Well designed and very speedy, the Samsung T3 is an excellent portable SSD that would make an ideal companion to the traveling professional or media enthusiast that required quick transfer rates in a small and sturdy package.

Great transfer speeds; High capacity; Durable; premium design

Didn't quite reach quoted performance

Samsung's second-gen external SSD is sleeker, faster, and more spacious than competing drives-but it needs a price drop before it's a no-brainer buy.

Slim; durable-feeling shell; Available in capacities to 2TB; Improved write speeds compared to previous-gen T1 model; Future-looking USB Type-C port

High launch pricing makes older model (and a competing SanDisk drive) more appealing

Samsung leveraged its extensive NAND flash and storage IP and took aim at the high-performance portable storage market last year when it launched its impressive Portable SSD T1 external drive.

Nice Enclosure; Strong Performance; USB Type-C / USB 3.1; Capacity Up To 2GB

Still Not As Fast As Internal SATA SSDs; Price Premium

The Samsung Portable USB T3 is largely just a refresh of their previous T1 model. Even though the internals consist of the same size parts, the new model comes in a bit wider, thicker, and heavier than its predecessor.

Once again, Samsung has introduced an industry leading product to the consumer with the T3 Portable SSD, one that quite frankly seems to be void of any competition. Not only does it rule in value, performance and capacity, but also, Samsung truly listened to what the consumer had to say in stepping...

Samsung's Portable SSD T3 has quite a bit going for it including size, performance, and with capacity options reaching 2TB, this drive is both a milestone for the storage industry and a consumer friendly option for those needing a high-capacity solution.

Much like the original T1 , the new Samsung T3 proved itself with internal SATA SSD-like results, sustaining a throughput of 390MB/s when downloading (reading) a single large compressed file and 300MB/s when uploading (writing).

Outpaces thumb drives and rival SSDs; super light; runs cool; features USB 3.1 Type-C and a metal case versus the T1's Type-A connector and plastic case

A tad slower than the T1 in some tests yet the 1TB T3 is priced 20% over the T1 at $430 versus $350 (not to mention the 1TB 850 Evo mSATA at $300)

The Samsung Portable SSD T3 is a 1TB (roughly 1000GB) portable SSD hard-drive with high transfer speeds of up to 450MB/s when using USB 3.0, with a metal case with shock-resistant internal frame, and password protection.

Extremely compact USB3 drive; Comes with easy to use software installed; 256bit encryption; USB 2.0 and 3.0 compatibility; Fast read / write speeds with USB3; Three-year warranty

Higher capacities are quite pricey

Over a year ago we saw Samsung expand with the T1 creating a new category of extremely compact portable storage that offered fantastic speed. While at the time of testing we attested the T1 was virtually unrivaled, in the last twelve months we've seen companies attack this new category aggressively.

Small and very high-quality housing; Type-C connector; Very high performance; Large storage options

Expensive; No USB 3.1

Samsung's T3 is the fastest and sleekest external drive available today.

Handheld external SSD; Up to 2TB of storage; Average read speeds of 442MBps; Almost as small as a thumb drive

Short cord included in the box; Extremely high price point