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Samsung X5 Review: A Crazy Fast Thunderbolt 3-Exclusive Portable SSD

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If most portable SSD drives are fast cars, the new Samsung X5 Portable SSD is like a private jet. It's super-fast, luxurious, and expensive. Most importantly, it's not for everyone.

This is because the drive works with Thunderbolt 3 exclusively. Consequently, it's not compatible with any other connection types, including USB and even Thunderbolt 2.

If your computer, be it a Mac or Windows machine, is Thunderbolt 3-ready, the Samsung X5 is awesome in every way. On the other hand, the drive is just an expensive paperweight for the vast number of existing computers with USB or older Thunderbolt standards.

Considering the new X5's hefty price of between $400 (500GB) to almost $1400 (2TB), make sure your computer has Thunderbolt 3 before getting it.

Dong's note: This post was first published on Aug 28, 2018, as a preview and upgraded to a full review on September 28.

Samsung X Thunderbolt 3 SSD
The Samsung X5 Portable SSD comes in a nice retail box.

Samsung X5: Familiar yet totally different

At first glance, the X5 is very similar to Samsung's previous portable drives, such as the Samsung Portable SSD T5. It's a compact drive—though clearly larger than the T5—with a single cable that does both data and power. What's more, the new drive is also rugged and can handle shocks of drops from up to 6.6 feet (2 meters).

On the inside, it's totally different, however. This is the first portable SSD I've reviewed that uses an NVMe SSDs instead of mSATA. In fact, it uses the Samsung SSD 970 Evo, which is why it's a new class of performance.

This also means the drive has all the features of the NVMe drive, including Samsung's Dynamic Thermal Guard technology and AES 256-bit hardware data encryption.

The former allows the drive to sustain long operation without overheating, and the latter protects the information it stores against loss or thief.

X5Plug
The Samsung X5 has no port for an external power adapter and hence won't work with a USB-C port which doesn't provide enough juice to power it.

Out of the box, the X5 is formatted in the exFAT file system. As a result, you'll be able to use it across platforms (Windows or Mac) without having to reformat it.

If you want to use it as a boot or Time Machine backup drive for a Mac, though, you'll need to reformat it into a Mac-native file system.

Samsung X5: Hardware specifications

InterfaceThunderbolt 3 (40Gbps)
Thunderbolt controllerIntel Alpine Ridge DSL6340
Internal SSDSamsung NVMe 970 Evo
CompatibilityMacs (10.2 and later), 
Windows (10 1608 and later)
Capacities2TB; 1TB; 500GB
Dimensions119 x 62 x 19.7 mm 
(4.7 x 2.4 x 0.8 inches)
Weight150 grams (5.3 oz.)
Ceiling copy speedUp to 2,800 MB/s read; 
Up to 2,300 MB/s write. 
(500GB: up to 2,100 MB/s)
Encryption supportAES 256-bit hardware encryption
SecurityPassword protection (optional) 
via Samsung Portable SSD Software
WarrantyThree years
Samsung X5's hardware specifications

Not backward compatible at all

The biggest shortcoming of the X5 is the lack of compatibility. The drive works only with Thunderbolt 3. You will not be able to use it with Thunderbolt 2 or the original Thunderbolt, which uses a different port type.

And the X5 doesn't work with USB-C, either, though you can plug it into that port. The reason is that even though Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C share the same port type, they are of two different interface standards entirely.

Thunderbolt 3 devices need more power than a USB-C port can supply, and the X5 doesn't have an extra port for an external power adapter.

In short, while all Thunderbolt 3 ports can function as a USB-C (USB 3.1 Gen 2) port, all USB-C ports can only host USB devices. And the Samsung X5 is a prime example of this fact. This might lead to some confusion since end-users can mistake one standard for another.

By the way, I tried the X5 with USB-C anyway. On a Mac, nothing happened. Interestingly, on a Windows computer, it was recognized and listed on the device list, but that was it.

Single Thunderbolt 3 port

For a portable drive of its size, it's quite normal that the Samsung X5 has just one Thunderbolt 3 port. However, this means you won't be able to plug any other Thunderbolt into it.

As a result, if your computer has just one Thunderbolt port and you want to use more than one Thunderbolt 3 device, make sure your other devices have two ports.

Per Thunderbolt 3's specification, you can daisy chain up to 7 devices together without losing performance. You can use the X5 only at the end of a chain.

Samsung X5’s detail photos

X5Box
The Samsung X5's retail box.

X5
The drive has one Thunderbolt 3 port and comes with a TB3 cable.

X5HandTop
The Samsung X5 is quite compact and comes with a chassis that's super shiny on top.

X5HandBottom
On the underside, the drive has an eye-catching bright red base.

X5vsOthers
The Samsung X5 is next to the Samsung T5, the WD My Passport SSD, and the SanDisk Extreme.

Effective security feature, bootable

Pre-loaded on the Samsung X5 is the installer of Samsung Portable SSD Software (SPSS) for Windows and Mac. Once installed, you can use the application to check the drive's status and turn on its security feature to password-protect its content.

In all, this security feature worked well in my testing. Like other drives, such as the Samsung T5 or the WD My Passport SSD, once the security mode is turned on, the X5 has a small separate 40MB partition that holds a copy of SPSS. This enables you to unlock the drive even when you plug it into a different computer for the first time.

The Samsung Portable SSD Software work primarily as the security tool for the Samsung X5.
The Samsung Portable SSD Software work primarily as the security tool for the Samsung X5.

Keep in mind that if you choose to use this feature, you must remember the password. Else, you'll permanently lose access to your data.

Also, if you turn on the security feature, you can't use the X5 as a boot drive. Otherwise, the drive worked fine as a boot drive in my testing.

Samsung X5: New class of portable storage performance

The Samsung X5 Portable SSD is by far the fastest portable drive I've worked with.

I tested it by copying 80GB of data from a computer that runs on the Samsung SSD 970 Pro. The drive had sustained speeds of more than 1600 MB/s for both writing and reading. These were some three times that of even the fastest SATA-based portable SSDs.

Samsung Portable SSD X5

At this speed, you can finish copying two CDs worth of data in less than one second. As a result, the new portable drive can function as a storage device for even the most demanding tasks, such as 4K editing or rendering real-time 3D images.

Samsung Portable SSD X5's Rating

8 out of 10
X5
Performance
9.5 out of 10
Features
7 out of 10
Design and Setup
8.5 out of 10
Value
7 out of 10

Pros

Super-fast performance

Solid, pretty, rugged design

Compatible with Windows and Mac right out of the box

Useful and effective security feature

Can work as a boot drive

Cons

Only works with Thunderbolt 3

Expensive

Only one Thunderbolt 3 port

The 3-year warranty is a bit short.

Conclusion

Though super-fast, Thunderbolt 3 is only available in the latest Macs and some new Windows machines. That said, the Samsung Portable SSD X5 is a bit of a niche drive. It won't work with most existing computers.

But for those few who can use and afford it, this is the ultimate portable drive with unmatched performance.

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8 thoughts on “Samsung X5 Review: A Crazy Fast Thunderbolt 3-Exclusive Portable SSD”

  1. I do not even know how I ended up here, however, I thought this publish was great. I don’t realize who you might be but definitely, you are going to be a famous blogger when you aren’t already. Cheers!

    Reply
      • Thank you friend, I am not quite sure because there are several reviews on Amazon which are stating that this drive is not compatible for booting Mac OS because of its encryption.

        Reply
        • Thats true. You can’t use it as a boot drive if you turn the security on which is off by default. So if you intend to use it as a boot drive, you’ll need to reformat it into Mac’s native file system and do not use the security feature.

          Reply

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