Samsung T Series Prices - Every Capacity, Live

Three models on sale at once, and what actually separates them

Samsung sells the T series as a range rather than a succession, so a higher number does not simply replace a lower one. The T7 is the baseline: a compact metal portable SSD on a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface. The T7 Shield is the same generation in a ruggedised rubberised shell with ingress protection, aimed at the same buyer as a LaCie Rugged but in flash. The T9 moves to USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 and a different case.

The interface strings are the maker's own specifications and we carry them in the table without interpreting them into a speed ranking. What is worth knowing as a practical matter rather than a performance claim is that the faster interface designations require a host port that supports them, and that support is much less universal than the port shape suggests. A drive on a Gen 2x2 interface connected to a common Gen 1 port operates at the port's specification.

Cost per terabyte across the T series sits well above every mechanical line in this cluster, which is the flash-versus-mechanical gap rather than anything specific to Samsung. Portable SSD pricing roughly doubled through the NAND shortage, as widely reported across the storage trade press, and the tables here show where that has left the rate today.

Within the flash category the T series competes most directly with SanDisk Extreme, and the two lines trade positions capacity by capacity. Our portable SSD versus external HDD comparison covers the larger decision, which for most buyers is not which SSD but whether an SSD at all.

What a portable SSD is actually for

The honest case for a portable SSD is not speed, which is why we do not lead with it. It is three design properties, all of which are facts about the object rather than measurements.

It has no moving parts, so a drop while running is survivable in a way it is not for a mechanical drive — the failure mode that kills portable hard drives is essentially absent. It is a fraction of the size and weight, which matters when the thing lives in a pocket rather than a bag. And it has no spin-up delay, so it responds immediately when connected rather than after a mechanical drive has come up to speed.

For a drive that travels constantly, carries work in progress, and is connected and disconnected many times a day, those three properties are worth real money. For a drive that sits on a desk holding an archive, they are worth nothing and you are paying several times the rate per terabyte for them.

That is the decision, and it is a decision about use rather than budget. The tables on this page and on our hub show the exact spread today between this line and the mechanical families, so the premium is a number you can look at rather than a vague sense that SSDs cost more.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Specification claims on this page were checked against the pages below on 4 August 2026. Where a widely-repeated figure did not survive that check, we report what the source says now and say so in the text rather than repeating the familiar number.

1. DatacenterDisk Research — Live external drive price and stock database (DatacenterDisk.com, Live)
   Used for: every price, $/TB figure, stock state, condition badge, family classification and price-history range on these pages, plus the external-versus-bare-drive comparison and the shuck arithmetic, all computed from our own tracking of Amazon US listings
2. Western Digital — WD Elements, My Book and My Passport product pages (WesternDigital.com, 2026)
   Used for: series positioning and USB interface designations. These pages do NOT state which bare drive is inside any enclosure, which is why our recording-technology column reads 'not disclosed' rather than naming one. Warranty terms did not resolve through our fetch path, so that column is a dash
3. Seagate Technology — Seagate Expansion and One Touch product pages (Seagate.com, 2026)
   Used for: series positioning and USB interface designations. As with WD, Seagate does not publish the drive inside an external enclosure. Warranty terms did not resolve through our fetch path
4. Samsung Electronics — Portable SSD T7 Shield product page (Samsung.com, 2026)
   Used for: USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface designation for the T7 Shield line, quoted as the maker's own specification string and not interpreted into a speed claim
5. DatacenterDisk Research — Shucking external drives — what the community finds inside (DatacenterDisk.com, 2026)
   Used for: teardown findings, carried as community reports that vary by production batch rather than as manufacturer specifications; the 3.3V power-disable pin issue
6. DatacenterDisk Research — Where to buy storage safely (DatacenterDisk.com, 2026)
   Used for: channel risk assessment behind the counterfeit and fake-capacity guidance on these pages
7. Sony Interactive Entertainment — USB extended storage on PS5 consoles (PlayStation.com, 2026)
   Used for: the platform rule that PS5 games cannot be played from USB extended storage and must be copied back to console storage to play, while PS4 games can be installed to and played directly from USB extended storage
8. Microsoft — Xbox Series X|S FAQ and Storage Expansion Card support (Xbox.com, 2026)
   Used for: the platform rule that a USB 3.1 external drive plays backward-compatible Xbox One, Xbox 360 and original Xbox titles directly, while titles optimized for Xbox Series X|S run from the internal SSD or the Storage Expansion Card