The external SSD Samsung Portable X5 achieves maximum speeds with the capabilities of Thunderbolt 3. However, it is very expensive and many computers can not ride it. A cheaper alternative is the still very fast Samsung T5.
Most current external SSD storage rarely achieves transfer speeds beyond 550 megabytes per second (MB / s). Among other things, this is due to the fact that the interfaces of the used mSATA memory no longer give. Samsung’s Portable SSD X5 is different, it uses a Flash memory with NVMe interface, as they use modern internal SSD storage for fast PCI Express transfers. And so that the connection does not become a bottleneck, the X5 connects via Thunderbolt 3 with computers. n-tv.de has measured with the 1 terabyte (TB) large version of the memory, what comes out.
Nothing works without Thunderbolt 3
In order to be able to ride Samsung’s high-speed SSD, you need a computer whose equipment meets the high requirements. Thunderbolt 3 can not be found on many notebooks, USB 3.1 (2nd generation) is still standard here. On such devices you need the X5 but not only plug in, without Thunderbolt 3 no data flows. And even if the required port is present, the computer’s SSD may not be able to keep up, or the PCI Express transmission may run on fewer channels than Samsung’s Turbo Storage.
For the measurements at n-tv.de, the X5 was plugged into a 13-inch MacBook Pro (2016, without a touchbar), whose internal SSD can not quite keep up either. On the 2018 model, therefore, the writing rates could be even better. The speeds were measured with the free tools AJA System Test Lite and Blackmagic Disk Speed Test over several passes with different package sizes. The memory of the SSD was formatted with exFAT.
Faster than the internal SSD
The test results are impressive. In Aja System Test Lite, the Samsung Portable SSD X5 reached read speeds of around 2550 MB / s, data it wrote at about 1800 MB / s. In the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, the memory came to just under 2400 MB / s (read) and 1750 MB / s (write). In both tests, the X5 left the internal SSD of the MacBook Pro at the write rates (1300 MB / s) clearly behind. While reading, both memories were a bit faster. A 30-gigabyte folder of photos and videos was copied from internal to external storage after about 13 seconds.
The X5 remains in contrast to some SSD-Hitzkopf relatively cool, which is due to their elaborate design. The robust magnesium housing contains a heat sink and a protective frame above the board with the SSD. So the temperature on the outer surface should not rise above 45 degrees.
The Samsung Portable SSD X5 is extremely fast and displays the taillights, especially when reading data from all external SSD competitors. However, it costs about 500 euros with 1 TB in online trading, with 500 GB about 240 euros. That’s a lot of money and is really only worthwhile for users who need the speed and whose hardware can exploit the X5 – for example, in the professional 4K video editing.
Samsung T5 a good alternative
But Samsung also has an interesting offer for slightly more frugal users. The 2017 launched SSD T5 portable gets you in the 1 TB variant already for 225 euros, the model with 500 GB costs around 125 euros. It offers a very good price-performance ratio. It still has a memory with mSATA interface and supports “only” USB 3.1 (2nd generation). But it still leaves most of the other external SSDs tested so far at n-tv.de. In the Aja System Test Lite, for example, it reached about 515 MB / s while reading, and 490 MB / s when writing. In the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, it came to read rates around 505 MB / s and write rates of about 480 MB / s.