Samsung today announced the new T7 lineup of portable SSDs, the followup to the T5 model that debuted in 2017. The new model has a similar maximum capacity, which is 2TB, but Samsung is touting speed improvements thanks to the inclusion of USB 3.2 Gen 2.
Thanks to the new interface, the drive can offer read speeds up to 1,050MB/s and write speeds up to 1,000 MB/s, making it twice as fast as the T5. Samsung also says the SSD can reach its maximum speed when used with the NVMe interface, though it doesn"t specify the speeds for this mode.
The T7 lineup will be available in two models, the T7 and the T7 Touch, but the latter is launching first. The most distinctive factor is that it has a fingerprint sensor that helps secure data stored in the drive. This is in addition to password protection and AES 256-bit hardware encryption. The regular T7, which is coming later, won"t have a fingerprint sensor.
In terms of construction, the new SSDs have an aluminum casing and feature a "motion sense" LED, which lets users know if the drive is being actively used. The device weighs in at 58 grams and measures 85x57x8.0mm.
The Samsung Portable SSD T7 Touch will be available this month on over 30 countries around the world. It"s available in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB variants, with prices ranging from $129.99 to $399.99. It"ll be available in silver and black models. The regular T7 will be available in the second quarter of the year.