Samsung just made sustainability sexy with storage. The company's new T7 Resurrected SSD is built entirely from recycled aluminum sourced from Galaxy smartphone production waste, earning it a 2026 CES Innovation Award while delivering the same blazing-fast performance creators expect from premium portable drives.
Samsung just turned electronic waste into a premium selling point. The tech giant's latest T7 Resurrected portable SSD transforms aluminum scraps from Galaxy smartphone manufacturing into a sleek, high-performance storage device that's already caught the attention of CES judges.
The device earned Samsung a 2026 CES Innovation Award in the Sustainability & Energy category, according to Samsung's announcement. But this isn't just an environmental feel-good story - it's Samsung proving that sustainable manufacturing doesn't require performance compromises.
The T7 Resurrected delivers identical speeds to its predecessor: sequential read speeds up to 1,050 MB/s and write speeds reaching 1,000 MB/s over USB 3.2 Gen 2. For content creators switching between devices, that means the same lightning-fast 4K video transfers they've come to expect, just with a cleaner conscience.
Samsung sources the recycled aluminum from its own Galaxy device production line, creating what the company calls "cross-division circulation of resources." The process uses 35 tons of recycled aluminum to produce approximately 800,000 units, with each drive containing about 44 grams of reclaimed material certified by TÜV Rheinland.
The manufacturing approach eliminates traditional coloring processes, showcasing aluminum's natural luster while reducing chemical usage. Even the packaging follows suit with 100% recycled paper and ASA-certified soy ink - a detail that might seem minor but signals Samsung's comprehensive approach to the sustainability challenge facing tech manufacturing.
This launch comes as the portable storage market faces increasing pressure to address environmental concerns. While competitors focus primarily on speed and capacity improvements, Samsung's betting that eco-conscious creators represent a growing market segment willing to choose sustainable options when performance remains unchanged.
The T7 Resurrected maintains the credit card-sized form factor that made the original T7 popular among mobile creators. At 72 grams and measuring 85 x 57 x 8mm, it's built for outdoor shoots and travel workflows where every gram matters. The drive includes AES 256-bit hardware encryption and two-meter drop resistance - features that matter when you're carrying terabytes of irreplaceable footage.
