Sabrent Rocket Q 4TB NVMe SSD Review

Not so long ago, I had a look at Sabrent‘s Rocket series of SSDs. Today it is time to take a closer look at the Rocket Q SSD. While the two series have a lot in common, there are some noticeable differences too. The drive which I’m reviewing today has a capacity of 4TB, but there are other options available too.

Sabrent Rocket Q NVMe SSD

Sabrent Rocket Q is a drive like any other, well, that is until you get to the details of things. Because the Rocket Q is different in some aspects, most noticeable in the capacity options. While I’m reviewing the 4TB version today, you can get it all the way up to 8TB. That is a lot on a tiny M.2 2280 module and a serious accomplishment.

There are two reasons why this is the case and the first is the use of QLC NAND where the none-Q version uses TLC NAND. QLC allows for double the capacity on the same footprint. The other is the controller which is the Phison E12s. This is basically the same as the none-S version of the controller, only shrunk down to a smaller size. These two things in combination allow Sabrent to create impressive drives. As a note for those who wonder, the NAND used is Micron QLC.

While the use of QLC over TLC might give us a slight performance hit, it shouldn’t be much. But that’s also one of the reasons we do these reviews, to find out those things and let you compare. While that is true, there are huge benefits as well. Since you can pack more capacity onto a single module, you lower the footprint necessary for a given capacity amount. You also lower the power used which both lower the total cost of ownership (TCO). And who doesn’t want that?

Feature-wise, you get a drive which supports SMART and TRIM commands as it should. It also supports ONFi 2.3, ONFi 3.0, ONFi 3.2 and ONFi 4.0 interface and comes with Advanced Wear Leveling, Bad Block Management, and Over-Provision. Oh, and if anyone is in doubt, this is a PCIe 3.0 NVMe drive, not a 4.0 as is also available from Sabrent.

One extra thing that is worth mentioning is the included copy of Acronis True Image cloning software. Sabrent incldues this with all their SSDs and it isn’t just a packing bonus, it’s also very useful. Whether you use it when you switch to the newly purchased Sabrent drive or as a backup tool, it does a great job and it is simple to use.

Performance and Endurance

Now let us get to something you’re interested in, the performance. The Sabrent Rocket Q with 4TB capacity is rated for a sequential performance of up to 3200MB/s when reading and 3000MB/s when writing. The random performance is rated at 550K IOPS when reading and 680K IOPS when writing. That is both impressive, especially when we consider the available capacity. Long gone are the needs for slow storage if you need high capacity.

Endurance is no picnic either with 1.8 million hours mean time before failure, a total bytes written rating of 940TB, and a 5-year warranty for registered products. Sabrent is proud of their drives and they back their users, it shows.

What Does Sabrent Have To Say?

“The Sabrent 4TB ROCKET Q NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 Internal SSD High-Performance Solid State Drive (SB-RKTQ-4TB) delivers all the advantages of flash disk technology with PCIe Gen3 x4 interface and it is fully compliant with the standard Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF), commonly-known as M.2.

Based on 3D QLC NAND Flash memory, its performance speeds can reach up to 3200 MB/s (read) and 2900 MB/s (write).
Power consumption is much lower than traditional hard drives, making it the best-embedded solution for new systems.”

You can read more about the drive and its details on the official product page and series page.

Feature Highlights

• Standard M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0 drive with up to 8TB capacity
• QLC Micron NAND and Phison E12s controller
• Bundled with Acronis True Image cloning software
• Supports SMART and TRIM, ONFi 2.3, ONFi 3.0, ONFi 3.2 and ONFi 4.0 interface. Advanced Wear Leveling, Bad Block Management, and Over-Provision.