Pros
- Compact credit card size
- Water and dust resistant (IP65)
- Easy to use encryption software
- Compatible with Android, Windows and macOS
Cons
- The cable is easily detached
In the extensive catalogue of Samsung products, there are SSDs. The brand has long been a reference in computer storage, and its SSDs are often among the best-performing on the market. It also offers a range of easy-to-use external SSDs. The T7 Shield SSD is compact, durable and stylish.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
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Capacity: 1Tb
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Transfer speed: up to 1050 MB/s
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Interface: USB Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gb/s)
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Size: 59 x 88 x 13 mm
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Weight: 98 g
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Colours: beige, black, blue
DESIGN
The SSD T7 Shield is an external storage device in a relatively compact format. It takes up more space than a credit card and is only 1 cm thick. Therefore, it is an SSD that you can easily carry in any bag or even put in your pocket.
Its beige colour and its curves make it an object that is both sober and, at the same time, somewhat original. Its appearance contrasts with classic tech objects, often coated in a rather sad black or grey. We are a little less seduced by the rubber texture chosen for the outer coating, which is undoubtedly soft under the fingers but could be displeasing depending on your tastes. The most important thing is its IP65 certification against dust and water. You can easily take this SSD to the beach, hike, or pool. Of course, you’ll need to avoid prolonged bathing. Just imagine it will resist splashes and a short shower without any trouble. According to Samsung, it can withstand a drop from a height of three metres.
The design is on-edge fundamental, with the USB-C port for connecting devices on one side and legal markings and SSD storage capacity on the other. The only problem we encountered in use was that the USB cable tended to come off the USB-C port on the SSD too quickly. In addition, you also have to make sure that you insert the cable into the SSD port correctly. Otherwise, the PC will not recognise the connection.
SOFTWARE
The “Shield” aspect of this SSD does not stop at its robust chassis. Samsung also offers a data encryption solution with a double partition system. The brand offers several installation files for encryption or decryption software on a small partition that can only be read. Practical for opening your storage even on other PCs. This software is compatible with Windows 7, macOS 10.10 Yosemite and Android 5.1.
Once the password has been set up, Samsung’s software can ask you for it whenever you connect to the SSD. It is straightforward to use. Of course, you can also choose not to use any encryption solution and use the SSD as a regular USB stick.
The software suite offered by Samsung stops there. For the rest, we have a classic SSD that the file managers of the various systems immediately recognise.
PERFORMANCE
Under the bonnet, Samsung offers us a 1TB NVMe PCIe SSD accessible via the USB-C port with a transfer speed of 10Gbit/s in USB 3.2 Gen 2. Connection is via one of the two cables: the USB-C to USB-C cable or the USB-C to USB-A cable. Samsung promises a sequential read speed of 1,050 MB/s and a sequential write speed of 1,000 MB/s.
As you can see, the reality is more disappointing. It is still a very responsive and powerful SSD, but we would have expected it to be more responsive. Note that we are testing the SSD here with an exFAT partition and without encryption. We have run the tests under macOS and Windows several times. The performance was consistently better under Windows, where the SSD reached the speeds promised by Samsung in sequential mode.
CONCLUSION
The Samsung SSD T7 Shield is an external storage solution that is easily recommended. Its compact size, all-encompassing design, warranty and IP65 certification are all strong points that make us recommend this product. It does all of this without blowing up the bill.
The only downside is its average performance. We would have liked it better, but this will only be a problem for the most demanding professionals. They will have to turn to perhaps more bulky solutions, in USB at 20 Gbit/s or Thunderbolt at 40 Gbit/s.
