At CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Lexar announced the new Lexar Air portable SSD. It’s an ultra-lightweight portable SSD that the company says is lighter than a USB cable.
Design
The Lexar Air portable SSD is available in two color options, black or aqua blue. At just 0.6 ounces (19 g), the Air portable SSD is super light, so you won’t notice it slipped in your pocket or clipped to your bag with its built-in carabiner loop. It’s also compact, measuring just 2 inches (50.7 mm) by 2.8 inches (70.7 mm) by 0.4 inches (9.3 mm).
Additionally, the Air portable SSD has a single USB port and comes with a USB-C to C cable and a USB-C to Type-A adapter.
Transfer speeds
The Lexar Air portable SSD is available with storage capacities of 512 GB, 1 TB and 2 TB. With the 1 TB drive, you can store around 300,000 photos or 18,000 minutes (300 hours) of HD video. The Air portable SSD also delivers write speeds up to 400 MB/s and read speeds up to 390 MB/s. While not as fast as an NVMe SSD, these data rates should be fine for playing back up to 4K ProRes video files. Lexar claims that the Air portable SSD can transfer up to 1 GB of data in 3 seconds so it’s ideal for backing up your camera footage.
Other features
The Lexar Air portable SSD offers two-meter drop protection, so you don’t need to worry when you take it out with you on location. It also features a unique Thermal Control Design. This maintains the optimal temperature at top data rates to deliver peak performance and ensure your transfers don’t slow down. If things do go wrong, Lexar’s free Recovery Tool can retrieve any accidentally deleted files. In addition, the free Lexar App provides automatic backups to save your mobile photos and videos.
What we think
Lexar’s new Air portable SSD is a great storage option. Its compact and lightweight design makes it easy to take the drive with you everywhere. Despite this, it is still sturdy enough to withstand the occasional drop or rough treatment. The Air’s transfer speeds are relatively slow compared to some newer drives. As such, it’s not the best option for use as an external scratch drive for editing. However, it is fast enough to be used to back up camera footage or your smartphone while you are out and about. With it’s stylish looks and robust build, the Lexar Air portable SSD is going to be a popular product if the price is right.
Pricing and availability
Lexar is showcasing the new Air portable SSD at CES 2026. The company hasn’t released pricing or a launch date at the time of writing.
