Sandisk has just dropped some impressive new flash storage products in Australia that offers a combination of speed, durability and capacity. These new offerings look particularly promising for anyone needing serious portable or internal storage solutions.
The expanded lineup includes portable SSDs with next-generation speeds and some serious durability credentials that should handle the Australian climate without breaking a sweat, whether you’re editing videos at the beach or backing up footage in the outback.
Premium Portable SSDs with Exceptional Performance
The standout release has to be the SanDisk Extreme PRO with USB4 portable SSD, one of the first in the market to feature a USB4 interface. This drive delivers genuinely impressive speeds reaching up to 3,800 MB/s read and 3,700 MB/s write – numbers that would have seemed impossible for portable storage not long ago.
What I particularly appreciate about this drive is the thoughtful design touches. The rugged silicone shell and forged aluminium chassis should protect against everyday wear, while the IP65 water and dust resistance rating means you don’t need to panic if you get caught in the rain or spill your coffee. It’s even drop-tested to survive falls from up to two metres, which could be a lifesaver for anyone working in challenging environments.
For professionals working with 4K or 8K video content, 3D rendering, or large RAW photo libraries, this drive could dramatically improve workflow efficiency. The backwards compatibility with USB 3.2 and USB 2.0 devices, plus Thunderbolt 4 support, also ensures you can use it with practically any modern device. The SanDisk Extreme PRO with USB4 is available now at JB Hi-Fi, Officeworks, Harvey Norman and Amazon, priced at A$589 for the 1TB model and A$899 for the 2TB option.
For those needing massive portable storage capacity, the new 8TB SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD offers an impressive blend of space and performance. While not quite matching the USB4 model’s transfer speeds, it still delivers respectable rates of up to 1050MB/s read and 1000MB/s write. At A$1,249, it’s clearly targeting professionals who need to carry entire content libraries on the go, but for those working with large files, the convenience of having 8TB in a pocket-sized device could be worth the investment.
Gaming Storage Gets Serious Upgrades
Gamers haven’t been forgotten in these new releases, with Sandisk’s WD_BLACK line receiving two notable additions that should help with the ever-growing size of modern game installations.
The WD_BLACK SN7100 NVMe SSD offers impressive PCIe Gen 4×4 performance for mainstream gaming PCs and laptops, reaching speeds up to 7,250MB/s read and 6,900MB/s write on the 1TB and 2TB models. Built with Sandisk’s latest TLC 3D NAND technology, it claims to deliver a 35% performance boost over the previous generation.
While you’re here, make sure to also check my review on the WD_BLACK SN850X and SN770.
The interesting bit is the improved power efficiency – up to 100% more efficient at maximum speed compared to earlier models. This should make it ideal for gaming laptops and handhelds where battery life is critical. With endurance rated at up to 1,200TBW for the 2TB model, it should also handle years of gameplay streaming and frequent game installations. Prices range from A$113 for the 500GB option to A$281 for the 2TB version, making it reasonably competitive in the high-performance NVMe space.
Xbox Series X|S owners now also have more storage options with the new 2TB WD_BLACK C50 Expansion Card. With modern games regularly exceeding 100GB (I’m looking at you, Call of Duty), this officially licensed card provides a simple plug-and-play solution to expand console storage while maintaining compatibility with Xbox features like Velocity Architecture and Quick Resume.
The inclusion of one month of Game Pass Ultimate and Discord Nitro adds some nice extra value to the A$499 package, though that price point still represents a premium over standard PC SSDs due to the proprietary design and Xbox certification.
