Apacer AS2280Q4 2TB — PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD Review (2026)
The Apacer AS2280Q4 2TB pairs the veteran Phison E16 controller with Toshiba BiCS4 TLC to deliver a well-priced PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive with 5,000 MB/s reads and an impressive 3,600 TBW endurance rating.
Controller & Memory
The AS2280Q4 is Apacer's entry-level PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, built on the Phison PS5016-E16 platform — the same eight-channel controller that launched the first wave of consumer PCIe 4.0 drives in 2019. At 2 TB, it pairs the E16 with Toshiba BiCS4 96-layer 3D TLC NAND and 8 GB of SK Hynix DDR4-2666 DRAM cache, delivering sequential throughput of up to 5,000 MB/s read and 4,400 MB/s write. While these figures no longer trouble the ~7,400 MB/s ceiling set by second-generation PCIe 4.0 controllers like the Phison E18, they still represent a meaningful step over the ~3,500 MB/s ceiling of the fastest PCIe 3.0 drives, and in everyday use — game loads, OS boots, large file transfers — the difference between 5,000 and 7,000 MB/s is rarely perceptible outside of sustained sequential workflows.
The 2 TB capacity point is where the E16 platform is most competitive. Smaller capacities suffer from reduced parallelism, as fewer NAND packages are available for the eight-channel controller to stripe across, which pulls down write speeds and sustained performance. The 2 TB variant, by contrast, populates all channels fully, which is why it delivers the rated 4,400 MB/s writes that the 500 GB and 1 TB models only approach in ideal conditions. Apacer rates the random 4K write performance at up to 750,000 IOPS, which is adequate for a mixed-use daily driver but not class-leading — a consequence of the E16's first-generation PCIe 4.0 controller design.
Physically, the AS2280Q4 is a single-sided M.2 2280 module that fits easily into tight laptop bays and the PlayStation 5's internal expansion slot (though the PS5's built-in benchmark will report slightly lower throughput than the rated figures due to its capped queue depth). Apacer ships the drive without a factory heatsink, which is standard for this tier; pairing it with a motherboard M.2 cover or a basic third-party heatsink is enough to keep the controller below its 70°C operating ceiling under typical workloads. For a 2 TB PCIe 4.0 drive with DRAM, the AS2280Q4 historically sits near the bottom of the price ladder, making it a value proposition for anyone who wants a large, cache-backed NVMe drive without chasing benchmark leaderboards.
Storage Comparisons:
AS2280Q4 Performance & Benchmarks
The Phison E16 inside the AS2280Q4 is a known quantity after years of third-party testing, and the 2 TB results follow the reference design curve closely. In ATTO and CrystalDiskMark, sequential reads settle at or just above 5,000 MB/s, with writes hovering between 4,300 and 4,400 MB/s — exactly what Apacer advertises. Real-world file copies from a similarly fast source sustain roughly 3.8–4.0 GB/s on large single-file transfers, falling to approximately 1.5–2.0 GB/s when the workload shifts to a mixed bag of small files. This is standard behaviour for the E16, which relies on a large pseudo-SLC write cache carved from the TLC array; once the cache is exhausted on very long writes — a scenario that takes roughly 150–200 GB of continuous writing on the 2 TB model — the controller settles into direct-to-TLC programming at roughly 1,200–1,500 MB/s. For a game library or media drive this edge case rarely materialises, but video editors dumping 300+ GB of raw footage in one shot will notice the speed transition.
Apacer AS2280Q4 2 TB vs M.2 4.0 x 4 peers
Switch between sequential throughput and random IOPS to see how this drive stacks up against other M.2 4.0 x 4 SSDs in our database. The highlighted bar is the drive on this page — click any other bar to open that drive.
- Patriot Viper PV593 1 TB: 14,500 MB/s read, 14,000 MB/s write
- Patriot Viper PV593 2 TB: 14,500 MB/s read, 14,000 MB/s write
- Patriot Viper PV593 4 TB: 14,500 MB/s read, 14,000 MB/s write
- Patriot Viper PV573 2 TB: 14,000 MB/s read, 12,000 MB/s write
- Apacer AS2280Q4 2 TB (this drive): 5,000 MB/s read, 4,400 MB/s write
Thermal performance is similarly predictable. The E16 was fabricated on TSMC's 28 nm process, which runs warmer than the 12 nm controllers that followed, but the 2 TB model's full NAND population means the controller spends less time at peak power during mixed workloads. An open-air desk test without airflow typically sees the controller touch 75°C under a sustained 200 GB write, at which point a light thermal throttle of roughly 5% throughput reduction engages. With even a basic M.2 slot cover from a modern motherboard, temperatures stay in the 60–65°C range with no throttling at all.
Apacer AS2280Q4 vs Competitors
See how the AS2280Q4 stacks up against other M.2 4.0 x 4 drives in our database:
Compare with rival drives:
Endurance, TBW & Warranty
Apacer covers the AS2280Q4 with a 3-year limited warranty, which is a notch below the 5-year coverage that has become the industry standard for TLC-based PCIe 4.0 drives from Samsung, WD, and Crucial. The endurance rating for the 2 TB variant is 3,600 TBW — equivalent to roughly 650 GB of writes per day over the warranty period, or about 1.6 drive writes per day (DWPD). This is a healthy endurance budget that matches the Phison E16 reference design and should outlast any consumer workload, including heavy gaming and moderate content creation. The 2 TB model's 3,600 TBW figure is proportionally higher than the 1 TB variant due to the larger NAND pool spreading the write amplification load, which makes the 2 TB the sweet spot for users who plan to keep the drive in service for several years. Note that Apacer's TBW figures, like those of all manufacturers, count host writes rather than NAND writes, so write amplification from the operating system and filesystem is part of the 3,600 TBW allowance.
Apacer AS2280Q4 2 TB Specifications
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Capacity [?] | 2 TB |
| Interface [?] | M.2 4.0 x 4 |
| Controller [?] | Phison PS5016-E16 |
| Memory type [?] | 3D TLC |
| DRAM [?] | DDR4 Cache |
| Read speed (MB/s) [?] | 5000 |
| Write speed (MB/s) [?] | 4400 |
| Read IOPS [?] | 750000 |
| Write IOPS [?] | 750000 |
| Endurance (TBW) [?] | 3600 |
| MTBF (million hours) [?] | 1.5 |
| Warranty (years) [?] | 3 |
Verdict: Is the AS2280Q4 Worth It in 2026?
The Apacer AS2280Q4 2TB is a Phison E16 drive through and through — which is both its strength and its limitation. On the plus side, you get a mature, widely-compatible PCIe 4.0 platform with eight channels of TLC NAND backed by a genuine DRAM cache, all at a price that typically undercuts second-generation PCIe 4.0 drives by a meaningful margin. The 3,600 TBW endurance rating is generous for this class, and the single-sided form factor means it drops into any M.2 slot without clearance issues. The trade-off is peak throughput: at 5,000/4,400 MB/s, it leaves roughly 2,000 MB/s of PCIe 4.0 headroom on the table compared to an E18-based drive, and the 3-year warranty is shorter than the 5-year term offered by most competitors. If your use case is a large game library, a secondary project drive, or a general-purpose productivity volume, the AS2280Q4 2 TB does the job quietly and cost-effectively. If you need sustained write throughput for video mastering or want the longest possible manufacturer backing, spend the extra on an E18-generation drive.
+ Pros
- 3,600 TBW endurance at a budget price
- Genuine DDR4 DRAM cache, not HMB
- Single-sided M.2 2280 fits any slot
- Fully saturated eight-channel E16 controller
- Excellent value for a 2 TB PCIe 4.0 drive
- Toshiba BiCS4 TLC with proven durability
- Cons
- 5,000 MB/s ceiling leaves PCIe 4.0 bandwidth unused
- 3-year warranty trails the industry-standard 5 years
- Runs warmer than 12 nm-based controllers
- No factory heatsink included
- Slower sustained writes after 150–200 GB cache fill
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Video Review
Apacer AS2280Q4 огляд найшвидшого SSD диска PCI-E 4.0 - обзор Apacer AS2280Q4 review
