Which drive to choose for new high-spec Mac Mini

Hi,
I am about to buy a new Mac Mini. I want to use it for high-end photo editing.

I plan to have all my images on external drives, and just the OS and my image -editing programmes and Firefox on the Mac.

I'm going to get one with the i7 processor, and 16GB RAM, and EITHER a 256GB SSD or a 1TB Fusion drive. That is my dilemma.

I need to know which of those two choices is most reliable, and which is the fastest. So if anyone can help I shall be very pleased. Thanks. Ruth

No contest between the Fusion drive and SSD. The SSD is going to be faster, however, will the 256 GB size be large enough for your use? Can you afford a larger SSD?