Guidemaster: The best portable SSDs you can buy right now

Portable SSDs are a good way to increase the amount of storage you have to preserve digital data and take that data with you wherever you go. These powerful accessories let you pack a huge amount of storage in your daily bag, giving you a place where you can offload files from your computer or smartphone, access files you only need in certain circumstances, and backup important information on the go.

But the world of portable SSDs is a large one, and choosing the best device for your needs can be a challenge. It's not just about how small the device is, how durable it is, or how many gigabytes of storage it has—the speed of a portable SSD can heavily influence your satisfaction with it. SSDs in general promise better read and write speeds than HDDs, so you'll see a general increase if you're going from one to the other. However, not all portable SSDs perform the same—even if they advertise similar maximum speeds.

To help you decide which portable SSD might work for you, Ars put some of the newest and most popular portable SSDs on the market to the test and judged them on speed, design, durability, compatibility, and price. Here are our findings:

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The short version

• The best portable SSD you can buy right now is the $149 CalDigit Tuff Nano (512GB). It was one of the fastest performing SSDs we tested, beating out most of the competition in read and write speeds. It's one of the most portable drives as well, with a metal body that has dimensions smaller than the size of a typical credit card. The device is IP67 water- and dust-resistant, and it has a special USB-C port that has its own waterproof rating. We only wish it came in more capacity variations, but for now, the CalDigit Tuff Nano portable SSD in 512GB is well worth its price of $149. Buy now: CalDigit Tuff Nano (512GB) at Amazon.
• Our runner-up portable SSD is the Samsung T5 (500GB). This palm-sized drive has been very popular over the past few years as a drive that's as reliable as it is portable. It's not as fast as our top pick, but it was one of the fastest among the average performers in our benchmark tests. We also appreciate that it has AES 256-bit hardware encryption and optional password protection to provide even more peace of mind that your data is secure. The Samsung T5 is a good choice if you want a reliable portable SSD that's reasonably fast and slightly more affordable than our top pick. Buy now: Samsung T5 (500GB) at Amazon.

• The most durable option is the SanDisk Extreme portable SSD (1TB). We like this drive for its tiny size, shock-, vibration-, drop-, and water-resistant body and its read and write speeds that are nearly identical to our runner up. It also has AES 128-bit hardware encryption for an additional level of data security. If you're frightened of dropping the Samsung T5's tiny, all-metal body or just want a drive that has a few more physical safeguards, the SanDisk Extreme is a good option. Buy now: SanDisk Extreme SSD (1TB) at Amazon.
• Our best luxury pick is the OWC Envoy Pro EX (2TB) thanks to its blazing fast read and write speeds and slick design. It outperformed almost every other portable SSD we tested, reading and writing even the largest files with ease. The OWC Envoy Pro EX starts at $129 for a 240GB model and costs a whopping $499 for a 2TB model. Those who need a portable SSD for their daily workflow that can handle nearly anything they throw at it will find the OWC Envoy Pro EX a good investment. Buy now: OWC Envoy Pro EX (2TB) at OWC.

Best overall

CalDigit Tuff Nano

Specs at a glance: CalDigit Tuff Nano
Price	$149
Capacities	512GB
USB interface	USB 3.1 Gen 2
Max speed (read/write in MB/s)	1088/900
Dimensions/weight	2.99×2.14×0.57 in/ 2.6 ounces
Compatibility	macOS and Windows
Extras	IP67 rated, iPad Pro compatible (with iPadOS), included USB-C to A cable, included silicone case

CalDigit's Tuff Nano (512GB) portable SSD surprised from the very beginning of our testing. Most of the other SSDs we tested have been around for some time—CalDigit only just released the Tuff Nano less than a year ago, so there isn't a lot of historical data to illustrate expected performance. But it proved to be one of the fastest portable SSDs we tested, blowing almost every other device out of the water when it came to read and write speeds.

CalDigit advertises read speeds up to 1088Mb/s and the Tuff Nano either surpassed that or came quite close to it in all of our tests. However, read speeds are not the most accurate way to judge an SSD's performance—the really telling data lies in write speeds.

Most of the devices we tested were high MLC (multi-level cell) performers, which means that they do not rely on a small amount of cache to buffer write speeds. That's a good thing because it means that performance won't plummet after the cache is full.

However, that doesn't mean that all of the drives we tested performed similarly across the board. As we increased file sizes in our testing, CalDigit was one of the stand-out drives that didn't slow down significantly under heavy, concurrent access. It handled writing large files better than the majority of the competition, and those that did beat the $149 Tuff Nano are much more expensive SSDs. As a rule of thumb, we recommend the Tuff Nano or our luxury pick (the drives that stood out in our testing in terms of write speed) to those who intend to do heavily work directly on their portable SSD rather than using it as a dump drive.

The performance is impressive not only in a sub-$200 SSD, but also in such a small device. Measuring 2.99 x 2.14 x 0.57 inches, the CalDigit Tuff Nano fits comfortably in the palm of my hand and can easily disappear in a deep pocket. The metal rectangle has an IPX67 rating, meaning it can withstand being submerged in one meter of water for 30 minutes and it's resistant to dust. The USB-C port on the SSD has its own waterproof rating of IPX8 as well.

The Tuff Nano also comes with a rubbed edge case that gives it a bit more drop protection. Available in red, blue, green, and black, the case acts as a bumped of sorts that will take the impact of a fall better than the cold metal of the SSD's body. The case includes a tiny flap that can cover the USB-C port on the SSD as well, and while it's a bit finicky, it'll give the device even more protection when not in use.

While CalDigit pre-formatted the Tuff Nano for macOS, it can be reformatted to work with Windows and there are instructions included with the SSD that explain how to do so. Those come in the form of a small piece of paper in the box rather than a digital document stored on the SSD, like many other SSDs have. I make note of this because you could easily miss the instructions while unboxing the device, but also because if they were only included as a digital file on the drive, Windows users wouldn't be able to access them at all. Also included in the box are USB-C to C and USB-C to A cables, allowing you to use the Tuff Nano with older machines.

Aside from possibly losing it in the depths of your backpack, there aren't a lot of cons to the Tuff Nano. My biggest complaint about it is that this device gets quite hot after long-term use. After running all of our benchmark tests, the metal body of the Tuff Nano measured 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

I also wish the Tuff Nano had more capacity variants. Currently, you can only buy a 512GB model of the Tuff Nano. Hopefully CalDigit will expand the device and add at least 1TB and 2TB options in the future. At $149 for 512GB, it's admittedly more expensive than some of the more popularl competitors, but we think its above-average performance is worth the extra money.

The Good

• A faster than average portable SSD with a compact design and a good price.

The Bad

• Gets hot after long-term use.

Runner up

Samsung T5

Specs at a glance: Samsung T5
Price	Starts at $94
Capacities	500GB, 1TB, 2TB
USB interface	USB 3.1 Gen 2
Max speed (read/write in MB/s)	540/520
Dimensions/weight	2.3×0.4×3 in/ 1.8 ounces
Compatibility	Android, macOS, and Windows
Extras	AES 256-bit hardware encryption, shock-resistant, optional password protection, included USB-C to A cable

The darling of portable SSDs made it onto our list for good reason. Known for its small size and reliable performance, the Samsung T5 (500GB) portable SSD is a solid alternative to our top pick thanks to its relatively fast read and write speeds, its simple design, and its decent price tag.

Aside from the few stand-out SSDs we tested, most devices performed relatively similarly. None of the drives we tested were particularly bad (which is a good thing), and that means that their benchmark scores all landed in the same range on most tests. The Samsung T5 always produced scores that were in line with, or better than, the rest of the competition. And, interestingly enough, the T5 performed slightly better than the new Samsung T7 Touch on almost every test (it was bested by the T7 once).

That's not to say the newest version of Samsung's portable SSD is bad—quite the contrary. The T7 Touch is just about as good as the T5 in nearly every way, and it has a built-in fingerprint reader in addition to the standard AES 256-bit encryption and password protection that the T5 has. However, the new fingerprint reader is the only reason why it would make sense to pay for the T7 Touch—otherwise, you're essentially getting a newer version of the T5 that doesn't offer much in the way of performance gains.

The Samsung T5 has a decent design that's attractive thanks to its minimalism. The aluminum body is slightly wider than a credit card and takes up only a bit more space in width. Available in blue, red, gold, and black, it's a tiny storage companion that is shock-resistant and can withstand drops up to two meters.

So let's talk price: a 500GB Samsung T5 will cost you $94. Of the other portable SSDs we tested that performed similarly to the T5, most had 500GB models that were also priced between $90 and $95. It's the average price for a portable SSD of this size and speed, which means you won't be paying extra for the Samsung name like you may do if you buy a different drive (or any number of other consumer electronics that up-charge for a hot brand name).

Overall, the Samsung T5 lives up to its hype. If you don't want to spend the extra money on our top pick, the T5 is a good alternative with its simple yet attractive design, fast performance, and optional password protection.

The Good

• Fast portable SSD with a pocket-size profile and optional password protection.

The Bad

• Doesn't come in a 250GB model.