It never seems like there's enough digital storage in our lives. For me, the biggest bottleneck for storage comes in the form of video games, downloaded to my Xbox Series X. So when I came across an incredible deal on one of the very best portable SSDs of all time — with a ton of storage to boot — I couldn't say no to it. Now that I have the SSD in hand, I'm confident this is the best purchase I've made in months.
More great early Black Friday deals
- Razer: Up to 43% off laptops and accessories with free gifts
- Alienware: Up to $800 off gaming laptops and desktops
- Newegg: Save on PC gaming accessories, components, and more
- Best Buy: Big savings on video games, accessories, and more
- More individual deals:
A portable SSD to do it all, and it's $190 off right now
This is Samsung's fastest, most durable, and most consistent portable SSD on the market, but it normally asks an astoundingly high amount for the higher storage tiers. For a limited time thanks to Black Friday 2023, you can pick up the Samsung T9 Portable SSD for just $249.99 at Best Buy. That's $190 (43%) off! I wasn't planning on buying a new external SSD right away, but I simply couldn't say no to this deal. If you're looking for a new portable SSD, you should take advantage of this sale, too.
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The storage situation for my Xbox Series X is a mite convoluted. Apart from the 1TB of internal SSD storage, I also have the 1TB WD_Black C50 Expansion Card (review on the WD_BLACK C50 Expansion Card for Xbox is live now!), plus two 1TB portable SSDs for playing backward compatible Xbox games and storing Xbox Series X|S games I don't plan on playing for a while.
One is the WD_Black P40 Game Drive I reviewed at the beginning of this year, but the other is the Samsung T7, one of the most critically-acclaimed portable SSDs of all time and a top pick on our list of the best external storage for Xbox. This current setup has been great, with the Samsung T7 being incredibly consistent and dependable for years now. However, I wanted to condense and increase my storage to free up a USB port and give me extra room for storing games. I considered the 2TB version of the Samsung T7 (also on sale for $134.99 at Best Buy!) until I saw a deal I simply couldn't pass up.
The Samsung T9 is the upgraded version of the T7 in every way. It's more durable and reliable, it features superior cooling for enhanced sustained performance, and it's twice as fast. Normally, it costs significantly more than the T7, even before you double the storage to 4TB. For a limited time, though, Samsung has shaved a whopping $190 off the T9, a 43% savings that sees the portable SSD hit its lowest price ever. That makes it less than twice the cost of the 2TB SSD Samsung T7 — and you're getting twice the storage, twice the speed, and superior longevity.
My Xbox Series X (or any current-gen console) isn't really able to take full advantage of the T9's capabilities with their USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (the T9 is USB 3.2 Gen 2 and supports faster theoretical speeds), but with this sale it's actually priced very similarly to other 4TB portable SSDs that are considerably slower, so you might as well take advantage of the deal and benefit from the enhanced capabilities and sheer quality of Samsung's highly-lauded external SSDs. So, yeah, I bought the 4TB Samsung T9 Portable SSD. I'm reclaiming one of my Xbox's USB ports, gaining a ton of extra storage for games, and still have two other excellent portable SSDs that I can use for other things. If you need a new large and fast portable SSD for anything, gaming or otherwise, you'd be doing yourself a favor by buying the Samsung T9 Portable SSD.
Unboxing my new Samsung T9 Portable SSD, it's immediately clear this is a very premium peripheral. The build quality is immaculate, with the entire SSD surrounded in a rubberized covering that should do a fair job absorbing shock and impacts should the need arise. Setup is dead simple (literally plug-and-play), all the cables you need are included in the box, and performance when connected to my Xbox Series X has been the absolute best you can ever expect from a portable SSD. When playing any backward compatible games, the Samsung T9 loads games just as quickly as the internal SSD. That's mighty impressive, and mirrors the wonderful experience I've had for years with the Samsung T7... Just with more polish, quality, and a tiny bit more speed. So far, I'm definitely very happy with my purchase.
