Samsung T7 Shield Review: Armored Warp Speed

In the world of portable SSDs, Samsung's T7 lineup has become the go-to name for fast and reliable storage. The T7 Touch bought extreme 10Gbps speeds and the additional security of a fingerprint scanner into a tiny device that fits into the palm of your hand.

However, in the rough and tumble jamboree that is our lives now, transferring data (videos, photos and who knows what else) on the go and uploading work from places we least expect to is something that is expected of us every day.

PROS

• Ultra-fast read/write speeds
• Rugged rubber casing
• Still very pocketable
• 4TB Storage Size

CONS

• Price is on the higher side
• Lacks DRAM at this price point
• Needs USB 3.2 Gen 2 port to unlock max speeds

Thankfully, the latest member of Samsung's T7 lineup is an armored beast that can take a hit or two; survive the mad max weather that are our summers and the atmospheric water leaks that are better known as our monsoons while providing the same ultra-fast transfer speeds as the everyday T7?

That's at least what the horn-tooting promo stuff from Samsung says about the T7 Shield says about this rubber-jacketed portable SSD. So, does the Samsung T7 Shield have what it takes to survive the urban jungle while making insane transfer speeds look like the everyday grind? We put the Samsung T7 Shield to the test and well, here's what we found...

Samsung T7 Shield: Design

The T7 Shield is in essence a T7 in a Hulkbuster outfit but without the secure fingerprint scanner. The T7 lineup is in essence, an PCIe NVMe SSD in an aluminium case and the Shield adds a thick rubber cocoon around the portable SSD.

So, in essence what you lose in terms of access security on T7 Shield, you gain in terms of safety from the elements and general human clumsiness.

The rubber enclosure surrounds the original metal housing of the T7 in the shield and cocoons the device, protecting it from drops from distances as high as 3 metres above the ground. The grippy housing also ensures that the T7 Shield does not fall off slippery surfaces.

The rubber jack is quite a grippy thing and is mostly bereft of branding. This rubber jacket comes in three color options - Blue, Black and Beige.

The T7 Shield sports a USB C port and a blue LED that lights up every time you plug the rugged drive into a USB port on a computer or a phone. The latter is a possibility thanks to the fact that Samsung ships the T7 Shield 4TB with both a USB C A and USB C to C cable in the box. The other side of the SSD is just full of regulatory info and is likely something most of us will never see (and ignore if we do).

The rubber cocoon also allows the T7 Shield to be rated IP665 for dust and water resistance. The 6 in the rating means that the Shield will shrug off the dust and other particulate matter with ease. The 5, on the other hand, means that the portable can survive water jets, which means it should survive accident spills and the rain just fine.

Despite its Hulkbuster uniform, the T7 Shield is still a lightweight pocketable device measuring just 88mm long, 59mm wide and 13mm thick while weighing in at just 98 grams.

Samsung T7 Shield: Performance and Security

The T7 Shield takes advantage of both PCIe NVMe and USB 3.2 Gen 2 tech to achieve claimed sequential read/write speeds of 1,050/1,000MB/s which should make it the portable drive of choice for content creators.

In our testing, we found the drive nearly achieving those speeds especially when we put it through the usual array of benchmarking software which gave us peak speeds of around 940-960MB/s for sequential read operations while speeds came quite close to the 4 digits when it came to sequential writes.

However, ditch the benchmarks and the read and write speeds definitely depend on the type and size of the file being transferred. Transfer speeds while moving about large video files generally took a lot longer than expected.

We also would recommend plugging the T7 Shield into a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port to make proper use of its potential to the fullest. Plugging into lower-gen USB ports will seriously bottleneck the Shield, so do check your system's USB port config before you screech your displeasure on the forums.

We also tested the T7 Shield to the limits prescribed by its IP and drop test ratings, dropping it to the floor multiple times from normal heights and exposing it to the elements as well as more than a few jets and splashes of water. The T7 Shield shrugged our efforts off like it was another day at work and still pulled its warp-inducing speed numbers.

The Samsung T7 Shield comes with the South Korean firm's Magician drive management software preloaded. We recommend that you install Magician to keep an eye out for the T7 Shield's performance and to get the latest firmware updates for the portable drive.

For those looking for a bit of extra security and missing the regular T7's fingerprint scanner, the Magician software allows you to set a password to protect the musclebound Shield, from the beak-nosed snoopers that live to annoy you and try and look into what you're doing.

However, setting up the password can be a bit of a double-edged sword. In case you forget your password, The T7 Shield offers no backup options, so if you forget your password, you'll need to format the drive to be able to use the drive again (bye-bye data).

The T7 Shield also features AES 256-bit hardware encryption to protect your data from sophisticated snoopers.

Samsung T7 Shield: Final Thoughts

The Samsung T7 Shield encases the ultra-fast T7 in a protective suit of rubber armor that makes it a rather surprising yet very compelling offering despite the loss of the fingerprint scanner.

While the price of this particular T7 Shield may seem a bit high at over Rs 30k, the lightning-quick transfer speeds and the rugged assuredness' of its rubberized protection as well as that gigantic 4TB size mean that is the perfect drive for content creators in a hurry and on the go as well as for a whole lot of other professionals who sometimes find themselves stuck in the middle of the jungle, be it where the Tigers roam or the one caked in concrete and dust.