Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Fast 20Gbps efficiency over USB 3.2×2
- Built like a tank
- IP68 rated in opposition to mud and water intrusion
Our Verdict
If I have been roughing it within the wilder areas of the planet, the Asus TUF Gaming A2 ruggedized storage is what I’d take with me.
Price When Reviewed
This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined
Best Pricing Today
Price When Reviewed
59.99
Best Prices Today: Asus TUF Gaming A2
While there are plenty of distributors transport ready-to-play, pre-populated exterior SSDs, they are typically both super-fast and super-expensive, or super-cheap and appropriate just for light-duty knowledge switch. Drive-less enclosures such because the IP-rated Asus TUF Gaming A2 reviewed right here, whereas not precisely low cost, let you leverage sooner SSD expertise at a extra inexpensive worth level.
Read on to study extra, then see our roundup of the best external drives for comparability.
What are the TUF Gaming A2 options?
I’m used to hex screws, they’re throughout my guitar {hardware}. But I definitely wasn’t anticipating them on an exterior drive enclosure. Then once more, given the TUF moniker, I suppose I shouldn’t be stunned.
It stands to purpose that thieves are much less more likely to have a hex wrench just like the one Asus contains available than a screwdriver. That is, if the thief needed to take away the drive from the very enticing enclosure anyway. More possible, the hex is only for aesthetics.

As to its very enticing, black, ribbed silicone-wrapped enclosure — the A2 measures roughly 4.5-inches lengthy, by 2.25-inches huge, and simply over 0.5-inches thick. It’s on the hefty facet at roughly 5.5 ounces.
Personally, I really like the strong weight within the hand in addition to the good grip supplied by its silicone-ized higher and facet surfaces. If I have been going to take any transportable drive to a barroom brawl, this is able to be it. Okay, flawed weapon, however you get my drift.
All this TUF-ness culminates with an IP68 score, which suggests mud and sand gained’t enter, and if you happen to drop it in 3 toes of water — no large deal. This primer on Ingress Protection ratings will let you know extra.
Personally, I really like the strong weight within the hand in addition to the good grip supplied by its silicone-ized higher and facet surfaces.
How a lot is the Asus TUF Gaming A2?
The A2 is available on Amazon for $54 on the time of this writing, discounted from $60. You can definitely seize 20Gbps enclosures for much less. So much much less, truly. But they gained’t supply anyplace close to the construct high quality of the A2.

If you’re planning to work cross-platform, you may also think about a USB4 enclosure such because the UGreen CM642, which will probably be sooner (a lot) on Macs. 20Gbps USB 3.2×2 slows to 10Gbps on most Macs and plenty of Windows PC Thunderbolt ports.
How quick is the TUF Gaming A2?
The TUF A2 turned in a wonderful USB 3.2×2 efficiency. Far higher than common — although full disclosure, I populated it with the mighty Samsung 9100 Pro. Most exterior drives, such because the competing Crucial X10 and Addlink P21 within the charts will use much less competent SSDs. This reveals up extra dramatically within the lengthy switch exams than within the artificial benchmarks.
Note that I’ve just lately began testing transfers with Xcopy together with Windows Explorer. For some purpose, Microsoft has optimized Xcopy for NVMe and never Explorer. Go determine. Read the How we check part on the backside of this assessment for more information on testing.
CrystalDiskMark 8 had very good issues to say concerning the A2’s sequential switch potential.

The A2 was head and shoulders above the X10 by way of random efficiency; then once more, so was the Addlink P21 typically. But victory belongs to the A2. Again, partially as a result of improbable Samsung 9100 Pro inside.

It was in our real-world transfers the place the A2 actually started to shine, chopping virtually two minutes off of the mixture (Xcopy and Explorer) copy instances.

There’s little doubt that the Samsung 9100 Pro contributed mightily to the 450GB write outcome. Both the X10 and P21 ran out of gasoline — aka, secondary cache — the place the 4TB 9100 by no means did. Fair? Not actually. So sue me.

These outcomes present what the A2 is able to, however once more, the competitors wasn’t on the identical degree by way of the SSD element inside. This merely reveals what you will get if you happen to spend a bit extra.
Note that whereas I used the Samsung 9100 Pro for testing, it’s, in actual fact, overkill. There’s no means any exterior 20Gbps enclosure can make the most of all its velocity. Any DRAM-enabled NVMe SSD, PCIe 3.0 or later with fashionable TLC NAND will carry out equally.
Should you purchase the TUF Gaming A2?
If you need 20Gbps USB storage that can simply arise the pains of journey, and even off-road excursions, it doesn’t get higher than the A2. I’m fairly enamored of it and it’ll keep within the backpack so long as Asus permits.
How we check
Drive exams at the moment make the most of Windows 11 24H2, 64-bit working off of a PCIe 4.0 Samsung 990 Pro in an Asus Z890-Creator WiFi (PCIe 4.0/5.0) motherboard. The CPU is a Core Ultra i5 225 feeding/fed by two Kingston Fury 32GB DDR5 4800MHz modules (64GB of reminiscence whole). Both 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 5 are built-in and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used. SSDs concerned within the check are mounted in a HighPoint 7604A 16x PCIe 5.0 adapter card.
We run the CrystalDiskMark 8, AS SSD 2, and ATTO 4 artificial benchmarks to search out the storage gadget’s potential efficiency, then a sequence of 48GB and 450GB transfers exams utilizing Windows Explorer drag and drop to point out what you’ll see underneath Window, in addition to the far sooner Xcopy to point out what’s doable.
The 48GB switch exams make the most of an USFMount RAM disk taking over 58GB of the 64GB of whole reminiscence. The 450GB file is transferred from an SSD on the HighPoint card.
Each check is carried out on a newly NTFS-formatted and TRIM’d drive so the outcomes are optimum. Note that in regular use, as a drive fills up, efficiency could lower because of much less NAND for secondary caching, in addition to different elements. This might be much less of an element with the present crop of SSDs with far sooner late-generation NAND.
Caveat: The efficiency numbers proven apply solely to the drive we have been shipped and to the capability examined. SSD efficiency can and can fluctuate by capability because of extra or fewer chips to shotgun reads/writes throughout and the quantity of NAND out there for secondary caching. Vendors additionally sometimes swap parts. If you ever discover a big discrepancy between the efficiency you expertise and that which we report, by all means, tell us.