Samsung T5 Portable SSD 1TB Review

Review: Samsung T5 Portable SSD 1TB

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Reviewed by: J.Reynolds

Provided by: Samsung

Introduction

Welcome to Myce’s review of the Samsung T5 Portable SSD
(hereafter referred to as the T5).

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The Samsung T5 is a highly portable, high speed storage
device, which could be used for carrying large amounts of data from one
location to another; simply transfer the data you want to take to the new
location onto the T5, stick the T5 in your pocket, arrive at the other location;
plug the T5 into the new host PC or laptop, then copy the files over to the new
host PC or laptop at lightning speed.

My myce.wiki colleague Wendy Robertson reviewed the previous
version of the Samsung Portable SSD, the T3, and found it to be an outstanding
product (You can read Wendy’s review of the T3 by clicking here). 
The T5 takes a step forward by providing support for connection to a computer via
a USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) port, whereas the T3 is limited to a USB 3.0 (5Gbps)
connection.

The T5 also introduces the use of Samsung’s fourth
generation 64-layer MLC V-NAND.

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Like the T3, the T5 is available in capacities of 250GB,
500GB, 1TB and 2TB.  We thank Samsung for loaning us a 1TB model for our
review.

Packaging

Let’s start by having a look at the T5’s packaging –

Usefully, the T5 is delivered with two USB cables, a USB
Type C to Type C, and a USB Type C to Type A.  The installation files for the
Samsung Portable SSD software are preloaded onto the drive.  The T5 itself
connects to a cable using a Type C connector.

My first impressions were very positive – the T5 is a neat
bit of kit.

Specification

Here is Samsung’s specification for the T5 –

Pictures

Here is a picture of the T5 plugged into my Samsung Galaxy TabPro
S laptop/tablet, using the Type C to Type C cable. The T5 is sitting on a
StarTech.com USB 3.1 Gen 2 External SATA Enclosure, which gives a feel for the
T5’s dinky form factor -

The T5 end uses a Type C connector -


Performance Testing 

If you have a modern PC/laptop it is quite likely that you
will already have a USB 3.1 Gen 2 port available, but if you don’t then you can
easily add USB 3.1 Gen 2 support by installing an add in card (if you have a
spare PCIe x4 slot available) and many such add in cards are available priced
around GBP£ 25-30.  I understand there are also options to add USB 3.1 Gen 2
through the use of a SATA Express motherboard connection.

I used two
platforms for my performance testing:

Firstly, a Z170 based Desktop PC, running
Windows 10 with a Core i7 6700K processor over clocked to 4.7GHz. For providing
USB 3.1 support I use a StarTech USB 3.1 Gen 2 PCIe add in card (
which uses
an AS Media chipset). I expect the performance results using
this platform will be nigh-on as good as it gets.

Secondly, a
Samsung
Galaxy TabPro S laptop/tablet, running
Windows 10. I don’t expect the performance results using this platform will be as
high but I feel they will be indicative of what can be expected from a T5 when
it is attached to a modern, highly mobile platform that includes a USB 3.1 Gen
2 port. Note that the
Samsung Galaxy TabPro S uses an Intel Core M3-6Y30
mobile processor (900MHz with Turbo Boost to 2.2 GHz).

For testing I use
two of my favorite benchmarks the Atto Disk Benchmark and AS SSD. To give readers
a feel for how the T5’s performance translates into the real world I use the FastCopy
utility to copy a Bluray movie from an NVMe drive to the T5.

Performance Testing – Results using a Desktop PC -

To get started let’s have a look at what the Crystal Disk
Info utility says about the T5 -

You can see that the use of the UASP driver is
confirmed.

UASP is a computer protocol used to move data
to and from USB devices. It uses the standard SCSI command set and generally
provides faster support than the older USB ‘BOT’ drivers.
In
particular UASP enables enhanced command queuing and out-of-order completions
for USB mass-storage devices, and enables
TRIM
(UNMAP in SCSI terminology) operation for SSDs.

Atto using Desktop PC

An impressive result, showing a peek Read transfer rate
exceeding Samsung’s specification of 540 MB/s.

For interest here is the Atto result when the T5 is attached
via USB 3.0 using the same Desktop PC –

You can see that the T5 performs very well even if your
computer is limited to support for USB 3.0.

AS SSD using Desktop PC

Another impressive result which in particular shows excellent
scaling in the high queue depth, ‘4K-64Thrd’ (Queue Depth 64), 4K Reads and
Writes.

Real World Test

To give you a feel for how the benchmark performance of the
T5 translates into real world experiences, I used FastCopy to transfer a Bluray
movie (22.1GB of data) from a super fast NVMe based PCIe drive to the T5.

Here is the result –

Whoosh.... 45.8 seconds to transfer 22.1GB of data.  That’s
fast enough for me :o)

For interest, the same movie takes 2 minutes 21 seconds to
copy to a Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm HDD running in an external enclosure
and attached via USB 3.0.


Performance Testing using Samsung TabPro S Laptop/Tablet -

AS SSD using Samsung Galaxy TabPro S

You can see that, as expected, the result is not as high as was
achieved using the Desktop PC. Nevertheless, it is, in my opinion, an excellent
result which can be compared favourably to the results for the Samsung TabPro
S’s internal 128GB Liteon system SSD, which follows -


Samsung Portable SSD Software

The software is user friendly and installation files are
preinstalled (for Windows, MACs and Android computers) on the drive.  Simply
fire up the correct installer and launch the software.  Here are some
screenshots - 

The first time you plug the T5 in the Security Mode is
disabled.

On the settings screen you can change the device name and set
up a password (and thereby enable the encryption of data).

The software now shows the Security Mode is enabled.

When the T5 is plugged in to a computer that does not have
the security software installed (or on a computer that does, but when the password
has not been entered via the software) then only a small partition that
includes the software installation files can be accessed, as shown above in
Windows File Explorer.

 

It is a simple matter to enter the password and unlock the
whole of the drive.

 

The software also enables the updating of the software and
the devices firmware (although I understand that the firmware can only be
updated from a Windows based computer)


Conclusions

Put simply, the Samsung T5 Portable SSD is a fast, classy,
highly desirable bit of kit (but a bit pricey).

Support for connection via USB 3.1 Gen 2 has delivered a useful
performance improvement over its predecessor the T3.

I found the Samsung T5 1TB available at scan.co.uk for GBP£
384.98 (and the 500GB for £192.49 and the 250GB for £125.99).  I expect UK
prices will drop closer to T3 prices in a few months.

I am pleased to award the Samsung T5 our highest rating of ‘Outstanding’
and name it as an "Editor’s Choice".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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