Kingston Dual Portable SSD (1TB) Review
Summary: The Kingston Dual Portable SSD (1TB) provides power to the traveler!
4.5
Travel power!
Kingston’s Dual Portable SSD is indeed the best of both USB worlds. While it looks like an oversized thumb drive, it behaves like a high‑speed SSD that slips easily into the smallest pocket. Kingston calls it an SSD “camouflaged as a thumb drive”, and that’s exactly the experience — discreet, fast and surprisingly capable. At just 71.85mm long and weighing only 13g, it’s barely larger than a standard USB stick. The metal‑and‑plastic shell feels sturdier than most thumb drives and helps dissipate heat, although it isn’t designed for rugged or weather‑sealed use. Kingston includes a five‑year limited warranty with free technical support, which provides some long‑term peace of mind.
Where the Kingston Dual Portable SSD really stands out is its dual‑connector design. One end offers USB‑C and the other USB‑A, allowing you to plug directly into almost anything — older desktops, modern laptops, tablets and even compatible smartphones. It’s a brilliant convenience feature, though the width can block neighbouring ports on some laptops, and the removable caps are easy to misplace. Even so, the ability to access both formats without adapters is a genuine game changer.
And setup? You basically plug it in! Windows automatically detected the external SSD as did our Google Pixel 9a.
Its USB 3.2 Gen 2 platform is another highlight, delivering up to 1,050MB/s read and 950MB/s write speeds as noted by Kingston, which our CrystalDiskMark testing closely mirrored. This makes it perfect for everyday use and ideal for transporting a wide range of files, from documents to multimedia. It’s also compatible across a broad range of systems — Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS (with OTG support). Windows users also benefit from Kingston’s SSD Manager, which allows you to monitor drive health, status, disk usage and firmware updates
Pricing sits slightly above many cable‑based portable SSDs, but the premium reflects its ultra‑compact form factor and dual‑connector convenience, making it easy to justify if portability and simplicity are your priorities. In Australia, the Dual Portable SSD typically retails for around AUD $95–$110 for the 512GB model, AUD $145–$165 for the 1TB version and AUD $245–$270 for the 2TB capacity, based on current retail averages.
Final Thoughts
The Kingston Dual Portable SSD ultimately stands out as a smart, travel‑friendly solution for anyone who needs fast, reliable storage without the usual cable clutter. Its dual‑connector design makes it genuinely versatile across modern and legacy devices, and its real‑world performance is impressive for something this compact. All in all, it’s a thoughtfully designed little SSD that fits neatly into a modern, multi‑device workflow and delivers exactly what it promises — quick, simple, cable‑free storage you can rely on wherever you go.
Specifications
Interface: USB‑A and USB‑C
Speed: USB 3.2 Gen 2 — up to 1,050MB/s read, 950MB/s write
NAND: 3D NAND
Capacities: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB
Dimensions: 71.85 × 21.1 × 8.6 mm
Weight: 13g
Materials: Metal and plastic
Operating Temperature: 0°C to 60°C
Storage Temperature: –20°C to 85°C
Warranty: Five‑year limited warranty with free technical support
Compatibility: Windows 11, macOS (13.7.6+), Linux (4.4+), ChromeOS, Android, iOS/iPadOS (13+)
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