
First off, I'm really impressed with the quality of my fellow EggXpert Reviewers. Really nice job, everyone! Almost makes my review not worthwhile since you all have covered it so thoroughly! I used CrystalDiskMark 5.2.2 (x64) for all my testing on five different systems. Some are Win10 and some are Win7. Where applicable, I tested both USB-C and USB-3 on same the system or just USB-3 where it was the only option. Surprisingly, the results didn't really vary that much between USB-3 and USB-C. When I looked at the highest score for each test, 6 of the 8 tests in CrystalDiskMark favored the USB-3 interface, but only by margins that are apparent in benchmarking; In real-world use, no one is going to notice unless they have a stopwatch on it (in which case, they're ... MoreFirst off, I'm really impressed with the quality of my fellow EggXpert Reviewers. Really nice job, everyone! Almost makes my review not worthwhile since you all have covered it so thoroughly! I used CrystalDiskMark 5.2.2 (x64) for all my testing on five different systems. Some are Win10 and some are Win7. Where applicable, I tested both USB-C and USB-3 on same the system or just USB-3 where it was the only option. Surprisingly, the results didn't really vary that much between USB-3 and USB-C. When I looked at the highest score for each test, 6 of the 8 tests in CrystalDiskMark favored the USB-3 interface, but only by margins that are apparent in benchmarking; In real-world use, no one is going to notice unless they have a stopwatch on it (in which case, they're effectively benchmarking it :-) For determining the average result of the eight tests, I removed the lowest score. For whatever reason, on various systems and regardless of interface, the Random 4K Write was dropping down into the 2MB/s range. Last time I saw results like this, the developer was contacted and it was resolved for that particular tested I was doing. I suspect this is a similar coding issue with CrystalDiskMark. Therefore, any result in the 2MB/s range was removed from the average. Averaged Results are listed as READ : WRITE (in MB/s) Seq Q32T1... 457.40 : 351.31 4K Q32T1... 138.30 : 104.81 SEQ... 422.96 : 308.49 4K... 23.29 : 47.41 Looking at these numbers, it didn't occur to me until just now and after reading some of the other EggXpert reviews that this could just be a SATA/M.2 hooked up to a USB-C interface. I have a Samsung 840 EVO sitting here along with a Sabrent USB-3 to SATA interface (I believe it's this one: N82E16812156064). I'm not going to go back and redo all my testing right now, but I suspect that I might get similar results if I plugged in my SATA SSD to that interface. IF I WERE TO GET SIMILAR RESULTS, which I believe I would, that's why I gave this unit a 4 out of 5 eggs. Subtract that price of that cable from a Samsung 850 EVO 500GB, and you're going to have money left over. So I think it's definitely worth considering which route you want to go, especially if you consider that there's a 1TB SSD here (N82E16820173354) that doesn't cost all that much more and should give you comparable if not better performance AND the same 3yr warranty. Lastly, a particular shout out to EggXpert "Andrew M." Good thought to call out the windows caching for the SSD. I had forgotten about that and went back and did some re-testing on my systems. Surprisingly, the benchmarks didn't result in any noticeable differences that would be outside the normal result deviations.
*IMPORTANT* - To avoid slow performance you must ensure that the Removal Policy in Windows is set for "Better performance". The default setting for external drives is "Quick removal" which is intended to prevent data corruption if the drive is unplugged suddenly. The drawback of Quick Removal policy is that the drive's Read and Write speeds may both be severely hampered. So, change it to Better Performance. To overcome this in Windows go to Control Panel/Device Manager/Disk drives and double-click on Samsung T5. A dialog box opens. Click on the "Policies" tab, then click the box or circle beside "Better performance". Click on OK to exit. Now you'll get faster speeds. Remember to use Windows safe removal feature by clicking the little "Safely remove" icon in the ... More*IMPORTANT* - To avoid slow performance you must ensure that the Removal Policy in Windows is set for "Better performance". The default setting for external drives is "Quick removal" which is intended to prevent data corruption if the drive is unplugged suddenly. The drawback of Quick Removal policy is that the drive's Read and Write speeds may both be severely hampered. So, change it to Better Performance. To overcome this in Windows go to Control Panel/Device Manager/Disk drives and double-click on Samsung T5. A dialog box opens. Click on the "Policies" tab, then click the box or circle beside "Better performance". Click on OK to exit. Now you'll get faster speeds. Remember to use Windows safe removal feature by clicking the little "Safely remove" icon in the System tray before you unplug the drive! NOTE - To achieve the full advertised speeds your computer must meet all of the following conditions: USB 3.1 Gen.2 / Windows 10 / with UASP support / Removal Policy set for Better Performance in Device Manager / Drive Properties / Policies. Other conditions such as USB 3.1 Gen.1, or USB 3.0, or lack of UASP, may result in SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER SPEEDS. Please observe this in the test results shown below. OK, now for some test results: Crystal Disk Mark 64 on various Windows computers (with Better Performance [i.e., Write cache] enabled in Device Mgr. on all of them): PC no.1 - (**USB 3.1 Gen.2**) type C-to-C cable / Gigabyte Z270X-UD3 motherboard, 2017 model: Seq. (Q32T1) Read/Write - 553/517 MB/sec. 4K (Q32T1) Read/Write - 347/203 MB/sec.** Seq. Read/Write - 499/496 MB/sec. 4K Read/Write - 28/76 MB/sec.** type C-to-A cable gave same results plus or minus 2% (excellent!) PC no.2 - (**USB 3.0**) type C-toA cable / ASRock Z97 Extreme4 motherboard, 2 years old: Seq. (Q32T1) Read/Write - 437/434 MB/sec. 4K (Q32T1) Read/Write - 165/171 MB/sec.** Seq. Read/Write - 407/406 MB/sec. 4K Read/Write - 21/42 MB/sec.** Laptop - (USB 3.1) type C-to-C cable / Acer E5- 575G: Seq. (Q32T1) Read/Write - 434/376 MB/sec. 4K (Q32T1) Read/Write - 106/81 MB/sec. Seq. Read/Write - 375/341 MB/sec. 4K Read/Write - 24/39 MB/sec. (same on USB 3.0 C-to-A cable; suspect 3.1 port not optimized; maybe it's Gen.1 or maybe needs a BIOS update?) FILE COPY TEST on PC no.1 - Sequential. Copied folder containing 2 large video files - total size 9.56GB. The folder was copied from an internal Sandisk Extreme Pro 960GB SSD to the Samsung T5 via USB type C-to-A cable. Sustained transfer speed (all 9.56GB) - 442 MB/sec. This sustained transfer speed means the T5 is suitable for video editing, scratch disk, RAW photo edits, etc. as well as handling all normal file duties. The speed combined with its small physical size makes it very desirable for use in the field, when traveling, and at home or office. Add to this the included encryption feature and out-of-the-box Windows/Mac compatibility and that makes it highly recommended. COMPARISON - At the time of writing, the T5 is around $30 more than the Sandisk Extreme 500 portable SSD which is a direct competitor model. Strangely, the Sandisk is offered in either 480GB or 500GB capacity compared to Samsung's 500GB. Each of them weighs only about 2 or 3 ounces. Both claim they are shock-resistant enough to withstand a 6-foot drop onto a hard surface. The Sandisk has a sort of rubber bumper and a cover for the USB port which makes it also splash-resistant. Both offer encryption and a 3-year warranty. Overall, the Samsung T5 is about 5% faster than the Sandisk Extreme 500, but it's nearly impossible to notice any difference when they are in use. Neither maker quotes an endurance rating; however, they both have very well designed controllers using advanced techniques to maximize performance across the board, so we may hope that endurance will be up there with the best. For example, the Sandisk X400 internal SSD, on which the Extreme 500 is based, has an endurance rating of around 360TBW. Samsung is advertising the T5 as a great choice for video and photo work on their website, and their track record suggests that they back that up with high endurance. There are other, cheaper portable SSDs - WD, PNY, ADATA, etc.. If you don't want or need USB 3.1 Gen.2 high sustained Write speeds, or high Mixed workload speeds, or hardware encryption, or high endurance, or cool running without any thermal throttling of speed, then you might be very happy with a lower value-driven design. But, when you examine these value-driven portable SSDs you will see that they lack one or more of those outstanding features of the Samsung and Sandisk. If you need the above-mentioned features from a major brand name that can give you years of reliable use, then the Samsung T5 is the latest and greatest you can buy without breaking the bank. Can you get even better results than this? Yes, you can step up to pro models at significantly higher prices and achieve more speed. Oh, I really hate that law of diminishing returns, don't you?
- Compared to an external traditional HDD, the T5 is about 5 times faster than it and even faster in benchmarking tests. Also, taking the price into account, it’s well within the bang-for-your buck budget range for fast external storage. - Below, I provide the benchmarks I ran. I didn’t include the usual depth of them, but summed them up with overall scores and impressions. All the benchmarks, unless otherwise specified, is megabyte per second. In HD Tune Pro, the first benchmark listed is for access time: - Write Access time: 0.049ms Read Access Time: 0.059ms In HD Tune Pro, this second benchmark is Average Transfer Rate: - Write Transfer: 319MB/s Read Transfer: 310MB/s In CrystalDiskMark, below is 512K Transfer Rate: - Write Transfer: 505MB/s Read Transfer: ... More- Compared to an external traditional HDD, the T5 is about 5 times faster than it and even faster in benchmarking tests. Also, taking the price into account, it’s well within the bang-for-your buck budget range for fast external storage. - Below, I provide the benchmarks I ran. I didn’t include the usual depth of them, but summed them up with overall scores and impressions. All the benchmarks, unless otherwise specified, is megabyte per second. In HD Tune Pro, the first benchmark listed is for access time: - Write Access time: 0.049ms Read Access Time: 0.059ms In HD Tune Pro, this second benchmark is Average Transfer Rate: - Write Transfer: 319MB/s Read Transfer: 310MB/s In CrystalDiskMark, below is 512K Transfer Rate: - Write Transfer: 505MB/s Read Transfer: 502MB/s In ATTODisk Benchmark, with a QD of 6, sequential read & write: - Write 8KB: 203MB/s Read 8KB: 238MB/s - Write 16KB: 342MB/s Read 16KB: 382MB/s - Write 32KB: 418MB/s Read 32KB: 499MB/s - Write 64KB: 481MB/s Read 64KB: 521MB/s - Write 128KB: 501MB/s Read 128KB: 532MB/s - Write 256KB: 515MB/s Read 256KB: 535MB/s - Write 512KB: 521MB/s Read 512KB: 543MB/s - Write 1024KB: 530MB/s Read 1024KB: 545MB/s - Write 2048KB: 533MB/s Read 2048KB: 548MB/s - Write 4096KB: 535MB/s Read 4096KB: 550MB/s - Write 8192KB: 538MB/s Read 8192KB: 551MB/s * As you can see, Samsung wasn’t lying in their advertisements, which is quite a relief. Most companies don’t hesitate to display their most extreme results and not conservative numbers. Samsung, however, showed rather right on speeds and you can expect when buying the T5 that you’ll get these blazing fast speeds, too. All in all, I couldn’t be less disappointed by the T5; it’s a top of the line, quick, light, quality device and, undoubtedly, a de facto choice. *
This drive comes with a hardware-based secure log-in system, and when you plug it in you'll see a choice of emulator/"activator" interfaces for login to a PC or Mac or device. I ordinarily use it with a Macbook or desktop Mac, but I've guest-visited PC's also, and what happens is: you plug it in and will see the initial choice of platform log-in apps. Choose your OS, click, and enter your password - whatever password you set up initially from your own computer/device, as once you do that your password is hard-wired into the drive, and you can access it from anywhere - if you have the password.Setting up hardware-based encryption/security is optional, by the way. But simple, and it works smoothly across my computers. The same routine brings up the system-specific ... MoreThis drive comes with a hardware-based secure log-in system, and when you plug it in you'll see a choice of emulator/"activator" interfaces for login to a PC or Mac or device. I ordinarily use it with a Macbook or desktop Mac, but I've guest-visited PC's also, and what happens is: you plug it in and will see the initial choice of platform log-in apps. Choose your OS, click, and enter your password - whatever password you set up initially from your own computer/device, as once you do that your password is hard-wired into the drive, and you can access it from anywhere - if you have the password.Setting up hardware-based encryption/security is optional, by the way. But simple, and it works smoothly across my computers. The same routine brings up the system-specific log-in screen, enter the password, you're in. Password required every time it's re-installed — great basic mobile security.For Mac, there's a known strangeness, despite full compatibility. When first plugging it in or upon ejecting it, you may see an upper-right-hand corner pop-up saying disk was improperly ejected (last time). Maybe on Windows "safely eject" avoids that, but on Mac, you'll likely see it. Not to worry, as long as you're not transferring data while unplugging. (In Mac I "eject" and it looks normal but still will get a pop-up nag about safely ejecting.)What else can I say? I know there are a few reputable makers of 250-500GB SSD portable drives worthy of consideration. (As a scientist, believe me, I read all the reviews and looked at "data," but as a typical computer user I chose based on things like the form factor, price, and experience).So this is my 3rd Samsung T (2 "3"s and one T-5 now). I've had no problem with any of them (thus my collection has expanded). They are fast, reliable, and practical between the various interfaces, portable security protection, and choice of cable/interface. I'm a fan.Five people found this helpful
| Solid state drive | |
| Write speed | 540 MB/s |
| Read speed | 540 MB/s |
| Solid-state drive capacity | 250 GB |
| Ports & interfaces |
