Fastest Portable SSD Showdown 2025: Samsung T9 vs SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4 vs Crucial X10 Pro

Need a blazing-fast portable SSD for your data-intensive tasks? In this showdown, we compare three of 2025’s top contenders: Samsung’s Portable SSD T9, SanDisk’s Extreme PRO USB4, and Crucial’s X10 Pro. These drives promise extreme speeds, high capacities, and rugged designs geared toward content creators, gamers, and professionals. But which one truly delivers the best blend of performance and value? In this in-depth comparison, we’ll dig into technical specs, real-world performance, build quality, software features, pricing, and what experts and users are saying about each. By the end, you’ll know how the T9, Extreme PRO USB4, and X10 Pro stack up – and which might be the fastest portable SSD for your needs.

Detailed Technical Specifications

Let’s start with a specs rundown for each SSD, including interface type, rated speeds, available capacities, security features, and other key hardware details:

Samsung T9 Portable SSD: Samsung’s T9 is built on the USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 interface (20 Gbps) – essentially two 10 Gbps lanes combined news.samsung.com news.samsung.com. This yields theoretical peak speeds up to 2,000 MB/s for sequential reads and about 1,950 MB/s writes on the 1TB and 2TB models (the 4TB version is rated 2000 MB/s read and write) digitalcitizen.life news.samsung.com. It comes in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities digitalcitizen.life, using Samsung’s in-house TLC NAND and controller pcgamer.com. The T9 includes AES 256-bit hardware encryption with password protection support via Samsung’s software digitalcitizen.life news.samsung.com. Notably, it has Samsung’s Dynamic Thermal Guard tech to manage heat, keeping external shell temperatures below 60 °C under load digitalcitizen.life. The drive features a single USB-C port and ships with two cables (USB-C to C and USB-C to A) for compatibility with new and old ports digitalcitizen.life digitalcitizen.life. Samsung backs the T9 with a 5-year limited warranty digitalcitizen.life news.samsung.com.

SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4: SanDisk’s flagship uses the cutting-edge USB4 interface (40 Gbps) – double the bandwidth of Gen2x2 – making it one of the first portable SSDs with USB4 westerndigital.com. It supports up to 3,800 MB/s read and 3,700 MB/s write speeds at full tilt westerndigital.com. To harness this, you’ll need a true USB4 or Thunderbolt 4 port; the drive is backward-compatible with USB 3.x and even USB 2.0, albeit at lower speeds creativebloq.com shop.sandisk.com. The Extreme PRO USB4 comes in 2TB and 4TB capacities (no 1TB model) creativebloq.com, and inside it likely contains an M.2 NVMe SSD (possibly a full-size 2280 form factor) paired with a USB4 bridge controller techradar.com. Unlike the Samsung and Crucial, the SanDisk does not feature user-manageable hardware encryption (it supports software-based encryption via SanDisk’s apps) support-en.sandisk.com. It does, however, include advanced power management and is bus-powered through its USB-C port. SanDisk provides a 5-year warranty on this drive shop.sandisk.com shop.sandisk.com.

Crucial X10 Pro: Crucial’s X10 Pro also uses a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20 Gbps) interface, similar to the Samsung T9 thessdreview.com. It’s rated for sequential speeds up to 2,100 MB/s reads and 2,000 MB/s writes across all capacities thessdreview.com investors.micron.com. The X10 Pro is available in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB sizes thessdreview.com. Under the hood, it utilizes Micron 3D TLC NAND and a single-chip architecture (Silicon Motion SM2320 controller with native USB) to achieve an ultra-compact form factor dongknows.com tomshardware.com. The X10 Pro stands out by offering built-in AES 256-bit hardware encryption with Crucial’s software – everything written to the drive can be automatically encrypted/decrypted on the fly thessdreview.com. (This feature was absent on the base X9 Pro model, but the Pro adds it along with the higher speed and warranty thessdreview.com.) Like the others, it has a USB-C port and comes with a USB-C to C cable (about 6.5 inches long) in the box tomshardware.com. Crucial also gives a 5-year limited warranty for the X10 Pro, an upgrade over the 3-year warranty on the non-Pro X10 thessdreview.com.

Port Compatibility Note: Both the Samsung T9 and Crucial X10 Pro require a 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen2x2-capable port to hit their 2 GB/s speed claims – a port type that remains relatively uncommon on many PCs (especially laptops) digitalcitizen.life tomshardware.com. On systems without Gen2x2 (most USB-C ports are still 10 Gbps), these drives will run at “half speed” (~1,000 MB/s). The SanDisk Extreme PRO, with its USB4 interface, needs a USB4 or Thunderbolt4 port for full 40 Gbps performance; it will work on USB 3.2 ports too, just at lower speeds (e.g. ~1,100 MB/s on a 10 Gbps port) creativebloq.com. In short, each drive is only as fast as the port you connect it to – a critical point to consider.

Performance Benchmarks and Real-World Testing

All three SSDs are extremely fast in real-world use, easily outpacing older external drives, but there are differences in peak throughput and sustained performance.

• Samsung T9 Performance: In everyday file transfers, the T9 delivers “blazing speeds of up to 2 GB/s” if you have the right 20 Gbps USB-C port digitalcitizen.life. In a test copying large files, a reviewer saw write speeds slightly above 1.0 GB/s (1000+ MB/s) and read speeds around 1.24 GB/s when moving a multi-gigabyte file – already faster than typical USB 3.2 Gen2 SSDs digitalcitizen.life digitalcitizen.life. Using CrystalDiskMark benchmarks, the T9 actually hit over 2000 MB/s sequentially (matching its spec) on a high-queue-depth test digitalcitizen.life. Random 4K reads/writes were also impressive – the T9 scored about 446 MB/s in 4K QD32 reads and 35 MB/s in 4K QD1 reads, roughly twice as fast as a competing Kingston drive for small files digitalcitizen.life. In PCMark 10’s storage test, it outscored a rival 20Gbps SSD slightly digitalcitizen.life. Overall, the consensus is the T9 offers excellent real-world throughput and consistency. It can transfer a 4GB Full HD video in ~2 seconds, or a 21GB 4K video in ~12 seconds, under optimal conditions news.samsung.com. Thermal performance is stable thanks to Dynamic Thermal Guard – even copying a 500GB file continuously, the T9’s exterior stayed around 45 °C (113 °F) and internals around 64 °C, with no major throttling observed digitalcitizen.life digitalcitizen.life. Sustained write speeds hold up well; one 4TB T9 review noted it could maintain ~1 GB/s continuously “seemingly endlessly” on large transfers pcgamer.com, thanks in part to Samsung’s quality components and effective heat dissipation. That reviewer highlighted the T9’s consistency as a strength – it doesn’t just hit high peaks, it sustains high throughput over time pcgamer.com pcgamer.com. The only performance caveat: if used on a non-Gen2x2 port, the T9 will top out around the USB 10Gbps limit (~1000–1050 MB/s). On the right hardware, though, it’s among the fastest USB 3.x drives you can get.
• SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4 Performance: This drive’s headline achievement is reaching near NVMe-internal SSD speeds over a USB interface. SanDisk advertises up to 3800/3700 MB/s, and reviewers have confirmed it nearly hits those numbers: “The best I could draw from it were 3691.5 MB/s read and 3707.1 MB/s write over USB4, which is really very good,” one review noted creativebloq.com. In other words, the Extreme PRO USB4 delivers on its promised performance. It effectively saturates the USB4 40Gbps link – putting it in a different class above the ~2000 MB/s Gen2x2 drives. However, performance scales down on slower connections exactly as expected. Over a standard 10 Gbps USB 3.2 port, the same drive managed about 1100 MB/s reads and 1092 MB/s writes, essentially maxing out the 10Gbps bandwidth and slightly edging out a Crucial X9 (USB 10Gbps) drive in that scenario creativebloq.com. On a legacy 5 Gbps USB 3.0 port, it hit ~460 MB/s, and on USB 2.0 it dropped to ~40 MB/s creativebloq.com creativebloq.com – so it’s backward compatible, but naturally limited by those older standards. Interestingly, some tests uncovered that using a Thunderbolt 4 port (which should support USB4 devices) can impose a slight performance penalty on this drive. A TechRadar investigation found write speeds about 500 MB/s lower when the Extreme PRO was connected via an Intel Thunderbolt4 port, compared to a native USB4 port techradar.com techradar.com. This appears to be an interoperability quirk with certain TB4 host chipsets and USB4 devices, not a flaw in the drive itself – indeed the reviewer saw the same behavior with a competitor’s USB4 SSD on TB4 ports techradar.com. The takeaway: for best results, use a true USB4 port (or ensure your TB4 port fully supports USB4 throughput) to unlock this SanDisk’s top speed. In real-world terms, when running full tilt the Extreme PRO can copy, render, or backup data at 3–3.7 GB/s – roughly 3× faster than the Samsung T9 or Crucial X10 Pro on their best day creativebloq.com. That means huge files and projects transfer in seconds. In mixed benchmarking, the SanDisk performed excellently (e.g., ~3.3 GB/s in AJA 64GB video tests) but not universally better than every rival; a Corsair USB4 drive beat it in some read tests while trailing in writes techradar.com techradar.com techradar.com techradar.com. Still, the Extreme PRO USB4 is firmly among the fastest external SSDs available. Importantly, it maintains stability under load – the aluminum chassis helps keep it cool, and no major throttling issues have been reported. The drive can consume a fair bit of power when pushing 40Gbps speeds, but it functioned even on USB2 power (albeit with a warning) creativebloq.com. In summary, the SanDisk Extreme PRO offers “blazingly fast [USB4] speeds” that approach PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe performance in an external device creativebloq.com creativebloq.com. Just remember its motto: best on USB4 creativebloq.com.
• Crucial X10 Pro Performance: Don’t let its tiny size fool you – the X10 Pro is a USB speed demon in its own right. In fact, Tom’s Hardware crowned it “the fastest 20Gb/s SSD we’ve tested” in late 2023 tomshardware.com. With the proper USB 3.2 Gen2x2 host, the X10 Pro achieves or very nearly reaches its 2100 MB/s read / 2000 MB/s write specs. AnandTech’s testing, for example, showed numbers close to those in ATTO and other benchmarks anandtech.com. CrystalDiskMark results likewise hovered around the 2 GB/s mark. In practical file transfers, the X10 Pro will feel similar to the Samsung T9 – roughly 2× the speed of older 10Gbps drives. But Crucial’s device also excels in consistency and sustained throughput. Thanks to a large SLC cache and good thermal design, it was observed to maintain nearly 1 GB/s average write speed over a 15-minute constant write test (approximately 983 MB/s, just a hair behind the Samsung T7 Shield’s 994 MB/s in the same test) tomshardware.com. That means even when dumping hundreds of gigabytes, the X10 Pro doesn’t bog down to the extremely low speeds that some cheaper externals do once their cache fills. In day-to-day use, transferring smaller files and folders, users report the X10 Pro “feels very snappy” and benefits from low latency. Like the T9, it’s effectively bottlenecked by the 20Gbps interface, but it squeezes everything possible out of that pipe. One reviewer noted it even beat a Samsung T9 in some single-queue sequential tests, and handled small files nicely for an external drive digitalcitizen.life digitalcitizen.life. The X10 Pro’s metal housing and internal thermal pads help it avoid throttling – it can get warm to the touch, but stays within safe temps during heavy use (its anodized aluminum unibody dissipates heat while the rubber coating remains only mildly warm). There’s no fan or moving parts of course, and power draw is within standard USB limits. Importantly, if you connect the X10 Pro to a normal 10 Gbps USB-C port, it will perform like a high-end USB 3.2 Gen2 SSD (~1000–1050 MB/s). It really shines when you have the full 20 Gbps available. All told, the Crucial X10 Pro offers top-tier USB 3.2 Gen2x2 performance – essentially neck-and-neck with the Samsung T9 in most metrics, and more than twice as fast as Crucial’s own X9 Pro (which is a 1050 MB/s Gen2 device) creativebloq.com. As one reviewer summarized, “Crucial’s X10 Pro is the fastest 20Gb/s SSD we’ve tested… Just be sure you have a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port” to unlock its full potential tomshardware.com.

Thermal Throttling and Consistency: All three drives are engineered to handle sustained high-speed transfers without significant performance drops from overheating. Samsung explicitly advertises that its Dynamic Thermal Guard will prevent thermal shutdowns and minimize throttling, and indeed the T9 remained under 60 °C externally during stress tests, transferring “hours of 8K video… without worrying about data loss” due to heat news.samsung.com. PC Gamer noted the T9 “keeps very cool” even while seemingly endlessly writing at 1GB/s pcgamer.com. The SanDisk Extreme PRO’s large aluminum frame likewise soaks up heat; even when pushing 3–4 GB/s, it did not overheat in reviews (the limiting factor was host interface, not thermals). Crucial’s X10 Pro, being much smaller, can warm up, but its metal build and firmware manage thermals well enough that it maintains high speeds for a surprisingly long duration before any slowdown. In short, these are professional-grade drives designed for sustained workloads – none have the severe thermal throttling issues that plagued some earlier portable SSDs.

Physical Characteristics (Build, Size, and Ruggedness)

Despite all being “portable SSDs,” the Samsung T9, SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4, and Crucial X10 Pro differ markedly in their physical design, size, and durability features:

• Samsung T9 Design & Build: The T9’s design can be described as “luxury added to ruggedness,” echoing elements of the earlier T7 Shield’s durability while upping the style factor news.samsung.com. It has a solid aluminum inner frame wrapped in a black rubberized shell that features curved diagonal lines and a carbon-weave pattern – intended to give a premium, wallet-like feel and secure grip news.samsung.com. In practice, the rubber coating does a great job absorbing shocks (Samsung says the T9 survives drops up to 9.8 feet (3 meters) onto a hard surface) news.samsung.com digitalcitizen.life. The trade-off is that the rubber attracts dust and lint rather easily – reviewers noted the T9’s black skin is a bit of a “dust magnet” and can be hard to keep clean digitalcitizen.life digitalcitizen.life. The T9 is not officially water or dust resistant (no IP rating) digitalcitizen.life pcgamer.com, so while it can take a tumble, you shouldn’t let it get soaked or exposed to the elements for long. Physically, it’s somewhat larger and heavier than some competitors: a credit-card-ish footprint but 14 mm thick, measuring 88 × 60 × 14 mm (3.5″ × 2.4″ × 0.55″) and weighing about 122 g (4.3 oz) digitalcitizen.life news.samsung.com. One reviewer described it as “pleasantly weighty” in the hand – it feels sturdy and dense, reinforcing the impression of build quality pcgamer.com. The design is minimalist (just a small Samsung logo); there’s a tiny status LED. Samsung includes two short cables in the box, which is a nice touch for convenience digitalcitizen.life. Overall, the T9 gives an impression of a tough little brick of storage – understated in looks, yet able to withstand everyday knocks. Just don’t expect it to shrug off a rainstorm or a dunk, as it lacks weather sealing.
• SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4 Design & Build: SanDisk took a rugged approach with this drive. It’s the largest and heaviest of the trio by a fair margin – 140 × 68.6 × 12 mm in size and about 170 g weight creativebloq.com creativebloq.com. Essentially, it’s about the length of a smartphone but narrower, and nearly 4× the weight of the tiny Crucial X10 Pro. The bulk is due to a forged aluminum chassis on the inside and a thick rubberized silicone coating wrapped around it for shock absorption westerndigital.com techradar.com. The exterior is matte black with an orange accent around the edges and a textured pattern; there’s also a built-in carabiner loop at one end, making it easy to attach to gear or a belt creativebloq.com. SanDisk markets this as a drive for outdoor creatives, and it has the credentials: an IP65 rating for dust/water resistance and drop-tested to 2 meters (6.6 ft) creativebloq.com westerndigital.com. An IP65 rating means it can withstand low-pressure water jets and is dust-tight – essentially splash-proof and rain-proof (just ensure the USB-C port area is dry before use) techradar.com. The rubber armor and sealed design give extra confidence if you’re working in dirty or wet environments. Under the rubber, the aluminum frame not only protects the internals but also acts as a heat sink. The Extreme PRO feels extremely solid; one reviewer said it “seems remarkably solid and able to withstand plenty of knocks, drops, and even splashes” techradar.com. The downside of this robustness is the size – it’s notably larger than many competitors. In fact, it’s roughly twice the volume of a typical 2TB Gen2x2 SSD like Corsair’s EX400U or Crucial’s X10 Pro, which led at least one expert to question the necessity of the 2280 M.2 inside (SanDisk could possibly have used a smaller M.2 to reduce bulk) techradar.com. Still, if you need a tough, all-terrain drive, the Extreme PRO USB4 certainly looks and feels the part. Its design is more utilitarian; the loop and rubber coating scream “rugged drive” more so than Samsung’s sleeker approach. Also of note: SanDisk opted not to include a USB-C to A adapter or cable in the box – you get a single USB-C to C cable, assuming most users at this level have modern devices (they point out that 20Gbps USB-A cables are essentially nonexistent anyway) tomshardware.com. In summary, the Extreme PRO USB4’s build can be summed up as “armored and ready for the field” creativebloq.com – it’s built to survive harsh conditions (within reason), but you’ll notice its heft in your pocket.
• Crucial X10 Pro Design & Build: The Crucial X10 Pro takes the opposite approach to SanDisk’s in terms of size – it’s ultra-compact and lightweight. With dimensions of about 65 × 50 × 10 mm (2.56″ × 1.97″ × 0.4″), it’s literally palm-sized tomshardware.com. It weighs a mere 42 grams tomshardware.com, which is about the weight of a couple of AA batteries – you might forget it’s even in your pocket. Despite the small form, it doesn’t skimp on build quality: the X10 Pro has a unibody anodized aluminum casing that gives it a rigid, premium feel thessdreview.com. The exterior has a rubberized soft-touch paint over the metal, which improves grip and adds a bit of shock absorption. In one corner, Crucial cleverly built in a lanyard loop with an LED indicator ring inside it – the loop lets you attach the drive to a keychain or bag, and the integrated white LED blinks during disk activity thessdreview.com. This design is both practical and a cool aesthetic touch. Despite its tiny size, the X10 Pro is quite durable: it is rated IP55 for water/dust resistance (according to Crucial’s official spec, meaning it can handle dust ingress to a limited extent and light splashes of water) investors.micron.com. Notably, one review indicated an “updated IP65 rating” on newer units thessdreview.com, though Crucial’s launch press release mentioned IP55 – either way, it’s somewhat protected against the elements (just not fully waterproof). Crucial also claims the X10 Pro can survive drops up to 3 meters (10 ft), impressively on par with the larger Samsung T9 in drop height thessdreview.com. Indeed, the X10 Pro feels solid for its size – there’s no flex, and the internal SSD components are densely packed (Crucial’s single-ASIC design allows a lot of capacity in a small footprint) investors.micron.com investors.micron.com. One reviewer noted it is “virtually the smallest 4TB/8TB SSD on the planet,” with record-breaking capacity per square millimeter at launch investors.micron.com. The look of the X10 Pro is understated: a dark gray finish with Crucial branding, no flashy colors. It’s discreet and “pocketable” to the extreme. In essence, the Crucial X10 Pro gives you serious speed in a tiny, rugged-feeling package – ideal if you value portability. It may not look as overtly “rugged” as the SanDisk (no rubber bumper or eye-catching accents), but it feels well-built and has the necessary certifications to handle real-life travel and field work. For many, the fact that this drive is so small and light yet still has an aluminum shell and drop protection is a major selling point.

Summary of Ruggedness: In terms of official rugged ratings: SanDisk (Extreme PRO) leads with IP65 and 2m drop resistance westerndigital.com, Crucial (X10 Pro) is close behind with IP55/65 and 3m drop resistance thessdreview.com investors.micron.com, and Samsung (T9) offers 3m drop but no IP rating digitalcitizen.life news.samsung.com. All three have rubberized coatings to help survive drops. If your primary concern is extreme environmental durability (dust storms, heavy rain), the SanDisk is the safest bet with its IP65 sealing. If portability and low weight are paramount, the Crucial wins handily. Samsung’s T9 strikes a middle ground in size and has a premium feel, but you’d want to keep it dry and clean. Each comes with a status LED and USB-C connector; only Samsung gives a USB-A cable in the box for older devices. And all have a 5-year warranty, reflecting confidence in their build quality digitalcitizen.life shop.sandisk.com thessdreview.com.

Software Support and Compatibility

Hardware aside, what about the software side of things – encryption tools, backup utilities, firmware updates, and device compatibility? Here’s how each drive fares:

Samsung T9 Software & Compatibility: Samsung provides robust software support through its Samsung Magician software (version 8.0 and above) news.samsung.com. Magician is a unified toolkit that now supports portable SSDs like the T9; it allows users to run performance benchmarks, check the drive’s health, update firmware, and – importantly – manage security features news.samsung.com. The T9’s built-in AES 256-bit encryption can be enabled via the Samsung Portable SSD software (or Magician), letting you set a password to lock/unlock the drive on Windows, macOS, or Android digitalcitizen.life. When encryption is active, the data is hardware-encrypted on the fly. (Do note: if you plug the T9 into a device that doesn’t support Samsung’s unlock utility – say, a game console or a Linux machine – you’d need to have left it unlocked, or it will just appear as an unreadable drive digitalcitizen.life.) The T9 comes pre-formatted in exFAT, which is broadly compatible with Windows, Mac, and most devices out-of-the-box digitalcitizen.life. In fact, Samsung advertises compatibility with PCs, Macs, Android phones/tablets, and game consoles news.samsung.com. You can literally connect it to an Android phone (with USB-C) and use it as external storage – handy for mobile workflows. The Magician Mobile app on Android can also interface with the T9 for firmware updates or to unlock if you’ve set a password. Another neat feature: Samsung optimized the T9’s power management such that it won’t excessively drain a laptop or mobile device’s battery – it has an idle mode that conserves power and can extend a host’s battery life by up to 6 hours when the drive is connected news.samsung.com. Overall, Samsung’s ecosystem is quite polished – the Magician software is well-regarded and having the same tool for internal and external Samsung drives is convenient. Firmware updates for Samsung drives are delivered through Magician on PC or via the portable SSD app on Mac/Android, and Samsung does occasionally issue updates to improve performance or compatibility. As for general OS support: Windows 10/11, macOS, Android are officially supported; Linux isn’t officially listed, but the T9 should work on modern Linux kernels (as an exFAT mass storage device) just fine – you just won’t have the Magician software there. In summary, Samsung offers a comprehensive software suite and the T9 is plug-and-play with nearly anything (you get both USB-C and USB-A cables, remember). The encryption feature is a big plus for those concerned about data security on a lost drive digitalcitizen.life news.samsung.com.

SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4 Software & Compatibility: Western Digital (SanDisk’s parent) provides a couple of software options for their portable SSDs. The Extreme PRO USB4 supports SanDisk Security / Memory Zone software for enabling password protection. Unlike Samsung/Crucial, the SanDisk doesn’t do hardware encryption internally – instead, it relies on software-based encryption (SecureAccess or the newer SanDisk Security app) which creates an encrypted vault on the drive. According to SanDisk’s support matrix, the Extreme PRO USB4 (model SDSSDE82) supports “Encrypt/Decrypt (software encryption)” but not hardware device locking support-en.sandisk.com support-en.sandisk.com. In practical terms, you can install SanDisk’s Security software on Windows or macOS to set a password and 256-bit AES encrypt a portion of the drive’s data (or use third-party encryption tools or OS-level encryption like BitLocker/FileVault). On Android, the SanDisk Memory Zone app can also interface with the drive – on certain SanDisk drives it allows locking/unlocking, though with the USB4 model it may function more as a file management and backup tool. All things considered, SanDisk’s software offering isn’t as unified as Samsung’s Magician, but the basics (encryption, backup) are covered. The Extreme PRO USB4 is also pre-formatted as exFAT for cross-platform use. It’s advertised to work with Windows 10+, macOS (14+ as of spec), and is compatible with iPad Pros, Android devices, and even gaming consoles shop.sandisk.com shop.sandisk.com. Indeed, SanDisk lists Xbox Series X|S and PS5 compatibility for this drive shop.sandisk.com – you could use it to store or backup games (the consoles will reformat it for their use though). Backwards connectivity is a strong suit: since it supports USB 2.0 through USB4, you can plug it into virtually any computer of the last 15+ years (you’d just need a USB-C to A adapter for older ports). One minor gripe from reviewers is that SanDisk did not include a USB-A cable/adapter or any dedicated mobile app for this specific model – presumably because it targets pros who likely use USB-C. But if needed, you can purchase a USB-C to A adapter to use the drive on an older PC at up to 5 or 10 Gbps. Firmware updates for SanDisk externals are less common, but Western Digital has issued firmware fixes for issues in the past (notably for earlier Extreme Pro V2 issues). Any firmware update would likely be delivered via a SanDisk Dashboard or Western Digital SSD Dashboard software on PC. At the time of writing, no specific firmware updates for the USB4 model have been publicized – and importantly, no widespread issues have been reported with it (unlike its predecessor, as we’ll touch on later). In summary, the SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4 is compatible with a wide range of devices and offers software-based encryption if you choose to use it support-en.sandisk.com. It’s essentially plug-and-play; just make sure to keep the included cable handy and maybe invest in an adapter if you might need to connect to Type-A ports.

Crucial X10 Pro Software & Compatibility: Crucial stepped up their software game with the X10 Pro. First, the X10 Pro comes with some value-add software bonuses: buyers are entitled to a one-month Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps subscription (for those who register the product) and access to Hedge data management software – a nod towards its target audience of photographers/videographers who might use those tools thessdreview.com investors.micron.com. For managing the drive itself, Crucial offers the Crucial Portable SSD Utility (introduced around late 2023) for Windows and macOS crucial.com. This utility allows you to enable the hardware encryption on the X10 Pro by setting a password – once set, everything written to the drive is encrypted via the onboard AES engine thessdreview.com. It also would handle firmware updates and show drive status. (At launch, the software wasn’t immediately available, but Crucial promised a software utility by September 2023, which they delivered crucial.com.) The encryption works similarly to Samsung’s: you unlock the drive via the software on each machine where you want to use it. If you don’t need encryption, you can ignore the software and just use the drive normally. The X10 Pro, like the others, is pre-formatted as exFAT for universal compatibility. It is officially supported on Windows, macOS, and Android, and Crucial explicitly mentions Linux support as well (since many content creators might use it with NAS devices or Linux workstations) thessdreview.com thessdreview.com. Additionally, Crucial touts that the X10 Pro can connect directly to certain cameras or recording rigs – for example, some professional cameras can record directly to USB-C SSDs. The X10 Pro’s broad compatibility (PC, Mac, Linux, console, Android, and even DSLR/cinema cameras) makes it a flexible choice thessdreview.com. One scenario highlighted is using it to capture footage in the field from a camera, then plugging into a PC to edit that footage straight off the drive thessdreview.com – the fast speed makes that feasible. For consoles, it can be used as external storage (PS5, Xbox Series will accept it for last-gen game storage or backups). The X10 Pro’s firmware can be user-updated if needed (Crucial provides firmware files and their Storage Executive tool or the Portable SSD Utility would apply it). As of mid-2025, no critical firmware updates are known for it – it has been running reliably. One thing to note: the base Crucial X9 Pro and X10 (non-Pro) did not have encryption or the extended warranty, which means Crucial positions the X10 Pro as the one for professionals who need those extras thessdreview.com. Overall, Crucial’s software support might not be as flashy as Samsung’s Magician, but it covers the essentials: full disk encryption, firmware updates, and a nod to creative workflows. The inclusion of Adobe CC trial is a nice perk for creatives to get started. Compatibility-wise, the X10 Pro is as plug-and-play as they come – you’ll only ever need a single USB-C cable (included), and its exFAT format means it’s ready to use on basically any modern device right out of the box.

In summary, all three drives are highly compatible and easy to use across platforms. Samsung possibly edges ahead with its polished Magician software and seamless Android integration news.samsung.com. Crucial provides encryption and some free software goodies, catering to prosumers. SanDisk relies on a more old-school software approach but offers broad device support and focuses on the drive’s raw performance and ruggedness. If drive security is a priority out-of-the-box, Samsung T9 or Crucial X10 Pro have the advantage of hardware encryption with official support digitalcitizen.life thessdreview.com. If you just want to drag-and-drop files across many devices, any of the three will do that without fuss.

Pricing and Value for Money

When comparing value, we need to consider the prices of these SSDs at various capacities and what you get for the money. As of August 2025:

• Samsung T9 Price & Value: Samsung launched the T9 with MSRPs of $139.99 (1TB), $239.99 (2TB), and $439.99 (4TB) news.samsung.com. At launch these were a bit higher than some competing drives, but Samsung drives often see discounts. Indeed, the T9 has been on sale frequently – one reviewer noted it “has a decent price tag when it’s on sale, which happens quite often” digitalcitizen.life. Street prices by mid-2025 have dropped: for example, the 1TB T9 can often be found around $100, and the 2TB around $180-$200, undercutting the launch MSRP. The 4TB, initially ~$440, has been seen on sale closer to $350-$380 in some cases. Per gigabyte, the T9’s value improves at higher capacities – the 4TB is the best $/GB (and as PC Gamer noted, “only the 4TB version is reasonably priced” compared to smaller ones) pcgamer.com. Samsung does charge a premium for its brand, build, and features like hardware encryption. For context, at launch the T9 cost roughly 40% more than the T7 Shield it succeeded dongknows.com. As of 2025, that premium has narrowed with sales. In terms of value, the T9 offers excellent performance and a robust 5-year warranty in the mid-tier price range. It’s not the cheapest option for a given capacity, but you’re paying for Samsung’s reputation for reliability and the drive’s solid all-around performance. If you catch it on sale, it can be a great value for the performance – as one expert put it, “a great value for anyone who needs a dependable and fast external SSD that will last” (when discounted) digitalcitizen.life. However, full retail price can be high – e.g., if it’s not on sale, some might find the T9 a bit pricey per GB compared to Crucial’s offering or even some rival USB 3.2 Gen2x2 drives. Still, many are willing to pay slightly more for Samsung’s build and the inclusion of two cables and strong encryption support.
• SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4 Price & Value: Being one of the first USB4 portable SSDs and targeting professionals, the SanDisk Extreme PRO launched at a premium price. Western Digital set the MSRPs at $279.99 for 2TB and $429.99 for 4TB in the U.S. westerndigital.com. That’s about $0.14/GB at 2TB and $0.107/GB at 4TB. By early-mid 2025, actual street prices hovered around $300 for 2TB and $480 for 4TB in some regions creativebloq.com (slightly above MSRP, possibly due to demand or regional VAT). In the UK, it was around £264 for 2TB and £404 for 4TB at launch creativebloq.com. So clearly, this drive costs significantly more than a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 drive of equal capacity – often nearly double the price of something like the Crucial X10 Pro for the same TB. The value proposition for the Extreme PRO USB4 hinges on do you need its extreme speed and ruggedness? If you do – say you’re a video editor who will exploit 3.5 GB/s transfers and you work in the field – it can be worth the investment. It combines the roles of a super-fast drive and a durable backup in one. But for more casual users or those without USB4 ports, it’s harder to justify. Reviews have pointed out that price is a major downside: “the price… seems much less competitive than one might have hoped” techradar.com, and value scores were middling (e.g., 3/5) with comments that it’s “priced above [some competitors] by a significant margin” techradar.com. Essentially, you’re paying an early adopter tax for USB4 and the SanDisk brand. It’s also worth noting that by late 2024/2025, other brands (Corsair, Plugable, etc.) released their own USB4 SSDs, likely putting pressure on pricing. Where the SanDisk might redeem its cost is in durability and warranty – you get IP65 protection and a long 5-year warranty, and presumably top-notch support from Western Digital if something goes wrong. Also, if time is money, the faster throughput could pay for itself in productivity gains for professionals. Another element: SanDisk’s previous Extreme Pro (USB 3.2 Gen2x2) drives faced a reliability scandal (with data loss issues), which hurt user trust. WD’s response has been the new USB4 model (with hopefully a new design). Some users might value the peace of mind of the new design plus 5-year coverage, but others might be wary until it’s proven. Given all that, the Extreme PRO USB4 is a high-end niche product – its value for money is best for those who absolutely need its unique combo of speed and ruggedness. For more general use, it’s a splurge. As one creative professional wrote, it “sits between cheaper USB SSDs and the impressive Thunderbolt drives – you’ll have to pay an extra premium to get anything faster… it’s a lot for a 2TB drive… you get what you pay for” creativebloq.com creativebloq.com. In short, expect to pay top dollar for this drive – and if you don’t need its full talents, your money might be better spent on one of the others.
• Crucial X10 Pro Price & Value: Crucial aggressively priced the X10 Pro, making it one of the best value high-performance SSDs on the market. At launch in mid-2023, the MSRP was already reasonable, and since then it’s only gotten better. By June 2025, the X10 Pro 1TB was selling around $109.99, 2TB around $172.99, and 4TB around $261.99 thessdreview.com. That comes out to roughly $0.10–$0.13 per GB for the smaller sizes and an incredible ~$0.065 per GB for the 4TB – which is half the per-GB cost of the SanDisk. In some listings, the 2TB has dipped as low as ~$153 on sale tomshardware.com, and the 4TB around $260 is a regular price at major retailers by 2025 tomshardware.com. In other words, the 4TB X10 Pro often costs only a bit more than the 2TB SanDisk T9, yet gives you double the capacity and similar performance (on Gen2x2). This aggressive pricing led Tom’s Hardware to list “Reasonably priced” as a Pro for the X10 Pro tomshardware.com. It’s not just cheaper – you still get that 5-year warranty, encryption, and even some free software trials. The value for money is so strong that many reviewers started recommending the X10 Pro over more established brands. As Dong Ngo succinctly put it: “If you have no brand preference, the Crucial X10 Pro will give you a similar, if not better, experience [than Samsung’s T9] at a significantly lower cost.” dongknows.com. That really sums it up – Crucial delivered a drive that undercuts the competition without undercutting features or quality. Its only weakness in value is that you must have the right port to fully utilize it, but that applies to the T9 as well. The X10 Pro essentially democratized 2GB/s external SSD speeds by making them affordable. Even those on a tighter budget can consider the 1TB or 2TB X10 Pro and get high-end performance for the price of some older slower drives. Another aspect: Crucial also has the X9 Pro (slower, 1050 MB/s) at even lower cost, and an 8TB capacity in the X9 if you need huge space cheaply – but for the scope of this comparison, the X10 Pro itself hits a sweet spot of price vs performance. Given its price points, the Crucial X10 Pro offers outstanding value – it’s arguably the best bang for your buck among these three, especially if you don’t need the absolute bleeding edge speed of USB4. It delivers 95% of the T9’s performance at a fraction of the cost, and it’s far cheaper than the SanDisk while being more than half as fast as that USB4 drive. For most users, that trade-off (a bit slower than SanDisk, but dramatically cheaper) makes the X10 Pro an easy choice on value grounds. Little wonder it earned an Editor’s Choice from Tom’s Hardware tomshardware.com.

To summarize value: Crucial’s X10 Pro is the clear value champion in this matchup, offering high-end speeds and features for notably less money dongknows.com. Samsung’s T9 sits in the middle – it’s a premium product but often discounted, so it can be a good value when on sale (especially for Samsung loyalists who trust the brand and might use the advanced features) dongknows.com digitalcitizen.life. SanDisk’s Extreme PRO USB4 is a pricey, specialized tool – great for those who’ll fully exploit it, but its cost per GB is highest. If budget is no issue and you want the fastest and toughest drive, the SanDisk fits the bill. But purely on value for money, it comes in last here. One should also factor in warranty and support as part of value: all three have 5-year warranties which is excellent (none of these are bargain-bin drives with short warranties). Also, consider intangible value like brand ecosystem – e.g., if you already use Samsung Magician and other Samsung SSDs, a T9 might integrate nicely; if you’ve had good experiences with SanDisk (or conversely, if you haven’t, that might sway you). Community feedback suggests many moved to Crucial’s X10 Pro in 2023/2024 precisely because it was seen as a more reliable and cheaper alternative after SanDisk’s issues. Which brings us to…

Expert Reviews and Public Opinion

The tech community and professional reviewers have put these drives through their paces. Here’s a look at what experts and users are saying:

• Samsung T9 – Expert Verdict: The Samsung T9 has generally received positive reviews, often praised for its blend of speed and durability. Digital Citizen gave it 4/5, highlighting “excellent speeds for reading and writing data”, a “robust design”, “excellent thermal regulation”, and the benefit of built-in encryption and dual cables digitalcitizen.life. The main cons cited were its lack of IP waterproofing and slightly larger size/price than some rivals digitalcitizen.life. Their verdict stated the T9 “can transfer files at blazing speeds of up to 2 GB/s, but only if you have a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port… The drive is slightly bigger than some rivals, but has a sturdy build to survive falls… a great value when it’s on sale” digitalcitizen.life. In a head-to-head context, Dong Knows Tech summarized it well: “If you are a fan of Samsung, the T9 is the best USB portable SSD to date. On the other hand, if you have no brand preference, the Crucial X10 Pro will give you a similar, if not better, experience at a significantly lower cost.” dongknows.com. This acknowledges the T9’s excellence, while noting its chief drawback – cost – relative to Crucial’s offering. PC Gamer’s review of the 4TB T9 was glowing about performance consistency, saying it “is one of the highest quality external SSDs on the market, offering consistent speeds of almost 1 GB/s, seemingly endlessly. Unfortunately, only the 4TB version is reasonably priced.” pcgamer.com. They loved the build (“feels premium… drop-proof… sturdy” pcgamer.com) and the fact it stays cool, but knocked it for being heavier than most and lacking dust/water protection pcgamer.com. On forums and Reddit, most users regard the T9 as a solid, reliable drive, often recommending it for those who prioritize Samsung’s reputation. Some early adopters on Reddit did note the requirement of a 20Gbps port as a gotcha – e.g., “T9 requires a relatively rare USB port configuration to get to its maximum speed, so in the vast majority of cases the T7 is fine” (a common refrain for casual users who might not have the port) reddit.com. Overall, experts view the T9 as a “fast and dependable” option digitalcitizen.life, with the caveat of needing the right hardware and perhaps being a tad pricey unless discounted.
• SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4 – Expert Verdict: The Extreme PRO USB4 earned a lot of attention as one of the fastest drives available. Speed and ruggedness are universally lauded. Creative Bloq’s review proclaimed it “Speedy and tough, [it] is a top choice for working outdoors”, ideal for backing up footage quickly in the field creativebloq.com creativebloq.com. Their verdict highlighted the IP65 rating and very quick transfers (with the right port) as big pluses creativebloq.com. They gave it 8.5/10, with “pros” being “Very fast; Rubber armour; Good capacity” and cons “Only 2TB or 4TB options; It is best on USB4” creativebloq.com creativebloq.com. PC Gamer’s sister site reviewed the 2TB model and noted how it “hits a lot of buttons for the outdoor creative”, again stressing its use-case for photographers/filmmakers needing speed and durability creativebloq.com. On the flip side, value and size drew criticism. TechRadar’s review scored it 3.5/5 for value, saying “it needed to be more price-sensitive from the start” and pointing out it’s larger than necessary, likely because it anticipates a possible 8TB version using the same enclosure techradar.com techradar.com. They did uncover the Thunderbolt-port quirk we discussed, but ultimately still called it “a decent performer and a robust package” while advising that prices should come down as more USB4 drives hit the market techradar.com techradar.com. Another expert noted that “Thunderbolt 5 drives are faster at reading” (referring to the LaCie TB5 drive hitting ~5 GB/s) but also far more expensive, so the SanDisk sits in between typical USB and exotic TB drives creativebloq.com. As for public opinion: some users were cautiously optimistic about this drive, but also wary due to SanDisk’s 2023 reliability issues. There was a notable loss of trust in SanDisk’s Extreme series after many reports of the previous Extreme Pro V2 failing. By early 2024, a Reddit thread warned “YSK that some SanDisk Extreme drives may fail spontaneously… no replacement program yet” reddit.com. A class-action lawsuit was filed regarding those issues tomshardware.com. Western Digital’s response has been relatively quiet, aside from releasing firmware for old models and moving forward with new models. Now, importantly, the new Extreme PRO USB4 has not been implicated in those past issues – it’s a redesigned product. Initial user feedback on it has been positive regarding reliability (no news is good news). But some professionals publicly stated they were hesitant to trust SanDisk again until proven. For example, some cinematographers on forums said they’d stick to other brands or always maintain multiple backups if using SanDisk. On the other hand, there are also many users who have had perfectly fine experiences with SanDisk drives and continue to use them. The 5-year warranty provides some assurance. In summary, experts praise the Extreme PRO USB4 as one of the fastest and most durable drives you can buy creativebloq.com creativebloq.com. It’s highly recommended for those who need its unique strengths (fast workflows, outdoor use). The main cautions are its high price and the requirement of modern hardware to leverage it, and a bit of a “wait and see” sentiment on long-term reliability simply due to the predecessor’s track record.
• Crucial X10 Pro – Expert Verdict: The Crucial X10 Pro quickly earned a reputation as a giant-killer in the portable SSD space. Upon release, Tom’s Hardware awarded it an Editor’s Choice, calling it “the fastest 20Gb/s SSD we’ve tested” and emphasizing its great performance and value tomshardware.com. Their verdict essentially was that it’s an outstanding drive “just be sure you have a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port. Otherwise… consider the X9 Pro instead.” tomshardware.com. The speed, compactness, and pricing all garnered praise. Many reviews pointed out that Crucial outdid Samsung in this segment – for instance, Dong Knows Tech’s comparison noted the X10 Pro can provide an equal or better experience than the Samsung T9 at a much lower price dongknows.com. Expert Reviews in the UK said the X10 Pro delivers “top-speed storage for less”, highlighting that it achieves its advertised ~2.1/2.0 GB/s and is significantly cheaper than rivals like SanDisk’s Extreme Pro (USB 3.2 model) and Samsung’s drives expertreviews.co.uk. The tiny form factor also gets a lot of love – many couldn’t believe a 4TB SSD could be so small yet so fast. TechRadar’s list of best SSDs for 2025 included the X10 Pro as a top pick partly for this reason. On the durability, even without a hardcore rubber bumper, one reviewer described the shell as “rugged-feeling” and confidence-inspiring tomshardware.com. Public opinion of the X10 Pro has been overwhelmingly positive. On forums like Reddit, editors and photographers have reported great real-world performance, often echoing that it “just works” and does so at a great price. One Reddit user in r/editors noted loving the drive for its tiny size and fast mount speeds on Mac, though they mentioned on a Mac the speed was a bit lower than expected until using the right adapter (possibly a hub issue) reddit.com. Importantly, no widespread negative reports – the X10 Pro hasn’t had any glaring firmware or failure issues in its first couple of years. Crucial (Micron) is generally seen as a reliable memory/SSD brand, and that reputation has carried here. The X10 Pro’s only “complaint” you’ll find is that Gen2x2 ports are rare (which is true for Samsung’s drive too). So some early buyers were disappointed that their laptop’s USB-C, which they assumed was full speed, turned out to be 10Gbps and thus capped the performance. That’s more of a host issue, but it’s a point of discussion online. Another talking point: Crucial also makes an 8TB version but only in the X9 (slower) model – some enthusiasts hope for an 8TB X10 Pro in the future. Overall, experts have dubbed the X10 Pro a “USB Speed King” that delivers practically everything you’d want – speed, security, portability – at a price that undercuts the big players tomshardware.com tomshardware.com. It’s considered one of the best external SSDs of 2023/2024, often topping “best value” charts. As a result, public and reviewer trust in the X10 Pro is high, and it’s often recommended as the go-to 20 Gbps drive.

In summary, expert consensus is that all three drives are excellent in their own way, but they serve slightly different niches:

• The Samsung T9 is seen as a fast, all-around performer from a trusted brand, great for most users who want a durable SSD and might benefit from Samsung’s ecosystem. It only falters in price vs some newer rivals, but otherwise is hard to fault technically dongknows.com.
• The SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4 is hailed for pushing the envelope in speed and build quality (if you need the absolute fastest USB drive, it’s a top contender) creativebloq.com. However, its high cost and the shadow of SanDisk’s previous model issues make some experts and prosumer users cautious. It’s a “fantastic but expensive” solution – a bit niche but hugely capable techradar.com.
• The Crucial X10 Pro has effectively won the mindshare as the value/performance champ – it’s the one many reviewers recommend to readers as the best bang for buck choice. It doesn’t have big negatives aside from the port requirement which is a general industry issue. Quotes like “Top-notch performance… compact… reasonably priced” tomshardware.com and “significantly lower cost” than competitors dongknows.com sum up why it’s so well-liked.

As for user experiences, one important note is reliability: By 2025, we’ve seen no major reliability scandals with either the Samsung T9 or Crucial X10 Pro – they appear to be living up to their durability claims. The only lingering concern has been with SanDisk (due to the prior Extreme Pro V2 issues). Western Digital claims to have addressed those in newer revisions, and indeed the Extreme PRO USB4 is a fresh design. Many users are using it successfully, but some are taking a “zero trust” approach by keeping backups (which is wise with any important data, regardless of drive brand). The good news is that a data recovery firm found the old SanDisk issues were related to specific hardware flaws in the older models tomshardware.com tomshardware.com, implying the new model likely doesn’t share those. The five-year warranties on all three drives provide some peace of mind and reflect that these are premium products built to last.

Latest News and Future Updates (as of August 2025)

Staying current is key in the fast-moving storage market. Here are the latest updates and what to expect next for each of these SSDs:

• Samsung T9 Updates: Since its launch in October 2023 dongknows.com, the Samsung T9 has seen a couple of minor updates. In August 2024, Samsung released a new color variant (Titan Gray) for the 2TB model, alongside the original black, giving consumers a choice of look dongknows.com. This was just a cosmetic update, but it indicates Samsung’s commitment to keeping the T9 relevant. No Samsung T9-specific firmware updates have been publicly announced, which suggests the drive hasn’t required any urgent fixes – it’s stable. Looking ahead, Samsung has not officially announced a “T10” yet. Given Samsung’s typical 2-year cadence on portable SSDs (T7 was 2020, T9 in 2023), it’s possible we’ll hear about a Samsung T10 in late 2025 or 2026. If and when that comes, it might adopt a faster interface (perhaps USB4 or even Thunderbolt compatibility) to leapfrog the T9’s 20Gbps, and maybe bring back an IP rating (like how the T7 Shield had IP65). But as of August 2025, the T9 remains Samsung’s flagship portable SSD. One piece of news: Samsung Magician software received a major update (v8) in late 2023 to support portable drives news.samsung.com, and Samsung has been refining that – ensure you have the latest Magician if using the T9 for best compatibility. On the horizon, Samsung is also pushing PCIe Gen5 NVMe drives internally, so any tech from those could trickle down to portables eventually. But for now, the T9 is Samsung’s top offering, and it’s likely to remain so until a T10 or similar is announced. It continues to earn a spot on “best SSD” lists in 2025 as a reliable choice. Keep an eye on tech news from Samsung’s memory division – any portable SSD announcements (perhaps around CES or IFA trade shows) would hint at successors.
• SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4 Updates: The Extreme PRO USB4 was announced in Nov 2024 and became available in early 2025 forbes.com westerndigital.com. Being relatively new, there haven’t been any hardware changes yet (no smaller capacities or new colors introduced). However, one notable future development: Western Digital (SanDisk) teased an 8TB model possibility. In a review, it was speculated (and essentially confirmed by the drive’s design) that SanDisk likely plans to launch an 8TB Extreme PRO USB4 down the line, since the large enclosure could accommodate a double-sided 8TB M.2 SSD techradar.com. TechRadar stated “SanDisk may intend to launch an 8TB model at some point in the future” and this makes sense given WD already released an 8TB version of the slower SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD (USB 3.2) in 2024 techradar.com westerndigital.com. So, keep an eye out for a 8TB Extreme PRO USB4 – it’s not out as of Aug 2025, but signs point to it coming (perhaps once high-density flash costs come down). On the firmware front, Western Digital has been relatively quiet about this model, which is actually a positive sign (no issues needing fixes). They did update their support documentation to clarify compatibility and security features for it support-en.sandisk.com. One broader news: In mid-2023 through 2024, WD faced a lot of backlash for the Extreme v2 drive failures. By 2025, they’ve largely resolved that with firmware for affected drives and by introducing new models like this one. There’s an ongoing class-action lawsuit (as of 2023) regarding the old drives tomshardware.com, but that doesn’t directly affect the new USB4 drive except that WD/SanDisk is surely more rigorously testing new units. Western Digital has also been restructuring some of its business; rumors in 2023/2024 suggested splitting off the flash business or merging with Kioxia – if that happens, it could impact product lineups, but nothing concrete yet. For now, the Extreme PRO USB4 is WD/SanDisk’s crown jewel in portable storage. We can expect more USB4 and Thunderbolt-compatible drives to appear from competitors (as of 2025, a few exist like Corsair EX400U, Plugable, Sabrent, and LaCie with TB3/5, etc.). This competition may push WD to adjust pricing or release that 8TB sooner. Also noteworthy: by late 2025, the USB4 spec might see broader adoption with USB4 v2 (80 Gbps) on the horizon, and Thunderbolt 5 (80 Gbps, 120 Gbps burst) drives starting to emerge (LaCie already has a Thunderbolt5 “Rugged Pro 5” as mentioned, though it’s very expensive) creativebloq.com. The Extreme PRO USB4 will likely remain one of the fastest USB drives until those next-gen interfaces become mainstream. In short, future prospects for the Extreme PRO USB4 include a probable 8TB model, potential price drops as competition increases, and eventually perhaps a gen-2 version with even higher speeds once USB4 80Gbps is out (that might be a couple of years away). For now, no successor has been announced – it’s very new. If you’re eyeing one, rest assured it’s not about to be obsoleted yet; any successor would likely be complementary (higher capacity) rather than a full replacement in the immediate term.
• Crucial X10 Pro Updates: Crucial (Micron) launched the X10 Pro in mid-2023, and it has been a hit. One notable update in the X10 Pro’s lifecycle: as mentioned in The SSD Review, Crucial introduced a revised hardware version identifiable by “-02” at the end of the model number (e.g., CT4000X10PROSSD902) thessdreview.com. This updated version presumably has minor tweaks – possibly the improved IP65 sealing or other small optimizations – but Crucial did not make a big announcement about it. It’s essentially the same product, just possibly a manufacturing refinement. On the horizon, the biggest news is capacity expansions. While the X10 Pro currently maxes at 4TB, Crucial made headlines by producing an 8TB portable SSD in the form of the Crucial X10 (base model) 8TB. The SSD Review even showcased an 8TB X10 (non-Pro) which Crucial sent them (the smallest 8TB SSD of its kind) thessdreview.com thessdreview.com. That model runs at 1050 MB/s (USB 10Gbps), but it shows Micron’s ability to pack 8TB into that tiny chassis. There is speculation that an 8TB X10 Pro could follow, giving a blend of both high speed and high capacity. TechRadar hinted that SanDisk’s competitor might do 8TB, and by the same token, Micron could decide to do an 8TB Pro if there’s demand. No confirmation yet, but it’s a logical step as flash memory progresses. In terms of interface, one interesting development: Micron’s press release emphasized the X10 Pro’s single-ASIC architecture and called it the fastest USB external drive offered by Micron investors.micron.com. The next frontier for Crucial might be to explore USB4 or Thunderbolt drives as well. As of Aug 2025, Crucial hasn’t announced a USB4 portable SSD, but they could be waiting to see how the market (and Intel’s Thunderbolt royalty situation) plays out. Since the X10 Pro is doing so well, they may not rush. It’s likely the X10 Pro will remain Crucial’s flagship through 2025, with perhaps a refreshed version or simply continued aggressive pricing. Crucial’s focus might be on expanding capacity (maybe a 8TB Pro) and ensuring supply meets demand. On the software side, Crucial released their Portable SSD Utility in late 2023 as promised, and they might update it to add features or improve user experience. Keep it updated for any security patches. No major firmware issues have been reported; one can check Crucial’s support for any optional firmware update but none has been publicized. In broader Micron news, they’re pushing ahead on newer NAND (176-layer, 232-layer, etc.), which could eventually lead to even faster or more efficient drives. So one could imagine a future “X10 Pro V2” with the same interface but slightly higher performance or lower power. But again, no official word. For now, the X10 Pro is holding strong. It frequently appears in “Best SSD 2025” roundups for its balance of performance and price. The only thing to be aware of is the aforementioned model revision – if buying new, you’ll likely get the latest hardware which might have that IP65 improvement. Crucial’s roadmap likely includes continuing the Pro series; they created that line (X9 Pro, X10 Pro) to address high-performance needs, so expect future Pro models when interfaces advance (e.g., if USB4 becomes common, maybe an “X12 Pro” or similar could come). In summary, Crucial’s latest move was demonstrating 8TB capability and updating the X10 Pro hardware subtly. We anticipate larger capacities and eventually interface upgrades from them, but as of August 2025, nothing has unseated the X10 Pro in their lineup.

Market Trend & New Competitors: It’s worth noting that the external SSD market is heating up with next-gen tech. By late 2025, Thunderbolt 5 has been demoed (LaCie’s Rugged Pro 5 hitting ~5 GB/s reads creativebloq.com), and more USB4 40Gbps drives are appearing (Corsair’s EX400U, Sabrent’s RocketNano, etc., some of which slightly exceed 4 GB/s reads). This means Samsung, SanDisk, and Crucial will all eventually have to push further. Samsung in particular might leap to a USB4 or Thunderbolt solution for a T10 to stay on top. Western Digital will likely integrate any feedback from this Extreme PRO into future models (or a WD_Black variant for gamers perhaps). For consumers, this competition is good news: we can expect faster drives and possibly better value as these brands compete.

In the short term (the next year or so), you can expect price adjustments – e.g., the SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4 might drop in price as more rivals enter USB4 territory, and Samsung’s T9 might also see further discounts especially if a T10 is on the horizon. Crucial will aim to maintain the X10 Pro’s appeal possibly by introducing that 8TB or just keeping prices low. Always check for firmware updates on the manufacturers’ support sites, especially if you encounter any quirks – by now, each drive’s firmware is mature, but it’s good practice. And as always, back up your data regardless of how “pro” your storage is – even the best drive can fail unexpectedly (though with these, the risk is low, it’s never zero).

Comparison Table: Samsung T9 vs SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4 vs Crucial X10 Pro

Finally, here’s a side-by-side comparison of key features and specs:

Sources: Samsung press release news.samsung.com news.samsung.com, SanDisk specs westerndigital.com shop.sandisk.com, Crucial specs tomshardware.com thessdreview.com, and review data as cited above.

Bottom Line: Samsung’s T9, SanDisk’s Extreme PRO USB4, and Crucial’s X10 Pro are all top-tier portable SSDs, but each has its niche. The T9 is a fast, well-rounded choice for most users with a 20Gbps port, offering Samsung’s trademark quality and security dongknows.com. The SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4 is the speed king, built for those who need extreme performance and protection in the field (and are willing to pay extra for it) creativebloq.com creativebloq.com. The Crucial X10 Pro is the value and convenience champ, packing high performance into a tiny, affordable package that’s hard to beat tomshardware.com dongknows.com. All three come with long warranties and strong endorsements from reviewers – you really can’t go terribly wrong with any of them. Your choice will depend on your specific needs: absolute speed vs. price vs. ruggedness vs. ecosystem. Hopefully, this comparison has made the decision clearer, and you’re now equipped to pick the portable SSD that suits your workflow best. dongknows.com creativebloq.com