INTRODUCTION

   If there's one thing electronics manufacturers know very well that's the difference between market segments so although for enterprise users, professionals and in some cases even enthusiasts they offer products with performance and reliability as their primary features when it comes to casual consumers the all-time classic price/performance ratio takes their place. So you'd think that the same "rule" would also apply in the storage media segment of the market right? Well that's not really the case since when it comes to USB flash drives most storage media manufacturers focus primarily in reliability and security for enterprise grade models, speed and capacity for models aimed at enthusiasts and professionals and finally price and capacity for models aimed at casual users. There are some exceptions to that rule but the one that stands-out from the crowd is the latest Samsung Portable SSD T1 which we have here with us today.

   Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in technology, opening new possibilities for people everywhere. Through relentless innovation and discovery, we are transforming the worlds of televisions, smartphones, personal computers, printers, cameras, home appliances, LTE systems, medical devices, semiconductors and LED solutions. We employ 236,000 people across 79 countries with annual sales of US$187.8 billion. Samsung's Memory Business offers the industry's most advanced and extensive range of memory semiconductor products. As a leader in both the design and manufacture of memory semiconductor since 1993, the business provides key memory products including dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), NAND flash memory, Solid State Drives (SSD) and a range of green memory solutions for use in PC, server and mobile applications. Samsung is also leading the industry in advancements of next generation DRAM and NAND flash technologies while nurturing future memory technologies. To discover more, please visit www.samsung.com.

   As the name of the product clearly states the T1 (available in 250/500/1000GB capacities) is basically an SSD (850 EVO mSATA model to be exact) placed inside an USB 3.0 compatible external enclosure which thanks to the size of interior components (just like with any SSD) is very compact and not that much larger compared to a regular USB flash drive. As for features well since the T1 is based on the 850 EVO it supports hardware AES-256 encryption (password protection is also a feature) along with Samsung’s TurboWrite technology but unfortunately due to compatibility issues with USB 3.0 the T1 doesn't feature TRIM (at least for now) and RAPID technology although since this is an external USB flash drive it doesn't really have to (unless you plan to boot your OS from it in which case the drive would certainly benefit). So how fast is a very fast mSATA SSD when using USB 3.0 connectivity?

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The T1 gets shipped inside a very small box that has a product picture at the front right next to the capacity of the drive.

The OS compatibility list is placed on the left side.

Printed at the rear are the product features along with a "redirect" to Samsung’s online page for more information regarding the drive in 10 languages.

The drive is placed inside a formed piece of cardboard so it has good protection.

Nothing "fancy" when it comes to the bundle since aside the drive itself you're also getting the USB 3.0 cable (designed by Samsung) and the user manual.

THE SAMSUNG PORTABLE SSD T1

The plastic enclosure of the T1 weighs 30g and is just 9.2mm thick, 71mm long and 53.2mm wide.

To show how small the T1 is we placed right next to a 2.5" external USB 3.0 drive, a 2.5" internal SSD and 3 USB 3.0 flash drives.

There are several certification logos at the rear of the drive.

At the "front" we find the electrical requirements of the drive along with its capacity, serial number and barcode.

ACTIVATION SOFTWARE

Samsung bundles their Activation software with the T1 so once you plug the drive into your system the setup program will appear.

The software will ask you to name the drive and will also ask whether or not you want to activate the drives password security.

Once the setup is finished the software will run in the background (you can see this screen by clicking on the taskbar notification icon).

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Since flash drives are basically plain storage media devices just like solid state drives and hard disk drives we are using almost the same testing methodology to successfully record the achieved performance numbers. The benchmark suites used are HD Tach RW (Read Speeds / Long Bench 32mb Zone Testing), HD Tune Pro (Read speeds), Sisoftware Sandra Pro (Read / Write speeds), AIDA 64 Engineer Edition (Average Linear Read / Random Read speeds), Crystal Disk Mark x64 (100MB-1000MB Read / Write speeds) and finally ATTO (Max Read / Max Write speeds). Every test is repeated a total of 6 times after which the average performance numbers are recorded into our charts (0 = we were unable to complete that test).

   All tests are performed with our main rig running Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Service Pack 1 complete with every update until May 15th 2015 (UASP compatible models are tested using a fresh Windows 8.1 installation on a Plextor m6e drive). As always for comparison purposes in the charts you will also find many other flash drivers which have been tested using the same exact test bench as the one in this review (we really can't keep every flash drive we get forever and also even if we could testing them all again and again would simply not be possible).

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

TEST RESULTS - HD TACH RW / HD TUNE PRO

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA PRO / CRYSTAL DISK MARK X64

CONCLUSION

   The Portable SSD T1 by Samsung is a very fast and very compact USB 3.0 compatible drive but what you may not know is that in order to show its true colors and reach its advertised read/write speeds you need to use it with a UASP (USB Attached SCSI) compatible operating system (as long as your USB 3.0 controller supports it). Unfortunately by default Windows 7 don't support UASP (some workarounds however do exist with certain USB chips) so if you want to experience the performance offered by the T1 in all its glory (or any USB 3.0 drive that supports UASP) then you need to use it with Windows 8/8.1/10. With that out of the way there's not much we can say about the Portable SSD T1 by Samsung since our charts do a better job at that. However we do need to point out that Samsung engineers are looking for ways to enable TRIM on the drive either automatically or manually through their activation software but even if that never happens the T1 should have no problem keeping the title of the fastest USB 3.0 compatible drive for a long time.

   We didn't expect to see a low price tag for the Portable SSD T1 250GB when we first received the sample but taking into account the how much the mSATA version of the 850 EVO retails for we all agree that the current price tag of USD143.86 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 147Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) is not too high. It could of course be slightly better to attract even more consumers but we all feel that the T1 is a "special" product aimed primarily at enthusiasts and professionals so there's no real need for Samsung to drop the price further. With that out of the way we feel that currently the Portable SSD T1 by Samsung is the fastest USB 3.0 compatible drive out there which can also be used for data-sensitive projects and that's why it gets our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (850 EVO mSATA)
- Top Of The Charts Performance
- 9.2mm Thick
- Also Available In 1TB
- Hardware AES-256bit Encryption
- 3 Years Warranty
- Price (Compared To Other SSD USB Flash Drives)

CONS

- Price (For Some)