Alternatives guide
The plain Samsung T7 is the one recorded alternative to the Shield: the same interface, speeds and encryption, with a 2 m drop rating and no water rating.
A ruggedised portable solid state drive using the USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface, with an IP 65 water rating, a three metre drop rating and AES 256-bit hardware encryption.
Full product researchThere is one recorded alternative to the Samsung T7 Shield in this catalogue, and it is the drive the Shield is built on: the Samsung T7 portable SSD. Everything the Shield does not change, the T7 does the same, and the recorded differences between them are the drop rating, the water rating and the size and weight of the body.
That is worth stating plainly rather than padding the list. A page that named anything else here would have to justify the overlap from the recorded data, and in the storage category there is nothing else recorded to justify it.
The T7 Shield is recorded as a ruggedised portable solid state drive with an IP 65 water resistance rating and a drop resistance of up to 3 m. Its recorded interface is USB 3.2 Gen 2 at 10 Gbps, its recorded read speed is up to 1,050 MB/sec and its recorded write speed is up to 1,000 MB/sec. Its recorded capacities are 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB, its recorded encryption is AES 256-bit hardware encryption, its recorded weight is 98 g and its recorded dimensions are 59 by 88 by 13 mm. The recorded warranty is three years, limited, and the recorded operating systems are Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.10 or later and Android Lollipop or later.
The interface, the two speed figures, the three capacities, the encryption and the warranty are all recorded identically for the plain T7. A buyer moving between the two drives is moving between the same specification.
The recorded differences are physical. The plain T7 records a drop resistance of up to 2 m, a metre less than the Shield, and no water resistance rating at all. It records dimensions of 85 by 57 by 8 mm against the Shield's 59 by 88 by 13 mm, so it is the flatter and narrower object. Its recorded weight is 72 g on the datasheet and 2.0 oz on the product page, and the catalogue marks that entry as conflicting, so the gap to the Shield's recorded 98 g is close to 26 g without being an exact figure.
Its recorded description calls it a pocket-sized external SSD with a metal body, and its recorded audience is people who need fast portable storage for large files and travel frequently.
The Shield is the one to choose when the drive travels somewhere it might be dropped or get wet, because that is the only difference the record draws. The plain T7 is the one to choose when the drive lives in a laptop bag between a desk and a sofa, because the smaller, flatter body is recorded for that and the ratings add nothing there.
No price is recorded for either drive, and no sustained transfer figure is recorded for either. The plain T7's weight is marked as conflicting between two manufacturer pages, and the catalogue publishes that disagreement rather than resolving it by choosing a figure. Neither drive records an endurance rating, a temperature range or a seal detail behind the Shield's IP 65 code.
Methodology
How the products below were evaluated and chosen.
What decides between them
Whether the drive gets dropped or wet, and how much space it takes up in the bag. Everything else recorded for the two drives, the interface, the speeds, the capacities, the encryption and the warranty, is identical, so no other recorded value separates them.
Differences
The differences that change the buying decision.
The plain T7: the same specification in a smaller, flatter body
The interface, the read and write speeds, the capacities, the AES 256-bit encryption and the three year warranty are recorded identically for the T7. What changes is the physical side: a recorded drop resistance of up to 2 m instead of 3 m, no recorded water rating, dimensions of 85 by 57 by 8 mm and a recorded weight of 72 g on the datasheet against the Shield's 98 g.
The T7 Shield: the same specification with the ratings added
The Shield keeps the recorded interface, speeds, capacities, encryption and warranty and adds a recorded IP 65 water rating and a drop resistance of up to 3 m. The cost is the recorded weight of 98 g and the recorded dimensions of 59 by 88 by 13 mm, which make it the larger object of the two.
Products
Why it is here: The subject of this page. Its recorded IP 65 water resistance, 3 m drop resistance, 98 g weight and 59 by 88 by 13 mm body are what the alternative is measured against.
Interface: USB 3.2 Gen 2, 10 Gbps
Why it is here: The only other drive in the catalogue, so the only recorded alternative. It shares the interface, speeds, capacities and encryption, and changes the drop rating to 2 m, drops the water rating and records a smaller body.
Interface: USB 3.2 Gen 2, 10 Gbps
Notes
What the record does not settle
No price is recorded for either drive, no sustained transfer figure is recorded for either, and the T7's weight is marked as conflicting between the datasheet and the product page. The catalogue publishes that disagreement rather than choosing a figure.FAQ
The Samsung T7 portable SSD. It is recorded with the same USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface, the same peak speed figures, the same 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB capacities and the same AES 256-bit hardware encryption.
Source:Samsung T7 datasheet
No. The plain T7 records a drop resistance of up to 2 m and no water resistance rating, while the Shield records an IP 65 water rating and a drop resistance of up to 3 m.
Source:Samsung T7 datasheet
No. The recorded capacities are 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB for both drives, so the choice between them is not a choice about how much data the drive holds.
Source:Samsung T7 Shield datasheet
The Shield records 98 g. The plain T7 records 72 g on the datasheet and 2.0 oz on the product page, and the catalogue marks that entry as conflicting between the two manufacturer pages.
Source:Samsung T7 datasheet
Yes. Both record AES 256-bit hardware encryption, and hardware encryption appears in the recorded feature list for each of them.
Source:Samsung T7 Shield datasheet
On the record, yes. Both record USB 3.2 Gen 2 at 10 Gbps, a read speed of up to 1,050 MB/sec and a write speed of up to 1,000 MB/sec, and both of those figures are peaks rather than sustained rates.
Source:Samsung T7 Shield datasheet
Keep researching
The Samsung T7 Shield is a ruggedised portable SSD with an IP 65 water rating, a 3 m drop rating, AES 256-bit encryption and USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds.
The recorded water resistance for the Samsung T7 Shield is IP 65. That is the rating the manufacturer states, and the record adds no immersion detail.
