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Carry Around a Faster USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C SSD Drive with the Samsung Portable SSD T5

Samsung has started selling the Portable SSD T3 at a premium which was then Samsung's first USB Type-C enabled ultra portable SSD storage solution. The Samsung Portable SSD T3 still doesn't come any cheaper although there's now a faster version with the Samsung Portable SSD T5. Unlike the SSD T3 that supports only USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gb/s) speeds over USB Type-C, the SSD T5 is capable of providing up to 10 Gb/s speeds by supporting USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C.   

The Samsung Portable SSD T5 is among the few USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C based storage drives in the market alongside main competitors such as the WD My Passport SSD and ADATA SE730 External SSD. Both these external storage devices also come with similar specs and pricing to go head to head  with the Samsung Portable SSD T5.  

The Samsung Portable SSD T5 can take advantage of Samsung's owned V-NAND flash memory to offer a fast and secure SSD drive at data transfer speeds of up to 540 MB/s. While the Samsung Portable SSD T3 supports a lower max transfer speed of 450 MB/s, the SSD T5 comes in the same  storage capacities of 250 GB, 500 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB as its predecessor. Both also support AES 256-bit hardware based encryption technology to enable you to password secure your drive's content.

Upon purchase of the Samsung Portable SSD T5, we got an almost similar packaging as with the earlier bought Samsung Portable SSD T3 (see our review) minus the see-through panel on the cover. 

The quality packaging clearly shows off the more premium positioning of the Samsung Portable SSD T5, which ironically is priced lower than the earlier Samsung Portable SSD T3.

Unlike the Samsung Portable SSD T3 that comes with only a standard USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable, the Samsung Portable SSD T5 is provided with USB 3.1 Gen 2 E-marker cables that consist of both USB 3.1 compliant USB Type-C to USB Type-C and USB Type-A to USB Type-C cables supporting USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gb/s) speeds to connect to PC's and Mac's with USB Type-C and A ports.

The Samsung Portable SSD T5 is almost the same size as its SSD T3 predecessor which is also lightweight and highly portable. With glossy metallic  casing, the SSD T5 appears more modern looking than the previous model.

The USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C based port on the Samsung Portable SSD T5 can be used to connect to most PC's, Mac's, and Galaxy devices supporting USB 3.1 or USB 2.0 as well as certain mobiles such as the LG G6, LG Google Nexus 5X, Moto G4, and Huawei P9. To check for more compatible devices, refer to this Samsung product website.

With USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C interface combined with SSD technology for rapid data transfer, the Samsung Portable SSD T5 can offer a much faster and more efficient storage solution for your notebook PC, tablet, and smartphone in a travel friendly portable storage drive.