Perhaps the most significant, earth-shattering announcement at this year’s NAB? Samsung’s release of their new “shielded” SSD external drive.
Yep, you read that right. Sometimes, those pathetic little aluminum-cased drives can be our own worst enemy, right? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dropped them (usually the T5 because I’m shooting directly to the drive), and I get little dings in the side, as well as worrying about someone stepping on it when I inevitably forget what I’ve done with it and misplace the dang thing.
But, those problems are a thing of the past. That’s right. We find ourselves on the precipice of greatness at this year’s NAB. Samsung came forth and unveiled this “shielded,” more protected, rugged (if you will) T7 SSD that’s bound to be a hit for DITs, solo shooters, and angry video editors everywhere. We did it, y’all.
All jokes aside, this does help many people who will inevitably find themselves in less than ideal weather situations. They may have been stressing about their climate-sealed container full of drives getting water into it, but fret no more! Kind of—I mean you should always be extra careful and mindful of how your drives are stored.
This new drive should put your mind at ease only slightly. But hey, I’ll take all the help I can get at this point, am I right? The drives have a rubber case/layer with an IP65 rating, which means that the drives are water- and dust-resistant. Also, this isn’t the first time we’ve sung the praises of these small SSDs.
Recently, we listed them as some of the best drives around for shooters and editors.
- The Best Portable SSDs for Videographers on the Move
T7 Shield features read and write speeds of 1050 MB/s and 1000 MB/s. While this isn’t as fast as many NVMe drives, the main selling point with these drives is the security of the drives themselves and nothing happening physically to them. So, the speed isn’t the important part.
Apple Insider has already put out a video on the drive with their thoughts that you can watch below.
Samsung has released some more info on the drive, saying:
Specs:
- Capacities: 1TB / 2TB
- Dimensions: 88 x 59 x 13mm (3.5 x 2.3 x 0.5 inches)
- Weight: 98 grams (3.47oz)
- Sequential read: Up to 1,050MB/sec
- Sequential write: Up to 1,000MB/sec
- Drop resistant: Up to 3 meters
- Encryption: AES 256-bit hardware encryption
- Software: Samsung Portable SSD 1.0
- Software: Samsung Magician Software
The best part? These are available right now. So, go get yourself one! I’ve already ordered one since I know this summer will include many trips into the mountains with all of my gear. And, if I know myself like I think I do, there will be accidents and mismanagement of equipment.
- Price: $135 – 1TB
Now, while I have you here, maybe you’re curious about SSDs and how they differ from, say . . . HDDs? Or perhaps you’re like, I just need a drive and need to know which one’s best for me?
The good news is that we’ve written extensively over the years about the matter—you can read below!
- Why You Want to Use Both SSD and HDD for Video Storage