At IFA 2026 in Berlin, Lexar unveiled what it calls the world’s thinnest portable SSD: the Lexar Muse measures just 3.8 millimeters at its thickest point and drops the usual USB-C socket entirely.
Card-sized and knife-edged
At 80 × 48 × 3.8 millimeters, the Muse looks more like a credit card than a conventional drive, tapering to just one millimeter at the edges. Lexar is showing it off to mark the brand’s 30th anniversary and pitches it squarely as a design and lifestyle product for smartphone owners. A magnetic sleeve lets the drive snap onto the back of compatible phones.
A magnetic plug instead of a standard port
That extreme thinness comes at a cost: the Muse has no ordinary USB-C port. Instead, Lexar uses a proprietary magnetic connector called SnapLink, built from pogo pins and neodymium magnets. The bundled cable ends in USB-C, and a USB-A adapter is included. Lose the special cable, though, and no off-the-shelf replacement will fit.
Speed, capacities and price
Lexar quotes read speeds of up to 1,050 MB/s and writes of up to 1,000 MB/s – respectable figures that will need independent testing under sustained load given the slim chassis. The Muse is set to arrive in 512 GB and 1 TB versions, which Lexar expects in the fourth quarter of 2026. Official pricing is still open, but at the show Lexar representatives cited targets of around $230 for the 512 GB model and $380 for 1 TB – steep for an external SSD.
Sources: Lexar · Tom’s Hardware · TechSpot · TechRadar
