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 really liked the build on this enclosure. Its much bigger than the Pluggable enclosure that I use, but its so nice, I didnt mind. What I did mind was that it was considerably slower than the Pluggable enclosure. About 300mbps slower. My Plugable gives me a consistent 950-1000mbps read/write. But this one couldnt get past 700mbps r/w. Pretty disappointing. I tried with different cables as well as on different machines and ports. On top of that, the Aura lighting software is garbage! I had an old version that I set my computer up with a couple of years ago, it was pretty bad as well, but at least I was able to get it to fade smoothly. Unfortunately, that version couldnt see this drive, so I had to download the latest version, and oh man, its like they actually went backwards with functionality. Its so so SOOOO bad. It totally ruined the lighting in my PC, no more smooth fading, no multiple custom color choices, even though there is a custom choice in the dropdown. it doesnt actually do anything! If you have your Aura set up the way you want, I would stay as far away from this update as you can! It will mess everything up! Anyhoo, aside from the software being awful. It didnt do much for this enclosure. With the limited amount of choices you get, the lighting on this thing is very bland, basic, and lame. Whats more, this thing goes back to its default rainbow fade if you use it on another machine, and wont turn off when you close your laptops lid. It doesnt take too much power, but its annoying when you have this thing velcroed to the back of the screen as I did. I sent it back. It just wasnt worth keeping without being able to properly control the lighting. If it werent for that, I would have at least gotten a replacement to see if it fixed the speed issues. Maybe one of these days Asus will redesign the Aura software so it actually works right...

Justo lo que necesitaba

I was in the process of updating my PC SSD, so I needed an external enclosure, this Asus ROG Strix Arion enclosure therefore served me two purposes; to hold my new SSD to be cloned and then to house my old SSD afterwards. For anyone not in the know, ROG stands for Republic of Gamers, and represents the gaming division of Asus so this SSD enclosure is oriented towards gamers but can be used by anyone looking for a high quality SSD enclosure. Off the bat the presentation is top notch, high profile, glossy, full colored box that contains the ROG Strix Arion SSD enclosure nestled within a dense foam container. No cheap plastic product containers here and of course it is a little bit of overkill, but the presentation cannot be denied. Inside the box is the ROG Strix Arion SSD enclosure, a short USB-C to USB-C cable, another short USB-C to USB-A cable, a rubberized protective covering for the unit that has a built in handle for the included strap and very plastic carabiner clip shaped into a R to represent ROG. The only shortcoming that I have with this is how extremely cheap the carabiner clip is, needless to say I will not be using it at all. Holding the ROG Strix Arion SSD for the first time, wow! This aluminum enclosure is one very solidly built device! It has some heft to it without being heavy and the fit and finish is top notch all around including the super awesome RGB LED lights. SSD installing is a breeze as this SSD enclosure opens up with just a pin eject tool, the same kind that opens up the SIM/SD card slot on cell phones. Inside there is a thumbscrew that is easily turned by hand, and if need be the pin eject tool can be used as a quick screwdriver. Place the NVME SSD inside the slot, reattach the thumbscrew, close the unit and you are ready to go. Connected to a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port on my desktop PC, I was getting 941 MB/s read and 882 MB/s write, good results if just a tad slow but very much in line with most other USB 3.2 Gen 2 external NVME drives, I also tested this on my laptop with Thunderbolt 3 and I was getting 1,050 MB/s read and write, much better and closer to the threshold for USB 3.2 Gen 2 which is approximately 1,250 MB/s. The drive inside is a 250 Gb Samsung 981a which is capable of 3,000 MB/s read and 2,200 MB/s write. I didn’t test the RGB software because I most likely won’t be using this drive for my PC, more than likely as a miscellaneous drive for maybe Xbox or music or something else so I’m not really concerned with whatever color it is but I do like the RGBs on this device, one of the reasons I chose it. Excellent enclosure and what I think is a respectable price for a quality product of this caliber. Highly recommended.

Buena carcasa ssd, buenos materiales, robusta y funciona muy bien.

Love the product. The enclosure is fast. Is a very tough high quality build. Have bought 5 of them.

Been using one enclosure for three M.2 drives for too long and missing the hinge notches seems to have caused a transistor to cut into the thermal pad. Cant find a RGB utility for every OS I use, but other than those two imperfections it has been working well.

If you’re looking at this reading reviews just buy it.

Out of all my NVME enclosures, the ASUS feels good in hand with beveled corners, is the biggest and looks the best with its futuristic design with a good looking, modest RGB logo. My ADATA enclosure is also well built but with much more RGB and smaller - a close second. Read & write speeds average a little over 1GBps which is expected even with a fast SSD drive installed. Nice extras included the 2 sturdy cables (C to C and C to A), a rubber like drop protection outer sleeve and a handy velcro strap with plastic clip (although I probably wouldnt let it hang freely outside a bag in fear of losing valuable data.) NOTE: Many people complain about it not closing, but it does just fine. You need to slide your NVME SSD drive into the center slot of the screw before screwing it down. The screw is a small flat head screwdriver, not philips. You should also take off all stickers of the SSD drive too so that the heat dissipating silicone pad touches the memory controller. Its one of the pricier ones at $55, however it is probably one of the nicer ones. Sacrifice 8-9 cups of Starbucks and you can get one.

I like how this thing looks like some futuristic piece of tech haha it also feels premium in your hands. When I was shopping I was looking for a 20Gbps enclosure and when I came across this I wanted it and didnt realize it was 10 not 20Gbps. I thought about returning but honestly 10Gbps is plenty fast for me and I really like this enclosure so Im keeping it. My only complaint is the carabiner clip included is made out of cheap flimsy plastic which is a shame because it actually looks pretty cool cause its in the shape of an R for ROG. I dont plan to travel with it so I dont care but I wouldnt trust the clip.

I was skeptical at first but then when people mentioned problems with their cheap enclosures on other product reviews, I knew this was the right choice. No regrets and it looks cool.