FuzeDrive SSD Breaks Cover, 1.6 TB for $349, 25X More Endurance via AI Algorithms

Enmotus is a name that most enthusiasts associate with the company's FuzeDrive and StorMi storage software for AMD Ryzen processors, but now the company is launching its own line of FuzeDrive SSDs. The company claims the new drives come replete with LED lighting, 'AI' technology for higher performance, and 25X higher endurance than QLC SSD, all wrapped in an M.2 SSD that has both SLC and QLC flash onboard. 

You can also use the SSD to accelerate larger system volumes to create 'unlimited capacity' drives that stretch beyond 15TB of storage. Enmotus lists its 1.6TB FuzeDrive SSD for $349, but it isn't clear if smaller models will become available. However, you can sign up for preorder and save 29%, which is quite the deal for a 1.6TB SSD. 

The company posted details of its first standalone SSD with little fanfare on a pre-order page, so details are slight. The posting seems to outline the same tech the company previewed at CES 2020 under the name 'MiDrive.' This new tech combines the speed and endurance of SLC flash with cheap and capacious QLC flash onto one slim M.2 SSD. 

The drive uses 'AI" to intelligently identify and place frequently-requested data on the faster 128GB of SLC flash to boost performance, while less-frequently accessed data is stored on the slower QLC flash. The higher-endurance SLC cache also absorbs all incoming write traffic, which results in higher endurance and a longer lifespan. 

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As a result, Enmotus claims the FuzeDrive SSD will provide up to 25X the endurance of a standard QLC SSD. You can also use the drive as a caching/tiering device for other storage devices, like HDDs, which the company says enables 15TB and beyond of flash-accelerated capacity. It's noteworthy that the SLC flash on the drive is merely QLC flash programmed as SLC, meaning it stores only one bit per cell instead of four, but this technique affords many of the same performance and endurance benefits as purpose-built SLC flash.

At CES 2020, Enmotus demoed prototype drives using Phison E12 SSD controllers with modified firmware and a custom NVMe driver. We expect these final versions to stick with the same hardware, but the company aims for the NVMe driver to eventually be plug-and-play with native Windows drivers. As for the M.2 drive itself, you can order it as a stand-alone M.2 drive or with an aggressively-styled heatsink that comes with LED lighting. 

The listing includes a spec table that makes comparisons to two popular M.2 SSDs - the 970 Pro with MLC flash and the Intel 665p with QLC flash. The FuzeDrive pushes out up to 3,740 MB/s of sequential read throughput and 3,000 MB/s of write throughput, with the latter beating the competition by a fair amount. Enmotus doesn't list performance metrics with random workloads, a critical oversight, but it does list the drives as having 5,000 TBW of endurance. That's four times more than the Samsung 970 Pro and 16 times more endurance than the Intel 665p. We also see a list pricing of $349, which is a lower price-per-GB than the Samsung 970 Pro.

The page invites you to sign up for an imminent launch. The final details come via email, which says you'll qualify for a launch day discount of up to 29% off if you reserve your drive for $1. 

We're following up with Enmotus for more details and will update as necessary.