- Samsung T5 not showing up in update software on MacOS Catalina in Monitors and Memory 4 weeks ago 'No Samsung Portable SSD is Connected' in Monitors and Memory a month ago; Samsung Portable SSD T5 can not run macOS Catalina in Monitors and Memory; UR59C Curved 4K and MacOS Catalina 10.15.4 in Monitors and Memory.
- The Samsung T7 Touch is a faster follow up to the Samsung T5 portable SSD, with a built-in fingerprint sensor to secure its contents. Samsung T7 Software. The same goes when booting my Mac.
Samsung Portable SSD T5
Editor Rating: Excellent (4.0)
Aug 15, 2017 The Portable SSD T5 also has built in support for AES 256-bit encryption, which is enabled through a simple piece of software called “Samsung Portable SSD”. I just received this response from Samsung today after over a week of emailing back and forth with their support team to get my T5 and 1.6.6 SSD software working an a mac: 'Thank you for clarifying that it is identified within Full Disk Access. From here it appears that the Software it requires to identify the drive.
Pros
- Excellent performance.
- Includes USB 3.0 and USB-C cables.
- Compact.
- Android-, Mac-, and Windows-compatible.
Cons
- While a comparable good per-gigabyte value, the drive itself is expensive.
Bottom Line
Samsung's Portable SSD T5 drive has a speedy USB-C interface, plenty of reliable storage, and it takes up about as much room in your pocket as a short stack of credit cards.
Solid state drives like the 2TB Samsung Portable SSD T5 ($799.99) buck the 2.5-inch form factor of their portable hard drive predecessors. Since SSDs don't need to house a spinning platter, they're a whole lot smaller and easier to slip into a small pocket. While our capacious 2-terabyte test drive may be too expensive if you who simply want to back up files from your laptop, its speed and capacity are suited to well-heeled digital packrats and graphics professionals.
Card-Size Drive
As just 0.4 by 2.3 by 3.0 inches (HWD) and 1.8 ounces, the T5 is imperceptibly heavier and the same size as its predecessor, the Samsung Portable SSD T3. The 1TB ($399.99) and 2TB versions have a monochromatic black finish, while the 250GB ($129.99) and 500GB ($199.99) capacities are blue. It's a lot more subdued than the smaller, gold Adata SE730 External SSD, and a bit more attractive than the relatively plain-looking OWC Envoy Pro EX, which has a greater length, but otherwise similar dimensions. All three of these drives will fit in a pocket more easily than the G-Technology G-Drive Slim SSD, a traditionally sized drive (0.39 by 5.08 by 3.23 inches). The T5's case is aluminum, and there are no moving parts, and it's rated to survive a tumble up to 6.6 feet.
SEE ALSO: The Best Cheap SSDs for 2020
The drive connects via USB-C, matching the G-Drive Slim, Adata SE730, and our current top pick, the Sandisk Extreme 900 (the Envoy Pro EX uses a legacy micro USB 3.0 port.) Like the Extreme 900 and G-Drive Slim, the T5 SSD comes with both USB-C-to-USB-C and USB-C-to-USB-3.0 cables, so you can use it with virtually all laptops and desktops. (The previous Samsung Portable T3 SSD and Adata SE730 don't come with USB-C cables.)
Samsung Ssd Software Mac T5 Pro
Good Per-Gig Value
Samsung T5 Ssd Software
The 2TB iteration of the T5 SSD works out to 39 cents per gigabyte, which is reasonable compared with the higher per-gigabyte ratio of 52 cents for the Sandisk Extreme 900. The G-Drive Slim is comparable at 38 cents per gigabyte, but our current SSD co-champion, the Oyen Digital MiniPro 3.1 USB-C Portable Solid-State Drive, has the best ratio (29 cents per gigabyte at a 1TB capacity). To be fair, the MiniPro 3.1 is physically larger, more akin to a desktop drive than the smaller SE730, T3, and T5. Paying a little extra for the T5's miniature case is worth it, particularly when you consider it's $50 less than the T3 at the same capacity.
Software is relatively sparse. The drive includes the Samsung Portable SSD software utility, which activates and manages the drive's built-in AES 256-bit encryption via password, but that's about it. The encryption software works on Android tablets and phones, Macs, and Windows PCs. The T5 SSD is exFAT formatted, so it will work with all three operating systems out of the box. Samsung backs the drive with a three-year warranty, which is on par for this class of portable SSDs. Since there are no moving parts, there's not a lot that can go wrong.
Speedy Storage
Samsung Portable Ssd T5 Download
We tested using USB-C on a Windows PC and an Apple MacBook Pro, as well as using a USB 3.0 port on the Windows laptop. Samsung claims up to a 540MBpss most glaring omission by including a USB-C cable, and improves its dollar-to-gigabyte ratio and its performance significantly. At $799 for 2TB, it's made for well-heeled hobbyists and graphics artists. But with it, you'll have speedy access to a massive library's worth of data that fits in your jeans pocket. It's particularly handy for 4K video editors and photographers with huge archives. With more than twice the capacity, a (much) smaller body, and significantly faster performance than the Sandisk Extreme 900, it's our top pick for portable SSDs. If you don't have that kind of scratch handy, the Oyen Digital MiniPro is a less-expensive alternative, at $299 for 1TB in a much larger package. And if you don't need an SSD, you can get a solid storage deal on a traditional external hard drive.