- Corsair Memory and others show off USB 4 portable SSDs at CES 2025
- USB 4 is as fast as Thunderbolt 3/4 and twice as fast as USB 3.2 Gen2x2
- It allows for much more demanding storage requirements like 8K RAW storage
Working with a slow SSD can be very frustrating – but luckily there are a range of solutions to the problem on the horizon.
Many manufacturers showed off portable USB 4 drives at CES 2025, giving us a tantalizing glimpse of a future without slow USB 3.2 SSDs, and among the most eye-catching was a teaser for Corsair’s new EX400U SSD.
This nifty piece of hardware features a 40Gbps USB 4 interface and is available in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB formats. According to Corsair, the new SSD offers sequential read speeds of 4,000MB/s, as well as write speeds of 3,600 MB/s.
Why USB 4 is the way to go
Elsewhere, Adata made a big announcement with the launch of the new XPG SE940 portable SSD, marking the first time the storage company has leveraged USB 4 technology across its product range.
This powerful kit can achieve sequential read and write speeds of up to 4,000 MB/s. Notably, this not only makes the SE940 the fastest portable drive in the company’s lineup, but also TechRadar Pro recently noticed, one of the most successful products on the external storage market.
But in an industry flooded with marketing jargon and grandiose claims, does USB 4 really live up to the hype?
First announced in 2019, USB 4 heralded a new standard in connectivity – and it has certainly lived up to expectations so far. In terms of bandwidth, USB 4 offers up to 4 oGbps, making it twice as fast as USB 3.2 (Gen2x2) and compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and 4 connections.
This represents a significant increase in transfer capacity. Especially considering the increasingly large data sets that organizations and everyday users now face.
USB 3.2’s performance capabilities – or lack thereof – were particularly evident when storing and transferring 8K data files, for example.
There has been a steady stream of devices, especially SSDs, released recently that use USB 4, but given the attention at CES 2025, we’re hoping this turns into a torrent over the course of the year. year to come.
