Already obtainable in fashions with as much as 2TB of capability and choices that includes a built-in fingerprint reader to additional shield and encrypt the information inside, Samsung is increasing its T7 SSD line with the brand new T7 Shield, a transportable SSD which incorporates additional safety in opposition to a world that’s typically hostile to electronics.

SSDs are a significant a part of my backup ecosystem, and I’d by no means say no to giving them just a little additional armor. As straightforward as it’s to increase the restricted capability of a tool like a laptop computer utilizing an exterior storage drive, touring with terabytes of regionally saved information is at all times a dangerous enterprise, which I discovered the laborious manner a couple of years again when transferring with a tough drive. Not all of us need to put the whole lot on the cloud, and through a really quick transfer between neighboring residence buildings, I watched in horror as an exterior laborious drive that was briefly holding all of my most vital design and pictures information slipped off a desk and fall a mere two-and-a-half toes to the ground. The mishap took lower than a second, however the drive was toast, requiring $2,000 of information restoration to get the whole lot again.

From that day on, I’ve been a faithful SSD consumer. Solid state drives are much less fragile than conventional laborious drives, which depend on transferring components, however not all SSDs are created equal. For years, I’ve leaned in direction of Western Digital’s SanDisk transportable SSD drives, which characteristic a rubbery coating that gives an IP55 score in opposition to water and mud. Yes, SSDs are much less liable to breakage than HDDS, however I’m additional paranoid. But whereas they’re inexpensive, they’re removed from the quickest possibility, with learn and write speeds maxing out at 550MB/s.

Although I’ve solely been tempted by Samsung’s quicker however much less armored T5 and T7 transportable SSDs, my excessive degree of information preservation paranoia is lastly able to embrace the road, now that I’ve seen the T7 Shield. This SSD encompasses a strengthened aluminum steel housing that’s wrapped in a rubber outer layer for higher impression absorption. Whereas Samsung’s T7 SSD can survive a 6.5-foot drop, the brand new T7 Shield pushes drop safety to virtually 10 toes.

On prime of that, the brand new T7 Shield boasts an IP65 score, which implies that there’s no threat to its electronics or information ought to the drive be splashed or sprayed with water, or hit with mud throughout a desert photoshoot. However, customers will nonetheless have to be cautious to not drop the T7 Shield in a puddle, pool, or lake, because it’s not protected in opposition to full water submersion. (That requires at the least an IP67 score.)

The T7 Shield maintains the identical 1,050/1,000MB/s learn and write speeds of the remainder of Samsung’s T7 lineup by way of a USB-C port on the aspect. And regardless of being wrapped in a rubber coating that appears like it’s going to double as a winter coat when temperatures drop, Samsung hasn’t wanted to implement a characteristic it calls Dynamic Thermal Guard, which limits the efficiency of an SSD when its inner temperature rises. The T7 Shield can nonetheless dissipate warmth as shortly as the remainder of the T7 line.

The Samsung T7 Shield is obtainable now in three shade choices: blue, black, and beige. It is available in two capacities: 1TB for $160 and 2TB for $290. That’s simply $20 dearer than the bottom T7 SSDs, and in the event you journey together with your transportable drives so much, it’s most likely definitely worth the splurge.