Best Portable Ssds · head-to-head

Samsung T9 Portable SSD vs LaCie Rugged SSD Pro

A sourced, side-by-side comparison. Samsung T9 Portable SSD is cheaper at $140. Every spec and price links to its source.

Which is better: the Samsung T9 Portable SSD or LaCie Rugged SSD Pro?

The LaCie Rugged SSD Pro wins 3 of the 3 specs we compare head to head; the other wins 0. The Samsung T9 Portable SSD is the cheaper at $140. Get the LaCie Rugged SSD Pro for the stronger spec sheet, the Samsung T9 Portable SSD to spend less.

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Key specs, head to head

The numbers that decide it, drawn to scale — longer bar wins, the accent bar is the stronger figure.

Read (Mbps)
Samsung T9 Portable SSD 2000
LaCie Rugged SSD Pro 2800
Write (Mbps)
Samsung T9 Portable SSD 1950
LaCie Rugged SSD Pro 2300

Full spec sheet

marks the stronger figure where "more" — or "less", for price and weight — is unambiguously better.

Spec Samsung T9 Portable SSD LaCie Rugged SSD Pro
US price $140 $200
BrandSamsungLaCie
Released2023-102019
Capacity (GB) 1000 1000
Read (Mbps) 2000 2800
Write (Mbps) 1950 2300
Interface USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C
Encryption AES 256-bit hardware
IP rating IP67
Weight (g) 122 100
Release 2023-10 2019

Sources — Samsung T9 Portable SSD: storagereview.com (verified 2026-06-15). LaCie Rugged SSD Pro: seagate.com (verified 2026-06-15).

What's the difference between the Samsung T9 Portable SSD and LaCie Rugged SSD Pro?

Where the two actually differ on the specs we track (4 of 7). Matching specs are omitted.

  • Read (Mbps): Samsung T9 Portable SSD 2000 vs LaCie Rugged SSD Pro 2800
  • Write (Mbps): Samsung T9 Portable SSD 1950 vs LaCie Rugged SSD Pro 2300
  • Interface: Samsung T9 Portable SSD USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) vs LaCie Rugged SSD Pro Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C
  • Weight (g): Samsung T9 Portable SSD 122 vs LaCie Rugged SSD Pro 100

What reviewers say

Sourced tester consensus for each — the "what people who used it think" layer, not just specs.

Samsung T9 Portable SSD

Across three whitelisted lab reviews (StorageReview, TechRadar, PCWorld), the Samsung T9 is a fast, rugged USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 portable SSD that nears the ~2,000 MB/s interface ceiling, but is only a middle-of-the-pack 20Gbps performer, is overpriced at launch, and needs a rare USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port to hit those speeds. (3 sourced reviews, 3 lab-tested.)

Praised: Fast Gen 2x2 performance, near the theoretical interface limits (roughly 1,900-2,000 MB/s reads); Rugged, premium build with a grippy textured/sculpted exterior; Strong sustained-write / large-file transfer behavior, especially on higher capacities.

Flagged: Expensive at launch versus the T7 and rival 2x2 drives; Only middle-of-the-pack among 20Gbps drives; SanDisk Extreme Pro V2 / Crucial X10 Pro faster; Requires a rare USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port or speed is roughly halved.

LaCie Rugged SSD Pro

Only one whitelisted outlet (Tom's Hardware) has a hands-on, benchmarked review of this exact Thunderbolt 3 model. It rates the drive fast and cool-running with a rugged IP67 build, but flags a small SLC write cache, a steep price (about twice a typical 10 Gbps SSD), and the lack of AES hardware encryption found on the cheaper non-Pro Rugged SSD. (1 sourced review, 1 lab-tested.)

Praised: Competitive Thunderbolt 3 speed: ATTO ~2,450/2,130 MB/s read/write, peaking near 2.8/2.4 GB/s in iometer; Runs cool and avoids thermal throttling under sustained load, unlike the Samsung X5; Rugged IP67 build (3m drop, car-crush rated) with 5-year warranty plus Rescue data-recovery service.

Flagged: Small SLC write cache: sustained writes fall from ~2.1 GB/s to ~1.1 GB/s after roughly 25GB; Very expensive, about twice the cost of most 10 Gbps portable SSDs; Lacks 256-bit AES hardware encryption that the cheaper non-Pro Rugged SSD includes.

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