How big can an SSD-based external storage device get? According to SanDisk the answer is at least 8TB, as the company presents a prototype portable SSD of such capacity at CES 2020.

While massive in terms of storage size, the 8TB prototype SSD remains portable in terms of physical size, being small enough to fit in the pocket. The interface of choice for the device is a SuperSpeed USB 20Gbps, and the company claims it is "inspired by consumers’ desire to capture rich content and keep it with them." That said, for now it remains a prototype, even if it will probably become an actual product once flash memory drops further in price.

Western Digital presents a refresh of the NVMe-based WD Blue SSD line with the WD Blue SN550-- an update featuring promising an increase in both performance and capacity thanks to a new NAND and a controller replacement.

Available in capacities ranging from 250GB up to 1TB in the M.2 2280 form factor, the WD Blue NVM3 SSD promises to address the demands of customer wanting performance, durability, speed and capacity. A move to four PCIe lanes allows for read speeds reaching 2400 MB/s, while an "improved thermal design" should keep the SSD cool even with the increase in performance.

SK Hynix starts sampling storage solutions based on 128-layer 4D NAND, with "terabyte-level" high-density solutions aimed at all segments of the market, from high-end smartphones to the datacentre.

First revealed back in June 2019, the 128-layer 1Tb TLC NAND promises both ultra-low power and ultra-thin solutions with greater capacities compared to the previous generation. Speed also gets a boost, from the 1.2GT/s of the previous generation 96-layer 3D NAND to 1.4GT/s. To stack 128 layers, SK Hynix uses a multi-stacked design and technologies such as ultra-homogeneous vertical etching and multi-layer thin-film cell formation, all with a low-power circuit design to ensure no increases to power consumption.

Seagate announces a pair of additions to the flagship FireCuda line of consumer storage-- the FireCuda 520 PCIe 4.0 SSD and the FireCuda Gaming Dock with 4TB of HDD storage and an NVMe M.2 expansion slot.

The FIreCuda 520 is the fastest SSD from Seagate to date. It offers plug-and-play compatibility with all PCIe 4.0 motherboards, and features a Phison E16 reference design using Toshiba/Kionxia BiCS 96-layer 3D TLC NAND flash memory. The design lacks a heatspreader or heatsink, making it ideal for motherboards with own M.2 cooling.