- 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 far more demanding storage requirements such as 8K RAW storage
Working with a slow SSD can be very frustrating – but luckily there are a number of solutions to the problem on the horizon.
A host of manufacturers demonstrated USB 4 portable drives at CES 2025, giving us tantalizing glimpses of a future without sluggish USB 3.2 SSDs, and among the most eye-catching of these was a teaser for the new EX400U SSD from Corsair.
This nifty piece of hardware boasts a 40 Gbps USB 4 interface and comes in a 1TB, 2TB and 4TB format. According to Corsair, the new SSD offers 4,000 MB/s sequential read speeds along with 3,600 MB/s write speeds.
Why USB 4 is the way forward
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 in its product lineup.
This powerful set can reach sequential read and write speeds of up to 4,000 MB/s. This in particular makes the SE940 not only the fastest portable drive in the company’s range, but as TechRadar Pro recently noted, one of the best products on the external storage market.
But does USB 4 really live up to the hype in an industry filled with marketing jargon and grandiose claims?
First announced in 2019, USB 4 ushered in a new standard for connectivity — and it’s certainly lived up to expectations so far. In terms of bandwidth, USB 4 offers up to 4oGbps, making it twice as fast as USB 3.2 (Gen2x2) and with Thunderbolt 3 and 4 connections.
This is a significant boost in capacity when handling transfers. Especially when you think about the increasingly voluminous data sets organizations and everyday users are now struggling with.
USB 3.2’s performance characteristics – or lack thereof – have been particularly evident when dealing with the storage and transfer of 8K data files, for example.
There has been a steady stream of devices, especially SSDs, released recently that use USB 4, but given the focus on CES 2025, this will hopefully develop into a torrent in the coming year.
