ROG Strix Arion S500 Portable SSD - USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, NVMe SSD with DRAM, up to 1050 MB/s transfers, 256-bit AES Disk, 500 GB Capacity, NTI Backup Now EZ Software, Aura Sync

I was searching for a fast way to fix my Windows install in the case of a Disk Drive failure, call me lazy but I wanted to clone my disk drive instead of the time and patience needed to reinstall all of my files and programs as well as my passwords, etc. Call me lazy but this is my reason for purchasing this product, after reviewing other similar products I chose the ASUS ROG STRIX Arion Aluminum Alloy M.2 NVMe SSD External Portable Enclosure Case Adapter, not for the RGB lighting but for the adaptability of M Key/B+M Key M.2 NVMe SSDs. I dread the need to have to return a product and need to address a problem I had with it. After installing the 970 EVO Plus SSD 1TB - M.2 NVMe Drive the cover wouldnt close because the mounting screw kept the cover from locking into the closed position. Pro: My test speed with Crystal Disk Mark were fast for an external USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C Adapter, see my results in the pic. Con: SSD mounting screw is too tall!!! After installing my Samsung (MZ-V7S1T0B/AM) 970 EVO Plus SSD 1TB - M.2 NVMe Interface Internal Solid State Drive with the included mounting screw, the cover would not close enough to lock itself in the closed position on the end where the SSD mounting screw was located. After inspecting the inside of the cover I noticed that the top of the mounting screw was interfering with the cover plate. See the pic and notice where the screw head had scratched the aluminum coating on the cover. I had to use a metal file on the top of the mounting screw to shorten it enough to get the cover to lock itself securely into place.

Using this to clone a Kingston A1000 M.2 NVMe SSD 240GB to a Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB. Nice piece of hardware. Solid. Only problem is, you will have to file the hold down screw. Absolutely will have to file the hold down screw. No way to close the cover without doing so. RGB is sweet. If your into it. Very well made but havent cloned my drive yet and havent connected to my system yet. I dont anticipate any issues but will update this review if needed. Nice piece of hardware even if it showed up a day late. Would buy again. Update: 11.28.20 Samsung Magician useless as it doesnt recognize its own 970 Plus M.2 while its in the enclosure. Drive shows as Asus ROG Strix. Used MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro to clone drive and it worked very well. You will have to file down a considerable amount of material off of the screw in order to close the enclosure completely. Other than that, a very well made item and expect it to last years unless the board goes bad. Well done Asus. Almost

Five stars for serving its intended purpose well. Of note, the thing is thick aluminum. It is deceivingly heavy. To me, this is great. I have no intention of testing its submergeability nor its dust resistance, however, it certainly appears and feels TUF af. The build quality is excellent, as one might expect for a $50+ enclosure. The drive didnt get excessively hot as the entire enclosure acts as a heatsink and when I benchmarked the M.2 I installed, it fell within the normal anticipated range. Just remember to initialize whatever drive you install in disk management. I am pleased with my purchase. One thing I do find disappointing is that Asuss entire line of M.2 enclosures only support 2TB. SSD prices are cratering whilst I type this. It would be nice to be able to grab a few 4TB and Ive not found an enclosure I appreciate more than the Asus TUF. I could complain about it being quite a bit more expensive than others, but Ive not seen another enclosure that feels, in the hand, as solid as this one. I value it greatly, but the same may not be true for everyone.

Bought this because i cheaped out on the first one i bought. Got the cheapest, less than 20 dollar, enclosure i could find. It never really fit USB cables right, dropped connections every now and then, even gave me a static shock at one point that caused the drive to reset. This one has a solid usb port, easy to install, look good if you like the ROG aesthetic, lights can be controlled by Aura Sync i think, seems faster at being able to access it from any kind of sleep vs the cheap one i had. No complaints from this one at all. Plugged into a USB 3.1 10 Gigabit port, im getting roughly 1gb/s read and around 950mb/s sequential write speeds along with some pretty good random read/writes. Good enough to run virtual machines in it. See the screenshot for a CrystalDiskMark. Keep in mind that benchmark was run with a 64gb file too, not just the standard 1gb. It currently has a 970 Evo Plus which is overkill for the enclosure because its a pretty fast drive. Its just got that one in it because it used to be my boot drive and i bought a new boot drive.

Fantastic back up drive when paired with a SAMSUNG 980 PRO SSD 2TB PCIe NVMe Gen 4 Gaming M.2 Internal Solid State Drive Memory !!

..but who cares what other people think, right? I dont. Ill rock it all day long. Its easy to use and since its metal it will absolutely protect your drive from the every day life. Just dont submerge it or use it in a dust storm outside.

The enclosure itself is well-made, easy to swap out and aesthetically (to me, at least) pleasing. Popping in an NVMe and plugging the device in is a 60-120 second affair. The thermal pads are ample, though due to design they will probably get squished a bit in the removable panel before long. This review, however, tackles the absolute mess Asus has on their hands with their RGB solution: Aura Sync. The reason why this is included in the review is because in order to change the Arions default LED from a cycling RGB rainbow into anything else, including *off*, requires this software. If you dont have Aura Sync installed and working properly, youre out of luck, by the way: those settings are set by the device that it is plugged into, unlike, say, a Logitech G502, which can save RGB (and much more, obviously) to the device itself. Overall its been an unmitigated disaster as theyve switched to their Microsoft Store app, Armoury Crate, to take the reins of Aura Sync and various other Asus endeavors. Aura Sync will randomly opt (by my assumption: update in the background) to not recognize the Arion, which means that even with the installation of extra software to impact literally one function on a device, just changing the lighting, it may not even work to begin with. As an extra cherry on top the device, when plugged in, will interrupt *ALL* other Asus Sync-controlled lighting as it detects the device, even if it doesnt see it. This even occurred during the short week where I could control the Arions lighting (set to off), so plugging it in to begin with is has always been a disruptive affair. You may be asking yourself, How does this functionally impact the device? Short answer? It doesnt. However, Ill counter with ROG not exactly being a brand that is entirely function over form, as is the whole concept of RGB lighting to begin with. Honestly, the Arion should some minuscule amount of memory dedicated to storing the last known RGB configuration on it so that this flashy device doesnt look like a rainbow of color every time you plug it into a device (with or) without Armoury Crate installed. That way, this would have been a non-issue until they finally sort out Aura Sync, if that ever happens.