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 purchased this NVMe enclosure to bring with me to work. I work on specialty computer systems that power Immersive/shared reality, and often need access to a large and portable storage solution. The quality of the actual enclosure is top notch and I love it. The drive stays within adequate operating temperatures and the sturdy aluminum enclosure keeps the flimsy NVMe drive very safe and secure. I had purchased this enclosure specifically so I would be able to tote around the drive and have quick and easy access to it on my hip or key ring, which is why I was happy to see it came with a carabineer. The carabineer is awful quality and would not keep the enclosure securely fashioned to anything. Flimsy, easily breakable, a total joke. However, if youre like me and you intend on actually using the carabineer function, I highly recommend getting the Spidgen Rugged Armor Compatible with Apple AirTag Case Cover AirTag Holder to replace the crappy stock carabineer. The Airtag case portion can come off, and you can slip the NVMe enclosure on in its place. Together, these two products make for a highly portable and highly durable NVMe SSD enclosure. Were it not for the awful construction of the carabineer, I would have given this product 5 stars.

I have several of these connected individually to all of my current gen game machines: PS5 and Xbox Series X. They have worked without issue thus far. Performance is in line with enclosure specs. I also bought one for my pc to use as a Vbox system drive. This is where I encountered a problem that has been around for a very long time and there are only a few articles about it on the net. Read below as there is no fix for this problem for many years. Windows reads this drives hidden Unique ID and uses it in assigning resources to this drive. It turns out there are two of these Unique IDs and many manufacturers of enclosures are using the same second hidden one which ends up being the same string: 5000000000000001 This causes an error in windows and one or more drives with this same Unique ID may not function when plugged in at the same time. I have a WD T7 that cant be used with this along with a WD Mybook drive that also conflicts. There is no recourse but to only use one enclosure that has this same Unique ID and unplug the rest. This is a Windows problem as far as I know, and maybe other OSs dont have this issue, but its a long standing issue. If you dont expect this issue, I have had good results with several of these enclosures in scenarios that will never encounter this issue (mostly because Im aware of it, and now you too!) Let Microsoft know through voluminous reports and maybe they can finally fix this. The full article will be found searching the following: Disk <n> has the same disk identifiers as one or more disks connected to the system

I’ve purchased dozens of high speed thumb drives and external hard drives in the past but this one blows them all away in performance. Feels like an internal drive.

I bought this ASUS ROG STRIX Arion external SSD enclosure primarily so I could clone my Samsung 970 EVO Pro PCIe SSD onto a new drive in case I had a system SSD failure. Who want to have to reinstall everything again and start over on settings, etc. Not me. And I was looking for something that would be glitch free and something Windows would recognize as well as cloning software so I could do a reliable clone. And also something I could use to execute and play games. And this is the product in my opinion. It is not a flimsy product. Very well made with ample aluminum case and thermal pads to VERY EFFECTIVELY dissipate heat, which is a real concern with these SSD enclosures. After hours of use it is just warm to the touch. I was quite impressed and surprised. It comes with a A to C and C to C USB cable and everything you need other than a screwdriver to install you SSD disk. Just be sure to use the SSD install screw properly so the enclosure lid closes - place the SSD in between the grooves on the screw and tighten. I have an ASUS ROG STRIX Hero XI motherboard, and this enclosure uses the same lighting scheme Im using on my system. And BTW, this enclosure is pretty cool to look at - shiny black surface with the RGB lighting very pleasing to the eye. All I did was install the SSD, plug the enclosure into a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port (it is backward compatible also) and I was off and running. And I mean Running - with the 3.2 connection you get blinding fast speeds. I cloned, which takes longer than simple copying, a 115GB system Windows drive in under 7 minutes. One caveat that I was aware of before buying the enclosure you need to keep in mind if you intend to use this to clone your system disk. Windows WILL NOT recognize the SSD brand (Samsung, etc) as a branded product - i.e. Samsung 980 Pro, etc. It will only recognize the enclosure but will know it is an SSD with 512GB, etc. Just not the brand. Which means Samsung or any OEM cloning software WILL NOT work to clone your system disk. However, products such as Acronis True Image 2021, which I used will and will accurately clone the drive. This is not a limitation with this enclosure - its a windows USB thing. I highly recommend this product.

I have purchased many products from ASUS in the past and have never had any issues. This little SSD enclosure is no different. The aluminum housing is well made and gives me peace of mind that my NVMe will not be damaged while riding around in my backpack. The RGB is a nice little feature that draws attention when I use the drive in public. I cant speak for the speed of data transfer accurately because I have not monitored it, but I know that moving files to/from it goes by quickly. ***Please take note*** Dont be a dumb dumb like me. I stupidly put the drive in and put the screw in over it. Because of this, the lid of the enclosure never closes properly. After a VERY brief conversation with Asus and 20 minutes of shame-filled forehead slapping, they straightened me out by informing me that there is a groove in the thumb screw that the NVMes notch sits in (see picture). Once I installed the drive PROPERLY, the lid closed and I have had no issues since. So, please read this review and remember, put the notch in the groove, and you will have a solid container for your SSD that is built like a tank.

ASUS ROG strix is best enclosure out there, especially on the thermal pad!

Just got mine, and its AWESOME. Really pricey but you get RGB, included cables, and the build quality is FANTASTIC. Plus that ASUS extra swag with the protective case and belt clip. However, the video says you need the sim ejector tool and PHILIPS screwdriver.... then seconds later shows a flathead.... HOW DID NOBODY CATCH THAT?? Like were the editors and everyone involved in that video just trolling everyone?? Anyway, thought it was hilarious. Side note, my unit had the THUMB screw screwed in so tight that you absolutely need a FLATHEAD screwdriver. I dont really see why you need to tighten it so tight that you need a screwdriver when putting it back in. They are called thumb screws for a reason. haha. I ran the CrystalDiskMark on it and got 1GBps read and 0.99GBps write, but noticed a standard file write went at about 550MBps and a read went at about 750MBps. Could be the drive in it, but its an NVMe drive that should be capable of well over a gigabyte per second either direction. In any case, its a super cool little drive!

To get it to close. The screw has a notch in it. Put the ssd between the lower and upper screw part before screwing it down and walah it closes. Super simple. Thankful for USB A to C and USB C to C included heavy duty cables.

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.

There is a notch on the screw that needs to line up with SSD before retightening the screw. the Quick Guide doesnt have this but luckily the site does. A small hiccup when formating the SSD had to remove media protection from the device, but eventually, everything works. You need to format the SSD as if its a harddrive being installed to the computer using the Disk Manager. Not stated in the Quick Guide for anyone who isnt computer savvy and doesnt already know how. Transferred 100GB of files ( 3,000 files rounded up) in less than 5mins. I say worth the money considering a portable SDD for 1TB is $150-200 and it would take about an hour or more to transfer the same amount. $60 for the StrixArion, $120-140 for a M.2 980 1TB, $220 roughly with tax. Your saving really is time, 5mins for 100gbs or an hour to two hours for the same size transfer. Times vary on how powerful the SSD is, mine is close to the top of the line for 2021 as you can get without breaking the bank.