The flash memory market may be a rollercoaster right now, but Samsung isn’t sitting still. At Gamescom 2026, held August 26-30, the company pulled the wrapping off two new portable SSDs — the flagship P9 and the mid-range P7 — both riding the fast lane of USB4 connectivity and setting a fresh performance high-water mark for the South Korean giant.
Let’s talk numbers, because that’s where these drives earn their keep. The P9 pushes sequential read speeds up to 4,000 MB/s and write speeds up to 3,800 MB/s. The P7 lands in the same neighborhood, peaking at 4,000 MB/s read and 3,800 MB/s write. That’s genuinely rapid territory for something you can slip into a jacket pocket, and it’s the kind of throughput that makes shuffling enormous game libraries or raw video footage feel almost trivial.
Speaking of video, the P9 is built with creators in mind: it supports 12K direct recording, so filmmakers working at the bleeding edge of resolution can dump footage straight to the drive without choking the pipeline. The P7, meanwhile, leans into ruggedness — it has passed 2-meter drop testing along with shock and vibration durability trials, which is reassuring for anyone who tosses their gear into a backpack and hopes for the best.
Both models come in the same four capacities: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB and 8TB. And here’s where you’ll want to sit down. Pricing scales aggressively as you climb the capacity ladder:
- P9: $339.99 (1TB), $649.99 (2TB), $1,349.99 (4TB), $2,699.99 (8TB)
- P7: $289.99 (1TB), $549.99 (2TB), $1,149.99 (4TB), $2,289.99 (8TB)
Yes, the top-tier P9 8TB will set you back $2,699.99 — a figure that says as much about the current state of the flash market as it does about the drive itself. For most people, the 1TB and 2TB tiers will feel far more sensible, offering that USB4 speed without the premium sting.
The choice between the two lines is refreshingly clear. If you’re a content creator hungry for 12K workflows and top-shelf performance, the P9 is your pick. If durability and a slightly friendlier price matter more, the P7 covers the essentials while shrugging off the odd drop.
The global rollout begins in September. Given how quickly USB4 is becoming the go-to standard for external storage, these two are shaping up to be a compelling — if occasionally expensive — pair for anyone who moves serious amounts of data.
