Samsung Portable SSD T9

Samsung Portable SSD T9 – Handling & Performance

Physical protection for the Samsung Portable SSD TT9 is provided by a rubber-feel jacket

The SSD T9’s tough aluminium body is covered in a rubber skin with a discrete Samsung logo and its surface features curved diagonal lines and reverse carbon patterns to give the drive a feeling of luxury. It is certainly more comfortable to handle than a bare metal shell.

The skin has a practical purpose too, enhancing the drive’s resistance to everyday knocks and bumps and helping give the SSD T9 the ability to withstand drops of up to three metres.

Supplied with the unit is Samsung Magician software, a user-friendly package with security functions, the ability to handle firmware updates and features a real-time health status check. The latest version is 8.0’s support is extended to Android, Windows and Mac users.

Samsung has worked hard checking that the SSD T9 is widely compatible. In fact, Samsung says it has been tested with 64 host devices from phones to game consoles and cameras.

The only features on the SSD TT9 are a confirmation LED and USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 interface

The SSD T9’s hardware and firmware has been developed specifically for the SSD T9 to optimise power consumption. It consumes just 0.67W when idle and peaks at 7.3W when connected to a compatible USB-C interface. In Samsung’s tests with rivals, the SSD T9’s power usage is up to 4.8 times lower when the unit is idle. In practical terms, when using the SSD T9 connected to a laptop running on battery power, users can get more than 30 minutes extra performance compared with competitor hard drives.

High running temperatures can give slower read/write performance and lead to data loss issues. However, the SSD T9 is built with thermal interface materials including silicon and aluminium and is designed to avoid thermal throttling which can impact on optimum performance during sustained work sessions. So, while the unit runs warm as data is being read/written it didn’t get hot in my test.

To give an idea of its petiteness, we photographed the SSD TT9 next to an SD card adaptor

The single interface is a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 that has a theoretical 20Gbps data transfer rate and maximum performance is maintained for longer, sustained period with the unit’s TurboWrite buffer which is rated up to 180GB.

There are no controls on the drive, just a small LED that glows blue for a few seconds when correctly connected and blinks rapidly while it is operating when data is being read/written.

I tested the 4TB version of the SSD T9 by plugging it directly into a M2 Mac Studio’s Thunderbolt 4 port which has a quoted 40GB/s data transfer rate using the supplied USB-C to USB-C cable.

Samsung’s claimed data transfer speed is 2000MB/sec with the 4TB model and 1950 MB/s with 1TB and 2TB versions. That is twice as fast as its predecessor, the Samsung T7 series.

To test the SSD TT9 performance we out it through the Black Magic Disk Speed Test. A read speed of 880.4MB/s and a write speed of 865.5MB/s are impressive by anyone’s standards

Using the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test app, the SSD T9 gave a read speed of 880.4MBs and an 865.5MB/s write speed. That’s impressive but of course, it’s how the drive performs in a practical test that really matters.

Writing 50GB of data to the SSD T9 took 103 seconds while the return read journey took just 65 seconds, so that equates to a very respectable 485MB/s write speed and a 769MB/s read speed. I followed that test by moving a much bigger load of 500GB on and off the SSD T9 drive. That huge chunk of data took just over 40 minutes which works out at around 205MB/s and the drive got nice and warm, about the temperature of an effective hand warmer.

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Value For Money

Nothing good in life comes free and that definitely applies in the world of tech. The Portable SSD T9 has guide prices of £117.49, £199.99 and £362.79 for the 1TB, 2TB and 4TB capacities respectively, and for the technology and performance on offer, value for money rates highly.

The longer you own and use a product, the greater you’ll appreciate its performance, reliability and durability, and hence its value for money quotient increases too. The SSD T9 already rates very highly in value-for-money terms and if you make the investment and the unit it fulfils its promise of reliable performance over an extended period, your appreciation of the unit will surely grow.

Samsung Portable SSD T9 – Verdict

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