ASUS ROG Strix Arion S500: Portable high-speed USB Type-C SSD unveiled

ASUS Republic of Gamers has introduced an external NVMe SSD with RGB lighting and cooling. Compared to the original Arion SSD from about two years ago, this time the memory of the ROG Strix Arion S500 also comes directly from ASUS.

Arion S500: USB 3.2 and dedicated cooling

The Arion S500 from ASUS is a portable NVMe SSD with DRAM and USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port that achieves extremely fast data transfer speeds. Inside the case sits a high-performance Phison SSD that can reach speeds of 1050 MB/s, which is about 12 times faster than ordinary external SSD hard drives.

At these speeds, a 100 GB file can be transferred in just two minutes. Furthermore, the DRAM memory and large SLC cache maximize performance and extend the SSD’s lifespan. The ROG Strix Arion S500 uses a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port for super-fast performance and wide-ranging support for mobile devices, laptops, PCs, and the latest generation of gaming consoles.

The portable SSD is offered with a capacity of 500 GB and weighs 107 grams. With dimensions of 124.57 x 47.76 x 10.85 mm (L x W x H), the ASUS ROG Strix Arion S500 turns out relatively large.

Cooling performance and RGB lighting

ASUS relies on an aluminum alloy for cooling. The Arion S500 features an internal thermal pad that keeps operating temperatures at an optimal level to maintain high speeds under continuous load. The ARGB lighting can also be synchronized with ASUS’ Aura Sync lighting.

There is also an eyelet on the bottom of the SSD that can be used to attach the data carrier to a keychain. The ROG Strix Arion S500 uses 256-bit AES SSD and data encryption to ensure data security without compromising CPU performance.

Using the included NTI Backup Now EZ software, all digital data is protected from malicious virus attacks and hardware failures. A data recovery feature is also on board to help recover accidentally deleted data. Within the ROG SSD Dashboard interface, important information such as drive temperature, storage status, and a status report of the NVMe SSD can always be accessed.