Asus ROG Strix SQ7: SSD comeback with Phison E18 and 7000 MB/s

The manufacturer returns to the highly competitive internal SSD segment with the Asus ROG Strix SQ7. The SQ7 uses a Phison E18 controller with TLC NAND and comes in an M.2-2280 form factor.

Asus ROG Strix SQ7 officially unveiled

The new Asus ROG Strix SQ7 M.2-2280 SSD relies on the 12nm Phison E18 controller, DRAM buffering, a large SLC cache and advanced low-density parity-check (LDPC) technology to keep transfer rates stable and improve longevity.

Asus not only positions the new M.2 PCIe Gen 4 ×4 NVMe SSD in the PC segment, but also confirms its compatibility with the PlayStation 5 console. The SQ7 achieves transfer rates of 7,000 MB/s in sequential read and 6,000 MB/s in write.

The SQ7 will initially only be offered with a storage capacity of 1 TB. However, Asus is still keeping quiet about the values for Total Bytes Written or the IOPS.

Additional security

Using the ROG SSD Dashboard software, a comprehensive menu about the SSD can be accessed, providing information about temperatures, status, and more.

The NTI Backup Now EZ software, on the other hand, allows you to protect data from viruses or hardware defects and offers a recovery feature that can restore files that were accidentally deleted. In addition, the Asus ROG Strix SQ7 is equipped with multiple encryption standards such as TCG Opal, IEEE 1667 and an AES 256-bit drive and data encryption.

Price and availability

The manufacturer has not yet revealed when and at what price the Asus ROG Strix SQ7 M.2 SSD will reach retailers. It is also unclear whether there will be other storage configurations. The hint in the URL (“1 TB model”) at least indicates that. More information can be found on the official product website.