Samsung SSD T7 Shield Review

The Samsung SSD T7 Shield is an ultra-compact portable hard drive. It’s also a tad different in looks and style than you would expect from standard storage as it features a rubberised outer and shapely form.
It’s tactile and nicely designed to make it aesthetically pleasing and functional. The T7 has been designed to be used on the move, so it is BUS powered, meaning that all the power it needs is provided by the USB Type-C cable that connects it to your machine.

Then there’s the rubberised outer, which feels nice, but also means that it stays put when you put it on a car bonnet or surface that isn’t a desk.

Inside is where things get interesting with a compact SSD that Samsung states will enable transfer speeds of up to 1050MB/s. These speeds are not groundbreaking by any means, but then what is, is the ability to keep these speeds up for hours, if not days, without a break.

The SSD T7 Shield is designed for heavy workloads on the move and is ready for all creators, videographers and photographers.

The Samsung SSD T7 Shield is designed as a working drive that will provide you with the storage space and consistency of speed to see you through your edit, be that video or stills.

Plugging in the T7 Shield and formatting to the Mac APFS files system helps to ensure that the drive is set for use with Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere and Photoshop for the image enhancement.

I started the test by transferring data from XQD, and SD UHS-II cards directly to the drive, transfer speeds for 110GB were relatively quick from both the XQD and SD, really maxing out the speed of the card reader rather than the drive itself.

To check on the actual transfer speed of the drive, I used the AJA System Test, which delivered the following results:

Write: 799MB/s
Read: 825MB/s

This would usually be relatively fast transfer speeds over the USB Type-C connection to the MacBook Pro. However, in this test, Samsung has highlighted the video potential of this small drive and how its performance remains even after heavy use.

I switched the test to run continuously and then left the machine running for just over 12 hours to see the effect on the drive. After 12 hours of the drive being in use, the results were as follows:

Write: 776MB/s
Read: 800MB/s

Touching the drive, you could feel the heat of a device running without a break for some time. However, the design was able to dissipate the heat well, and while warm, the drive didn’t feel hot in the way that some could.

When it came to the actual speed, both the read and write speeds remained high and consistent, which is exactly what you want when editing a video.

I like the small Samsung SSD T7 Shield, it has a quirky design that looks great, and I even like the slightly off beige rubber. The USB Type-C connector is firm and secure and unlikely to become disconnected if you have to have the drive dangling from the USB port.

Used out in the field, that runner outer and design makes it easy to rest in places without the drive sliding off or disappearing down the back of a seat or armrest.

The read and write speeds are fast, not the fastest I’ve seen, but fast enough for all the 4K video I could throw at the storage.

1TB is a decent size, but recently with a greater demand for the film for enhanced grading, project sizes are rapidly expanding, and even 1TB is starting to look a tad small.

However, for the most part, the reliability and consistency of this drive stand out. Used as a working drive for editing, it keeps up with the cuts, renders and effects with ease and tests the results speak for themselves.

The Samsung SSD T7 Shield might not be the cheapest or largest drive out there, but it is perfectly balanced and, therefore, a top choice for any videographer or photographer looking for a solid portable working drive that can cope with the latest cameras and computers.