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Image: Samsung<\/span>\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Portable solid-state drives are great, offering lots of storage and faster speeds than a USB flash drive while in a still-portable package. People often use them to back up their PCs with backup software. <\/p>\n

But portable SSDs aren\u2019t just<\/em> for backups. Even if you prefer using online backup software and don\u2019t plan on backing up anything to a physical drive, there are lots of great reasons to have a compact, portable SSD on hand. (Our go-to recommendation? The Crucial X9 Pro, which tops our roundup of the best external drives). Here are some especially useful uses to consider.<\/p>\n

A portable SSD is an excellent and near-foolproof way to get media files (e.g., videos, music, and photos) from your PC to your home media center. It\u2019s way faster than via wireless transfer!<\/p>\n

For example, if you have a Roku streaming box or Roku TV with a USB port, you can connect a portable SSD to that USB port and use the Roku Media Player app to watch videos, play music, and view photos straight off the drive. That\u2019s just one option for one streaming platform \u2014 there\u2019s a good chance your own streaming device or gaming console of choice has a USB port, and if it does, it likely has its own media player app.<\/p>\n

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Ben Patterson\/Foundry<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
People often use smaller USB flash drives for this, but a portable SSD can be the better option because it typically offers much more storage space, making it a great addition to your media center. An SSD like the surprisingly affordable SK Hynix Tube T31 blends the best of both worlds, delivering top-notch SSD performance in a form factor that looks just like a flash drive.<\/p>\n
Long story short, it\u2019s a super-simple way to get media files from your PC to your TV. There\u2019s no need to set up a network server with something like Plex and leave it running on another device. You can just copy some files over and plug in the drive.<\/p>\n
When buying a portable SSD for media center use, focus on capacity.<\/strong> You don\u2019t need the fastest speeds just to watch videos (although it\u2019s nice to have because those media files will copy over much faster). You mainly need ample storage space to hold it all. And bear in mind that most streaming devices have larger USB-A ports, so if you get a USB-C portable SSD, you\u2019ll need a USB-C-to-USB-A cable.<\/p>\n
A portable SSD could be an easy way to add network-attached storage to your home network\u2026 but only if your router supports it.<\/p>\n
Many modern Wi-Fi routers have USB ports, to which you can connect a portable SSD. When you do, your router can basically turn that drive into network-attached storage \u2014 any device on the network can access the files on the drive, and those files may even be accessible remotely over the internet if your router has that feature.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a convenient way to get network-attached storage without buying a dedicated NAS device. Plus, your Wi-Fi router is already running 24 hours a day, so you don\u2019t have to use extra electricity to run a separate device.<\/p>\n
When buying a portable SSD for your router, you\u2019ll likely want to focus on capacity.<\/strong> Look for lots of storage space! You don\u2019t need the absolute fastest portable SSD that supports the latest high-end speeds, as the network connection will likely be the bottleneck here.<\/p>\n
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Related:<\/strong> Ways to repurpose your old SSD or hard drive<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
A portable SSD is a great way to add extra storage to your PC. Sounds obvious, right? But hear me out.<\/p>\n
Sure, if you have a desktop PC, you could crack open the case and install an extra drive inside<\/em> if you wanted to. You might even be able to install a new SSD in some modern laptops, too, but it\u2019s usually not that easy with laptops and you\u2019re usually limited to whatever amount of storage your laptop came with. The same is true for mini PCs, which may not have room for more storage inside but may have plenty of USB ports.<\/p>\n
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Samsung<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
So, whether you have a desktop PC, laptop, or mini PC, if you need extra storage space, consider doing it with a portable SSD. You can use said storage for basically anything, including storing large videos for creative applications, huge photo libraries, and other data you need. (Most portable SSDs are significantly faster than USB flash drives, by the way.)<\/p>\n
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If you have a dock for your laptop, you could also connect your portable SSD to a USB port on your dock. When you dock your laptop, you\u2019ll get instant access to that extra storage plus your other peripherals.<\/p>\n
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When buying a portable SSD to add on extra storage, capacity and speed are both important.<\/strong> If your PC supports USB4, consider getting a portable SSD with USB4. You\u2019ll pay a premium, but that 40Gbps data transfer speed means you\u2019ll have much-improved performance when working with huge video files on the drive, for example. If you don\u2019t need those speeds, or if your PC doesn\u2019t support them, a slower 20Gbps drive will still be a good pick that\u2019ll also save you money.<\/p>\n
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Get more storage space for PC games<\/h2>\n
A fast portable SSD is a great upgrade for PC gamers, too. This is especially true for PC gamers who play on laptops, as it\u2019s usually easier to add more internal storage to a desktop PC than a laptop, whereas you may not easily be able to upgrade a laptop\u2019s storage.<\/p>\n
With PC games getting larger than ever \u2014 many games are now well over 100GB, just for a single game \u2014 a portable SSD gives you a lot more room to store those games. You can install games straight to your portable SSD and play them from there with decent performance. Or you can also use a portable SSD to \u201coffload\u201d your games.<\/p>\n
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Chris Hoffman \/ IDG<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
For example, Steam lets you set up multiple game library folders and move games between them. You could move games you aren\u2019t currently playing to the portable SSD to free up space, then move them back later when you want to play them again for maximum performance. It all takes just a few clicks. Depending on your internet connection speed \u2014 and whether you have a data cap or not \u2014 this may be far superior to uninstalling and redownloading games.<\/p>\n
When buying an external SSD for gaming, you\u2019ll want a lot of space for those games, so capacity is a big concern.<\/strong> But if you plan on playing games straight from the SSD, speed is the top concern. You should look for one of the fastest drives your PC supports, even if that means a drive with smaller overall capacity. If you\u2019re looking to pick one up,, check out our handy roundup of the best external SSDs for gaming, or simply pick up the Lexar SL600 Blaze, our top pick in the category, for $90 on Amazon.<\/p>\n
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Transfer data to and from your phone<\/h2>\n
Did you know that you can connect an SSD drive directly to any modern Android phone, iPhone, or iPad? Since all modern phones have USB-C ports, you can plug a USB-C portable SSD directly into your phone as well as your computer. Then, you can use a file management app on your Android phone or iPhone to access its contents.<\/p>\n
This makes a portable SSD a great way to move files between your phone and your PC. Solid-state drives use less power than mechanical hard drives with spinning magnetic platters, so a portable SSD draw power straight from your phone and still function well enough.<\/p>\n
When buying a portable SSD to use with your phone and<\/em> your PC, you should get one with a USB-C port for convenience.<\/strong> Then, you\u2019ll be able to use any typical USB-C cable to connect it. It\u2019s not the end of the world if you get a portable SSD with a USB-A port, though \u2014 you\u2019ll just need a USB-A-to-USB-C cable to make the connection.<\/p>\n
You would also benefit from a more compact portable SSD that fits more easily in a pocket. As far as how much speed you\u2019ll need? That\u2019s up to your use cases. If you\u2019re moving large amounts of RAW photos, speed may be a priority; otherwise, if you don\u2019t mind waiting a few more minutes per transfer, you can settle for a slower one.<\/p>\n
You may not need to buy one<\/h2>\n
If you\u2019ve decided that you need a portable SSD, then great! You can find some top-notch recommendations in PCWorld\u2019s list of favorite portable SSDs. There you\u2019ll find all kinds of options, including rugged drives that can stand up to more challenging environments.<\/p>\n
But you may not have to buy a new drive at all! In fact, if you have an old or spare internal SSD that\u2019s lying around and collecting dust, you can actually turn it into<\/em> a portable SSD with an enclosure. Learn more about that in our guide to turning an internal SSD into an external SSD.<\/p>\n
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\t\tAuthor: Chris Hoffman, Contributor, PCWorld\t\t<\/h3>\n
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Chris Hoffman is the author of The Windows Readme, a newsletter that brings Windows PC tips, tricks, and experiments to more than 10,000 email inboxes each week. He’s also the former editor-in-chief of How-To Geek and a veteran tech journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, PCMag, Reader’s Digest, and other publications.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
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