The Samsung T7 Touch is a great little external drive that’s small and robust enough to be carried wherever you need to use it for storage or as a working drive. It’s perfect for keeping a laptop’s memory clear and running smoothly while you store and edit stills or video.

Small and lightweight, Metal body, Fast file transfer

Initial issues with the fingerprint recognition set up software

Performance-wise, the new Samsung T7 and T7 Touch Portable SSDs are not earth-shattering. They are both not the most affordable on the market, either, costing significantly more than the Crucial X8 , for example.

Hardware encryption with an optional integrated fingerprint scanner, Compact and rugged design, USB 3.2 Gen 2-Class performance, Includes both USB-C and compatible cables

Write speed reduction during extended operations, More expensive than similar portable SSDs

Samsung has been at the forefront of the solid-state storage market for a number of years now. We’re not just talking about its mainstream internal SSDs either, which have been popular amongst enthusiasts.

Strong Performance, Attractive Chassis, Integrated Fingerprint Sensor, Windows, Mac And Android Compatible

Price Premium, Very Short Included Cables

Samsung's T7 Touch portable SSD lets you unlock your data with a swipe of your finger. Features and Specifications Software and Accessories A Closer Look

AES 256-bit hardware encryption, Built-in fingerprint scanner, Attractive aesthetics, Available in capacities up to 2TB, 18” USB-A and USB-C cables

3-year warranty, Small write cache, No IP rating

Samsung's T-lineup portable media has been increasingly popular over the years. Most recently, the T5 has been the go-to choice for those who need reliable, compact, fast portable storage. The T7 Touch builds on that, improving in nearly every way possible.

Near double T5 speeds, USB-C and USB-A cables included, Fingerprint sensor is fast, AES-256 encryption, Small footprint

Aluminum can scratch and be scratched, Only stores four fingerprints, Limited color options at launch

The Samsung Portable SSD T7 drive comes formatted with the exFAT file system and the overall capacity shows up as 466GB in Windows. Samsung went with exFAT for compatibility with Windows and macOS systems when you use the drive for the first time, but you can reformat if you’d like to change it.

In my day-to-day usage, I found the T7 to be as reliable as the outgoing model. It is defintiely faster and the added fingerprint security just makes it more secure. Of course, if you are not bothered so much about the security aspect, one can always go for the non-Touch version.

I'm not sure the fingerprint sensor adds a ton of value to the Portable SSD T7 Touch from Samsung, but its compact size, the reliability of the brand, and the super fast transfer speeds make it a worthwhile choice for those in need of an external SSD.

The Samsung T7 Touch Portable SSD became a solid productivity and travel companion that I did not know I wanted or needed. It comes in 500 GB, 1 TB and 2 TB storage options while remaining ridiculously compact and delivering solid transfer rates.

Samsung takes an interesting turn for greater security with the T7 Touch portable SSD. Here's our full review.