Expert review: Samsung T7 Touch Portable SSD

The Samsung T7 comes in a beautifully designed box. I open the box and the external SSD presents itself. There's a silver version, but I have the black version. The drive is the size of my bank card, so it's easy to bring on the go. I test this by putting it in my pocket, where it's not in the way at all. It also fits in a backpack, purse, or laptop sleeve without difficulty. In addition, this compact device only weighs 58 grams.

Though the SSD is very light, it feels solid. This is because of the aluminum casing. The T7 is shockproof and survives falls from up to 2 meter high. Of course, this something I want to test. And it's true. It still works perfectly well and there aren't any scratches. Because an SSD doesn't have any moving parts, it doesn't break as easily as a hard drive. The T7 isn't just secure on the outside, but also on the inside. The AES 256-bit hardware encryption secures your files, so only you have access.

Data encryption isn't the only thing Samsung offers to keep your files safe. The T7 also has a fingerprint scanner. It's the first product on the market to have this feature. The scanner isn't just a fun gadget, it's also very handy. It works faster than entering a code and you don't even need a computer or monitor. You can add up to 4 fingerprints. From family members or colleagues, for example. Or you can just use a password as well.

This is all very nice, but how much power does the SSD actually have at its disposal? The box says that the SSD reaches a write speed of 1GB/s, provided that your PC has a USB 3.2 gen 2 port. These speeds are unheard of for an external SSD, but USB 3.2 gen 2 isn't very common yet. My laptop also doesn't have a gen 2, but a gen 1 port. Still, I can transfer 10GB of files in just 40 seconds.

The Samsung SSD T7 is formatted to exFAT, which means the SSD works with many different devices and operating systems. For example, the T7 works with both Windows and Mac computers right out of the box. I test this on an HP laptop and a MacBook and the drive is immediately recognized by both laptops. You won't have to struggle with formatting and the drive will be found right away. But to be fair, that's the least you can expect for this price.

In addition to using the SSD with Windows and Mac, you can also use it with Android. That means you can connect it to your smartphone with USB-C port. Does your phone not have USB-C? Use an adapter. I connect the T7 to my Samsung Galaxy A50. It recognizes the SSD right away. I open a .vlc file and play the video without any stuttering. It's remarkable how smoothly this works, considering there's no power cable connected. My battery does run out very quickly because of this.