Phison unveils next-generation high-end PCIe 5.0 SSD platform: PS5028-E28

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SSDs using Phison's PS5028-E28 controller potentially could arrive in 2026

Phison's PS5028-E28 SSD controller
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Phison was the first company to offer an SSD controller with a PCIe 5.0 x4 host interface and was the indisputable leader in the market of enthusiast-grade SSDs for a couple of years. This week, the company cemented its lead by introducing its next-generation PCIe 5.0 SSD controller for the best high-end SSDs, the PS5028-E28. The new chip promises even higher performance and compatibility with next-gen 3D NAND.

The Phison PS5028-E28 is a brand-new, eight-channel controller that can work with upcoming types of 3D NAND featuring a 4200 MT/s interface and supports SSDs with a 32TB capacity. Regarding performance, the unit promises a maximum sequential read and write performance of 14.5 GB/s (the absolute maximum that a PCIe 5.0 x4 interface can offer) as well as a maximum random read and write performance of 3 million IOPS.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Due to its compatibility with next-generation 3D NAND memory, the Phison E28 controller will enable SSDs with capacities of up to 32TB, which is good enough for client PCs, workstations, and even entry-level datacenter applications.

Phison did not disclose many specifications for its new E28 controller. However, it is reasonable to expect it to have improved compute capabilities compared to the E26 to ensure compatibility with upcoming generations of 3D NAND memory and to provide enhanced functionality.

(Image credit: Phison)

Phison uses TSMC's N6 process technology (6nm-class) to make its PS5028-E28 chip, which is a significant upgrade compared to TSMC's 12FFC (12nm-class) production node used to make the PS5026-E26 controller. The average power consumption of an E28-based SSD will be around 8.5W, which is slightly higher than the 7W advertised for E26-based drives. However, this is expected since NAND memory gets more complex and requires more processing to read reliably.

At its CES 2025 booth, Phison demonstrated E28-based SSDs with 3D TLC NAND memory from Kioxia (T2BIGB5A2V), which is unsurprising as the two companies work closely together. Over time, the controller will be qualified with 3D NAND memory from other makers, including Micron.

It is hard to say when exactly the actual SSDs based on Phison's PS5028-E28 controller will hit the market. Still, knowing how long it takes to qualify a new controller with advanced memory, we would speculate that the next-generation PCIe 5.0 x4 drives will be available a year from now.

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Anton Shilov
Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • hotaru251
    i wanna know its temps during load as thats been issue w/ gen 5 drives as you need a decent sized cooelr just to keep it from throttling
    Reply
  • USAFRet
    hotaru251 said:
    i wanna know its temps during load as thats been issue w/ gen 5 drives as you need a decent sized cooelr just to keep it from throttling
    This is just the controller, not the whole drive.
    And its at least a year away.
    Reply
  • Mama Changa
    32TB client PC ssd's! Pull the other one it yodels. Who's going to drop $3-4K on a 32TB drive if it did eventuate. We can't even get affordabe 8TB drives outi=side of a few crazy sales on older drives.
    Reply
  • thestryker
    hotaru251 said:
    i wanna know its temps during load as thats been issue w/ gen 5 drives as you need a decent sized cooelr just to keep it from throttling
    While it's not as fast as this will be the E31T should give you some insight because I believe that was the first controller manufactured on a "7nm" node (definitely Phison's first). I suspect that any decent heatsink should cover E28 based drives for normal workloads, but I'd bet it will need a big heatsink and/or some form of direct airflow for write heavy/mixed long term workloads.
    Reply
  • sjkpublic
    Its all about the controller - max storage size, speed, and TRIM. Phison needs to bump up the date as 2026 is a year away. But then that would kill competition.
    Reply
  • Nikolay Mihaylov
    Mama Changa said:
    32TB client PC ssd's! Pull the other one it yodels. Who's going to drop $3-4K on a 32TB drive if it did eventuate. We can't even get affordabe 8TB drives outi=side of a few crazy sales on older drives.
    That's why instead of a single PCIe 5 M.2 slot, I'd rather have 4 PCIe 3 with the same total bandwidth. PCIe 5 speeds are only useful for, as youtuber Buildzoid puts it, file copying enthusiasts. No software can really process 12 GB/s of data inflow. And the important metric - IOs at small size low queue depths is basically the same. So I'd rather have more slots that I can fill incrementally with best price/capacity SKUs, rather than splurge for a single humongous drive at 2-3 times price/GB.

    The situation with PCIe lanes has been getting worse in the recent years. And it's the biggest reason why I lament the demise of the HEDT platforms. The second off-the-cpu NVMe in AM5 is a step in the right direction but the boards ar atrocious with often only having 2 PCIe slots, and the GPU one is with 4 slot spacing because everyone can afford a 4090. But I digress..
    Reply
  • CRamseyer
    sjkpublic said:
    Its all about the controller - max storage size, speed, and TRIM. Phison needs to bump up the date as 2026 is a year away. But then that would kill competition.

    This isn't a year away. We are looking at much sooner than that. Not tomorrow, but much sooner.
    Reply
  • USAFRet
    CRamseyer said:
    This isn't a year away. We are looking at much sooner than that. Not tomorrow, but much sooner.

    From the article.
    SSDs using Phison's PS5028-E28 controller potentially could arrive in 2026

    You have other inside info?
    Reply