SANDISK - 1TB Portable Drive - Up to 600MB/s Read Speeds, 4x Faster than HDD, Durable, Up to 2M Drop Protection, USB Type-C - Black

Used this to download an entire master course I was learning from so I didn’t need WiFi to play any videos or assignments. Was worried about the playback speed b it actually works great and is so simple to use

As someone in the tech industry, mobile storage has become an integral part of my day-to-day. I always carry around several 64GB to 256GB USB 3.1/3.2 thumb drives in my backpack. For larger capacity storage (such as 1TB), I've typically had to resort to traditional portable mechanical hard drives such as my WD Passport Ultra. This is because larger capacity USB thumb drives that are 1TB+ with decent read/write speeds start to get absurdly expensive. Meet the SanDisk 1TB Portable SSD drive: the perfect combination of portability, performance, and cost. The performance of this little pocket-sized 1TB drive has exceeded my expectations. For testing purposes, I put this up against my WD My Passport Ultra 4TB portable mechanical HDD. Both were tested using USB-C connections. I benchmarked them on CrystalDiskMark 9 with 5 passes and a 4GiB test size as well as a 16GiB test size. I then also performed some real world file transfer tests. CrystalDiskMark 9 Benchmark Results (screenshots also provided): 4 GiB test size: -SanDisk Portable SSD: 661.98 MB/s sequential read, 652.90 MB/s sequential write. -WD My Passport Ultra HDD: 109.19 MB/s sequential read, 97.49 MB/s sequential write. -Comparison Result: SanDisk delivered approximately 6.1× faster reads and 6.7× faster writes. The SanDisk even EXCEEDED its rated read speed! 16 GiB test size: -SanDisk Portable SSD: 662.12 MB/s sequential read, 652.17 MB/s sequential write. -WD My Passport Ultra HDD: 109.47 MB/s sequential read, 97.51 MB/s sequential write. -Result Comparison: SanDisk delivered approximately 6.0× faster reads and 6.7× faster writes. Again, exceeding its stated read speed! Both drives maintained remarkably consistent sequential performance between the 4 GiB and 16 GiB benchmarks. Real World 50 GiB File Transfer Results (observed speeds): Write test (PC NVMe → External Drive): -SanDisk Portable SSD: Maintained approximately 600 MB/s for the first 60% of the transfer, then fluctuated between 480–550 MB/s for the remainder. -WD My Passport Ultra HDD: Approximately 100 MB/s, with an estimated total transfer time of around 9 minutes. -Result Comparison: The SanDisk was approximately 5–6× faster during this practical write workload. Read test (External Drive → PC NVMe): -SanDisk Portable SSD: Maintained approximately 580–590 MB/s throughout the transfer, with an estimated completion time of 1 minute 32 seconds. -WD My Passport Ultra HDD: Approximately 103 MB/s observed, with an estimated completion time of 8 minutes 40 seconds. -Comparison Result: The SanDisk delivered approximately 5.7× faster real world read speeds. The SanDisk 1TB Portable SSD performed exceptionally well for a drive advertised at up to 600 MB/s read speeds. It even exceeded that specification in CrystalDiskMark. In real world testing, it transferred a single 50 GiB file at nearly 600 MB/s when reading, while maintaining respectable write speeds even after a moderate slowdown during prolonged transfers. Compared with my WD My Passport Ultra mechanical HDD, the SanDisk delivered approximately 5–7× faster sequential transfer performance, which makes it a substantial upgrade for moving large files, backups, and everyday portable storage for me. If you need something portable to carry in your pocket or bag that will offer blazing fast transfer speeds, and that won't break the bank, I couldn't recommend this SanDisk drive enough!

Being a professional photographer for over 20 years, I have used SanDisk products extensively. From old compact flash cards, to modern SD cards, external SSD drives, and USB thumb drives, Sandisk has always been a name that I can trust with my work. With the recent hike in memory and SSD drives due to AI, having an affordable SSD on the market is welcome. The new SanDisk 1TB 600MB/s solid state drives have apparently sacrificed a little bit of the speed to become more affordable. This drive is actually so small that it would be easy to lose if you're not careful. See my attached photo of the drive next to a guitar pick for reference. Personally, I think the size is a good thing because it takes up less space in your bag and is lighter as well. Being a photographer, I subscribe to the notion that less weight and space in your kit is always a good thing. Even though the drive is small, thin, and light, it does feel very well made and has a nice embossed grip on the top of the drive. While the speed of this drive isn't 2000 MB/s like the larger extreme series SSDs on the market, it is still very fast and efficient at 600 MB/s. I copied a mix of 12,299 files, photos, videos, and MP3’s directly from my Android phone to the drive using the new SANDISK app and it took about six minutes. The total transfer size was about 97GB of information. This calculates that the drive's efficiency for that transfer overall, was actually 275 MB/s. I then ran Blackmagic Disk Speed Test on my Mac and the results were 616 MB/s read and 564 write. There was only a slight variance each time I ran the test, so it seems that the SSD speed is as advertised. Having 1TB for storage is plenty if you are doing mostly photos with a few videos sprinkled in. As previously mentioned, I copied over 12,000 files, which took about 97GB of space and only used 10% of the drive space. This is a great way to save family photos and videos and there is still plenty of additional room to add your entire MP3 catalog for mobile trips and even vacations. SanDisk have also conveniently given us a small lanyard hole on the top corner of the drive so you can hang this around your neck if you want. Great for photographers, or even people who go to trade shows or business meetings where you need to bring your work to access quickly. In conclusion, SanDisk has always been there for me as a trusted name for my business and file storage. If you need an affordable, small, extremely portable, light, SSD that won't break the bank but is still plenty fast enough to move your files quickly, look no further than these new SanDisk 1TB drives. *** PROS *** Extremely small and light, yet built tough Fast data speeds Great app and compatibility SSD / USB-C *** CONS *** None

This is the perfect compact portable backup drive for my needs. It also exceeds all of my file backup expectations and it crushes the previous HDD backup drives I've owned. I have been looking for a small SSD drive for a long time that I could backup all of the files from my phone, camera, drone, and laptop when I travel. The problem until now, has been the cost for a fast SSD drive was more than a compact HDD and it just wasn't economical enough for me. But, this drive is right in the sweet-spot of cost per Mb and my budget. I am a hobbyist travel photographer and typically capture 20Gb to 30Gb of photos/videos along with documents during my travel shoots. This drive by SanDisk has plenty of space for my entire trip to store everything safely and securely. In fact I think I could store everything on here for a 1-year trip. The fast 600MB/s speed also takes my backup time down to just a few minutes. The documentation says this drive can withstand a 2 meter (6.6 feet) drop, but I chose not to test that claim out. An unexpected bonus for me is its compact size. This drive is much smaller and lighter than I expected it would be when I opened the package. After doing my backups one day, I stuck it into my shirt pocket and and put my camera and laptop away. I had completely forgotten where I put my drive until an hour later that I found it when I was eating dinner. I couldn't feel it because it was so light and small at only 1.12 ounces. I'm going to have to get a travel storage case just so I don't lose it. This drive uses a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbs) connection, which my laptop has. It includes a very short (5.75") cable, which helps maintain the rated speed. But, a short cable isn't always practical, especially if you are using this with a desktop. It is also about the same thickness as my phone. In addition, they have a very nice, easy to use SanDisk App for managing your backups, which can be run manually or on a schedule. It works quickly and can be used to backup or restore your files from this drive. The only thing I wish the drive and App supported is the ability to encrypt the contents of this drive and unlock it with a password or pin. Overall, I have absolutely no complaints. This drive is rugged and well made to SanDisk standards and is backed by a 3-year warranty. More importantly, it is fast and its compact size makes it perfect for the traveler who needs to backup multiple devices on the go. I feel the price makes this drive an exceptional value and I would highly recommend this drive. It would also make a great gift.

If you want an ultra-portable external drive that you can slide into a pocket or bag without worrying about it breaking, this drive hits the mark. It’s less than 3 inches long and barely an ounce in weight (honestly, I wish it had a little more heft to it) and it’s noticeably smaller than a credit card. It’s unlike the traditional “stick” USB thumb drives that we’ve all come to know. The solid state drive inside and the plastic covering purportedly give you about 2 meters worth of drop protection. Now, if I’m being honest, I never thought much about dropping plastic USB thumbdrives (I’m not talking about hard drives) and causing them to break. At the same time, I’m also not very careful, often just throwing them in my bag and treating them as disposable. Given how I treat mine, I am pleased to see companies making an effort to make them more durable. One caveat is that this is not Sandisk’s Extreme series. It does not have water/dust resistant of those models, so it may not be suited for those out in the field, but for the desk warrior or commuters, the impact resistance is surely more than adequate. In the box you get the drive itself and a really short USB C cable (it’s approximately 3-4 inches long). It’s rocking USB 3.2 Gen 2 storage. Putting technical mambo jumbo aside, USB 3.2 Gen 2 basically allows external solid state storage to catch up to the speed of internal drives (which have always been faster). I ran CrystalDiskMark on the drive and got 648.71 MB/s read speeds and 639.29 MB/s write speeds which is extremely fast. I transferred 16 video files (totaling 8.2 GBs) from my laptop to the drive. It transferred so fast I was unable to capture a screenshot. It literally took less than 15 seconds. That speed is virtually unheard of with our traditional thumb drives. The high speeds are even more important the larger the drive. Not once did the drive feel warm (and it isn’t expected to). Most computers/laptops have USB-C ports out in the wild, but to the extent you only have USB-A (the rectangle port) you will need an adapter or your own cable. Another potential downside is no hardware encryption for security. It is completely reliant on software solutions, such as Bitlocker, to encrypt and protect your data in the event you lose it. All in all, a terrific little drive that has more than enough speed to quickly move files. It’s a little bigger than a traditional thumb drive (which I like, as the small sticks are easy to lose) but is still light as a feather with a small footprint.