Looks like Samsung is doubling down on the idea of portable SSDs becoming a thing. The new X5 SSD is going to be the fastest portable data drive Samsung, or anyone else, has ever released with a price-point to match. You can pre-order the 500GB X5 for $399.99, the 1TB for $699.99, or the 2TB for $1,399.99. These devices will be available starting Sept. 3, and you can find them on Samsung's main site as well.
Portable SSDs have always been appealing because hard drives, even great ones like the Seagate Backup Plus Slim, are slower and far more vulnerable thanks to all the moving parts. Solid State Drives have no moving parts. Unfortunately, they are also usually a lot more expensive. Samsung's T5 lineup of portable SSDs have been one of the most successful consumer-level portable SSDs around and they still run a lot more than your average portable hard drive.
The new X5 SSDs will use a combination of Thunderbolt 3 technology and NMVe, which speedy internal SSDs like the 960 Pro use, to deliver speeds far faster than the T5 or any other portable drive. It will have read and write speeds of 2,800 MB/s and 2,300 MB/s respectively. The T5's read/write speeds only go up to 540 MB/s, to put that in perspective. Externally, the X5 will have a full-metal body and a non-slip mat on the bottom. It will be shock-resistant and drop-resistant up to 6.6 feet. There will also be safeguards in place to keep it from overheating. You will be able to use Samsung's Portable SSD Software to encrypt the data and password protect sensitive files.
The X5 will not be backwards compatible, so you must have a Mac or PC with a Thunderbolt 3 port to use it. Samsung will cover it with a three-year warranty.
