ASUS TUF Gaming A1 External Drive Enclosure

Rating: 8.0.

The TUF Gaming A1 is the latest external enclosure from ASUS. It has an M.2 interface that supports SATA or NVMe M.2 drives via a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2×1 (10Gbps) port. With the price of the enclosure coming in at around £40 – though obviously you need to supply an M.2 SSD as well – we find out if the TUF Gaming A1 is worth buying.

The aluminium enclosure is well built, to the point that it meets the military-grade MIL-STD-810H 516.8 drop resistance and the IP68 water and dust resistance standards. It supports M.2 NVMe PCIe & SATA SSDs in B+M and M keys, both options in 2242/2260/2280 form factors and up to 2TB in capacity. It uses ASUS' own design of tool-free locking mechanism called Q-Latch to keep the drives locked in place.

The enclosure is compatible with Windows (including 11) and iOS as well as the latest generation of PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

Physical Specifications:

• Usable Capacities: empty enclosure.
• SSD Compatibility: M.2 2242, 2260, 2280.
• Interface: USB-C 3.2 Gen 2×1 (10Gbps).
• Form Factor: External.
• Dimensions: 125.8 x 54.27 x 13.3mm
• Drive Weight: 142g.

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