Lexar has unveiled a portable SSD so thin it barely looks like a storage drive at all. The Lexar Muse portable SSD measures just 3.8mm thick, which the company says makes it the slimmest drive of its kind on the market. To get there, Lexar made an unusual trade-off: the Muse drops the familiar USB-C port entirely in favour of a proprietary magnetic connector.
That single decision separates the Muse from almost every other external drive sold today. Whether it pays off for shoppers depends on how much they value a sliver-thin design against the everyday convenience of a cable that works with literally everything else in their bag.
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A design built around shaving millimetres
Lexar has leaned heavily into the idea that thinness itself is the headline feature here. Most portable SSDs on shelves today sit somewhere between 8mm and 11mm thick, largely because they still need to house a full-sized USB-C port along with the NAND flash and controller inside. Removing that port is exactly what let Lexar shrink the Muse down to a fraction of that footprint.
A drive this thin slips into a laptop sleeve or a shirt pocket without adding any real bulk, which is clearly the pitch. It also suggests a lighter overall build, since a slimmer chassis typically means less metal or polycarbonate is needed to enclose the internals. Lexar has not detailed the exact capacities, transfer speeds, or materials used in the Muse, so those specifics remain unconfirmed ahead of a fuller rollout.
Why swapping out USB-C is such a gamble
USB-C has become close to universal. It charges phones, connects monitors, and links up almost every external drive released in the past five years, including rivals like Crucial’s X8 portable SSD and SanDisk’s Extreme PRO portable SSD. By moving to a bespoke magnetic connector instead, Lexar is asking buyers to carry a special cable that will not work with any other device.
That is not necessarily a dealbreaker on its own. Apple has proven with MagSafe that a magnetic connection can be genuinely useful, since it snaps into place quickly and avoids strain on a fragile port. However, MagSafe still works alongside a standard charging pathway. If the Muse requires its dedicated cable every time, and that cable gets lost or damaged, the drive becomes far less useful until a replacement turns up.
There is also the practical question of transfer speed. USB-C ports typically carry a known standard, whether that is USB 3.2 or Thunderbolt, so buyers can generally predict roughly how fast their files will move. A proprietary connector means Lexar controls that experience entirely, and until real-world benchmarks appear, it is impossible to know how the Muse stacks up against established drives on raw performance.
How the Muse fits against the rest of the portable SSD market
The portable SSD category has quietly gotten thinner and lighter over the past few years, but nobody has gone quite this far. The more affordable Crucial X6 and similar drives from Samsung and SanDisk still rely on standard USB-C, prioritising broad compatibility over an ultra-slim profile.
| Drive | Connector | Approximate thickness |
|---|---|---|
| Lexar Muse | Proprietary magnetic connector | 3.8mm |
| Typical rival drives (Crucial, SanDisk, Samsung) | USB-C | Roughly 9mm to 11mm |
That gap is significant. Shaving five to seven millimetres off a drive most people already consider pocketable is a genuine engineering feat, even if the method used to get there raises questions. It also signals that Lexar sees a market for buyers who prioritise a minimalist, ultraportable design over drop-in compatibility with existing cables and docks, such as Lexar’s own Thunderbolt 5 dock.
What it means for buyers weighing up a purchase
Anyone considering the Lexar Muse portable SSD needs to think about how it will actually get used day to day. A creative professional who already travels with a dedicated bag of cables might not mind adding one more proprietary lead. Someone who just wants to grab a drive, plug it into whatever laptop is nearby, and start copying files will likely find the magnetic connector an unnecessary hurdle.
There is also the resale and longevity angle to weigh up. Drives built around standard USB-C tend to stay useful for years because the connector itself never becomes obsolete. A proprietary cable ties the Muse’s usefulness to Lexar continuing to support and supply that same connector long-term, which is a harder guarantee for any single manufacturer to make.
For now, the Muse stands out mainly as a statement of what is technically possible in a portable drive. Until Lexar confirms pricing, capacities and performance figures, it is best treated as an intriguing design exercise rather than a settled recommendation, particularly for buyers who value flexibility over a few extra millimetres of thinness.
