Phison PS5020-E20: New controller for NVMe SSDs discovered

Manufacturer Phison is apparently working on a new controller for NVMe SSDs, which the manufacturer could position between the E18 and E26 series. An E20, which bears the full name Phison PS5020-E20, now appeared for the first time in an entry of an integrator list for NVMe devices.

Phison PS5020-E20 controller

Unlike the upcoming flagship E26 controller with PCIe 5.0, the Phison PS5020-E20 still uses a PCI Express 4.0 connection. That’s according to a new entry in a integrator list from the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory, which shows the new controller for the first time.

Since the new Phison controller has not yet been officially announced, details are scarce at this time. We only know that the E20 works with PCIe 4.0 and supports the NVMe protocol in version 1.4. Regarding the U.2 form factor, it can be assumed that the controller is used for 2.5-inch server SSDs that are connected with up to four PCIe 4.0 lanes via a U.2 connector.

However, the naming is strange, because Phison usually uses a different name for its enterprise solutions. It would be conceivable that the Phison PS5020-E20 is at home in the consumer segment after all. However, the entry does not provide details about the speeds. It is also currently unclear whether the E20 will be offered in M.2 format.

Phison PS5020-E20 — Image: University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory

New controller from Phison

The upcoming top-of-the-line model is quite different in the form of the Phison E26 controller, which is even expected to go on sale as an add-in card in addition to the M.2280 form factor.

MSI just recently showed a PCIe 5.0 prototype with Phison E26 in add-in card format in the form of a Spatium SSD prototype. The currently available top model from Phison goes by the name PS5018-E18 and comes to speeds of over 7 GB/s in sequential read and write. And that with over one million IOPS.

The E26, on the other hand, is said to be capable of speeds of up to 12 GB/s write and 11 GB/s read, while 1.5 to 2 million IOPS are on the books. Where the new Phison PS5020-E20 controller will position itself and in which NVMe SSDs it will be used remains to be seen.