Samsung T7 Shield portable SSD: Ultra-fast and built to last

Goodbye, fingerprint scanner, hello toughened outer skin—and speed.

- JON L. JACOBI

If you’ve had your eyes on Samsung’s fast USB 10Gbps T7 Touch (fave.co/3wx2D1J), but you weren’t sure it was suitable for your rough-and-tumble environment, your conundrum is at an end. The latest iteration in the T7 series—the T7 Shield—is IP65 rated to withstand a wet weather and offers additional protection against shock (though admittedly, shock is a bigger deal for portable hard drives than it is for portable SSDs). This is another top-tier USB drive from Samsung.

DESIGN

The Samsung T7 Shield is a USB 10Gbps enclosure with an NVMe SSD inside. We’re a bit surprised the latest version didn’t opt for 20Gbps USB, though admittedly, such ports are pretty rare and will remain so until full USB4 implementations become the norm (fave.co/3IpMBKJ). The T7 Shield is available in 1TB and 2TB capacities for $160 and $290 respectively, and you can buy them with blue, beige, or black silicone-like protective coverings.

The drive measures 3.5 inches long by 2.3 inches wide by 0.5 inches thick, and weighs just under 4 ounces. That’s a little heavier than the T7 Touch, but considering that it’s wrapped in a silicone protective sleeve, it’s hardly surprising.

The extra weight is inconsequential in terms of transportability, and gives the T7 Shield a nice heft. Indeed, I contemplated hurling it against a wall to test shock resistance. I didn’t, though I dropped it from about four feet onto a wood floor with no ill effects.