Lexar’s Muse, which the company calls the world’s thinnest portable SSD, is now up for pre-order. It is about the size of a credit card and thinner than most phones, and it is getting plenty of attention from photographers and mobile video creators this week.
A slim drive is fun to look at, but the bigger story for anyone hiring a photographer is what it stands for: copying photos to a second place before you leave the venue. Here is what Lexar announced, and how on-site backup protects your event photos and headshots in San Antonio and beyond.
What Lexar announced
According to Digital Camera World, The Gadgeteer and 9to5Toys, here are the key details:
- Size: 3.8mm at its thickest point, tapering to about 1mm at the edges, with a footprint of roughly 80 by 48mm and a weight of about 26.5 grams.
- Speed: Up to 1,050MB/s read and 1,000MB/s write over USB 3.2 Gen 2, fast enough for Apple ProRes 4K video at up to 120 frames per second on compatible iPhones.
- Connection: There is no USB-C port on the drive. Instead, Lexar uses a magnetic SnapLink cable that clicks onto pogo-pin contacts on the back. A MagSafe-compatible sleeve lets it ride on the back of an iPhone.
- Capacity and price: 512GB for about 250 USD and 1TB for about 400 USD.
- Availability: Pre-orders are open now, with the first units expected to ship in mid-December 2026.
Reviewers point out two trade-offs. The thin body costs noticeably more than Lexar’s regular portable SSDs of the same capacity, and the proprietary cable means a lost cable can leave you stuck until you find a replacement.
Why on-site backup matters more than the drive
Memory cards are reliable, but they are small and easy to lose, and no card lasts forever. At an event, the photos exist in only one or two places until they are copied somewhere else. A busy conference, gala or team headshot day can produce hundreds or thousands of files that cannot be recreated. The keynote happens once. The group photo happens once.
That is why careful photographers think about backup as part of the shoot, not something that happens at home a few days later.
How we protect event and headshot files on location
Every photographer has their own system. These are the habits we rely on, and the questions worth asking any photographer you hire:
- Two cards from the first frame. Grey Bug has used Nikon’s Z9 and Z8 since they launched. Both have two card slots, and we set them to record every photo to both cards at the same time. If one card fails, the other has the same images.
- A second copy before we leave. At a natural break or at the end of the day, files get copied to a separate portable drive. A small, fast SSD makes that a few minutes instead of a long wait.
- Keep the copies apart. The cards and the backup drive should not travel in the same bag. If a bag is lost or stolen, the other copy is still safe.
- Do not format cards until the backup is confirmed. Cards get cleared only after the files are safely on more than one drive at the studio.
- Carry spares, including cables. A drive is useless without the cable that connects it. That matters even more with a proprietary cable like the one on the Muse.
- Follow the 3-2-1 idea back home. Three copies, on two kinds of storage, with one kept off-site or in the cloud.
Is the Lexar Muse right for photographers?
For photographers who carry a laptop or tablet, a slim SSD that slips into a shirt pocket is easy to keep separate from the camera bag. For event hosts and marketing teams who record speaker clips or behind-the-scenes video on an iPhone, recording straight to a drive on the back of the phone frees up phone storage on a long day. If you mostly need capacity per dollar, a standard portable SSD is still the better value, and it uses a regular USB-C cable.
Want to compare options? Shop the Lexar Muse SSD at Adorama, browse Lexar portable SSDs at Adorama, or see the Nikon Z8 with dual card slots at Adorama.
Disclosure: some links in this post are affiliate links, which means Grey Bug Photography may earn a small commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you.
What to ask your photographer
You do not need to know the gear. Just ask: Do you record to two cards? When do you make a backup copy? How long do you keep my files after delivery? A professional will have quick, confident answers.
Sources: Ben Andrews, “The world’s thinnest portable SSD is now available to pre-order,” Digital Camera World, November 11, 2026; “The 3.8mm SSD that sticks to your iPhone just went up for pre-order,” The Gadgeteer, November 11, 2026; Karthik Iyer, “Lexar just launched the ‘world’s thinnest’ portable SSD,” 9to5Toys, November 6, 2026.
Planning a conference, summit or team headshot day in San Antonio or elsewhere in Texas? Reach out to Grey Bug Photography, or see how we work with planners on our For Planners page.
