Review on Samsung X5 Portable SSD 1TB Thunderbolt 3 External SSD - Gray/Red (Model MU-PB1T0B/AM) by David Gill

Having spent a few weeks with the Samsung X5 I can honestly say this drive is fantastic - it's the Lamborghini of portable storage. My workflow involves backing up a lot of data to a secondary location that we don't have network access to. Moving data back and forth (big batches of micro CT scans) was a pain, even with a decent 3 USB drive. Being able to take advantage of the PCI speeds you get through Thunderbolt saves me a lot every day Time. General thoughts on the device. Form Factor: The size of a 2.5-inch portable hard drive. It's probably just as big as it needs to be to help with heat dissipation and prevent throttling - this baby gets nice and warm after running at full speed for a while. It has a nice premium feel, the sleek silver body contrasting with the red rubber base looks nice. Speed: The only part everyone cares about when you're spending big bucks on a ride. I can safely say that this ride is worth the price of the ticket. Sure, it doesn't hit the theoretical speeds it's labeled for (to be honest, nothing ever hits advertised speeds in my experience), but it comes a lot closer than I expected. In day-to-day use, I found that it consistently runs at a speed close to the speed achieved as a result of benchmarking (photo attached). Cons: The main downside here is that it's only compatible with Thunderbolt 3 ports, meaning either a relatively new laptop or desktop with an additional PCI Thunderbolt card. The lack of backwards compatibility with USB really makes this drive a niche market given its price. Overall I'm really enjoying this trip and it has had a noticeable impact on my daily life. Whether you need to move large amounts of data back and forth on regular hardware, or you need expandable storage for your laptop that's as fast as your NVME, this drive is for you.