Samsung P9 USB4 SSD: 4,000MB/s Finally Solves the Memory Card Offload Bottleneck

Samsung’s P9 delivers 4,000MB/s sequential reads and 3,800MB/s writes over USB4 — double the T9’s ceiling — and positions itself as the first portable SSD that doesn’t become the bottleneck in a high-volume shooting or direct recording workflow.

What Happened

Samsung announced the P9 and P7 portable SSDs at Gamescom 2026, showcasing USB4 connectivity that enables throughputs previously reserved for internal NVMe drives. The P9, the flagship of the two, achieves 4,000MB/s read and 3,800MB/s write speeds, compared to the T9’s ~2,000MB/s ceiling over USB 3.2 Gen 2×2.

The P9 is also the first 8TB portable USB4 SSD available — a capacity tier that matters for video and high-resolution workflows where a single day’s shoot can exceed what smaller drives hold. Samsung claims the P9 sustains write performance adequate for direct 12K recording, making it usable as a recording target rather than purely a transfer drive.

Why It Matters

USB4 has existed as a specification for years, but meaningful software and accessory support lagged. The P9 is the first major manufacturer’s consumer-grade portable SSD to ship with USB4 as the primary interface rather than an afterthought. For photographers and videographers, the practical implication is that card offloads — particularly from CFexpress Type B cards at 1,700+ MB/s — no longer exceed what a portable drive can absorb.

DPReview’s analysis notes that workflow benefits depend on use case: USB 3.2 drives handled photo transfers adequately, but struggled with complex video editing tasks. The P9’s speed advantage is most pronounced for shooters running direct-to-drive workflows or editors who work from external storage rather than importing to internal drives first.

Source: DPReview

Content created with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.