Latest news with #DXP4800Plus
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Ugreen DXP4800 Plus NAS review: Your own private cloud with power and simplicity
If you're tired of paying for cloud storage, concerned about data privacy, or simply running out of space for your digital life, a NAS (Network Attached Storage) system might be the solution you didn't know you needed. Unlike cloud services such as Google Drive or Dropbox, where your files live on someone else's servers, a NAS stores everything locally, giving you full ownership, faster access, and no subscription fees. Over the past several months, I've been using the Ugreen DXP4800 Plus, a high-performance four-bay NAS designed for creators, families, and professionals. It's become one of the most practical and dependable tech additions to my setup, offering quiet operation, powerful hardware, and an easy-to-use software platform that rivals more established brands. Design and build The DXP4800 Plus has a simple but well-built matte black chassis that will look good on a shelf or even a large desk. It includes four front-accessible drive bays, which support standard 3.5-inch hard drives as well as 2.5-inch SSDs and M.2 NVMe drives. For larger setups, it supports up to 112 terabytes of storage, depending on the drives you install. Installing drives is easy. 3.5-inch HDDs snap into tool-free trays, while smaller SSDs use the provided screws. There are two slots for M.2 NVMe drives, and Ugreen includes thermal pads. Around the back, you'll find dual Ethernet ports (2.5GbE and 10GbE), three USB ports, HDMI, and power input. On the front, there's an SD card slot along with USB-C and USB 3.2 ports, all clearly and efficiently laid out. One of the most surprising aspects of the Ugreen NAS is how quiet it is. Even under load with three spinning drives, it barely makes a sound. Compared to other NAS systems I've used, including a Synology that required modifications to reduce vibration, the DXP4800 Plus is whisper-quiet. It's a welcome feature if you're placing it in a shared workspace or keeping it on your desk. Everyday use and versatility The DXP4800 Plus functions as a centralised hub for your digital content. Whether it's documents, videos, music, or backups, everything is stored locally and can be accessed from any connected device. With the companion app, available on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, you can manage files, stream media, sync devices, and back up folders across your home network or remotely. What makes this NAS stand out is its approachability. Setting up shared folders, managing permissions, and configuring storage pools is straightforward. You can create folders for individual users, grant remote access, and even set up automatic sync with cloud services for hybrid storage. For families, it's ideal for backing up mobile photos and videos. For businesses or content creators, it provides always-available access to large files without the bottlenecks of cloud storage. Home cinema fans can turn it into a media server by installing apps like Jellyfin or Ugreen's own Theatre app. While the app store isn't as extensive as what I'm used to with my Synology system, it's steadily growing. It already includes popular tools for setting up virtual servers, managing office documents, handling backups, and even features Home Assistant for smart home integration. Hardware and performance Under the hood, the NAS is powered by a 12th Gen Intel Pentium Gold 8505 processor with five cores and supports up to 32GB of DDR5 memory. My review unit came with 8GB installed and has handled everything I've thrown at it, from large video transfers to simultaneous app use, without breaking a sweat. Transfer speeds were fast and consistent. I don't have a 10GbE network to test the system at its maximum transfer speeds, but for my use case, the performance was more than satisfactory. As expected, I found it significantly faster than cloud uploads, which makes a noticeable difference when working with high-resolution video or large photo libraries. Even while multitasking, streaming music, browsing files, and uploading backups, the system remained stable and responsive throughout. Music streaming One of my favourite features is the built-in music player. Years ago, I ripped my CD collection into lossless FLAC files and have continued expanding it ever since. The Ugreen NAS organises my library by album, genre and artist, complete with cover art and metadata. It allows me to stream my entire collection on any device, whether I'm at home or travelling. It has completely replaced streaming services like Spotify for me. The only downside is that there's currently no option to download music for offline playback, something that would be useful on flights or in areas with poor connectivity. I hope this gets added in a future update. AI-powered photo management I back up all my photos to my NAS, whether they're taken on a mobile phone or a digital camera. It's completely replaced our family's cloud storage subscriptions. The Ugreen photo app is AI-driven, which is a must for managing large photo libraries efficiently. It scans your entire photo collection and automatically tags images by content, face, or location. Typing in 'beach' or 'cat' quickly brings up relevant results, even from large libraries. Importantly, all this happens locally. Your photos remain on your own drives, not in the cloud, which means no privacy concerns, no compression, and no bandwidth costs. For families with years of photos or photographers managing thousands of images, this feature is invaluable. User experience Ugreen's custom NAS operating system is polished and straightforward. It supports standard RAID configurations for redundancy, encrypted storage, automatic backups, and remote access. All of this is managed through a single app available for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. The companion app offers access to everything in one place. Whether you're on desktop or mobile, you can control the NAS, browse files, stream music and video, and manage user permissions. It's ideal for beginners or anyone who doesn't want to spend hours learning a new system. While more experienced users might notice some limitations compared to Synology DSM in terms of app availability or advanced networking controls, Ugreen has been consistently pushing updates and appears committed to expanding the platform. The system also includes a security manager that handles encryption, two-factor authentication, and remote access control, keeping your data safe even when accessed from outside your home network. Power consumption With three 4TB NAS-rated hard drives installed and running 24 hours a day for the last four months, I logged an average of 22 kilowatt-hours per month. At 34.6 cents per kWh, that comes to about €91 per year. That's a very reasonable figure for a device that handles daily backups, media streaming and file hosting. There's also the option to schedule automatic shutdowns at night if you want to reduce energy use even further, though I prefer to leave it running continuously for instant access. Workload, the number of drives, their size, and even the brand can all affect energy consumption, but the 4800 Plus remains impressively efficient. Room to grow, and a few wishes The DXP4800 Plus is designed to scale. Whether you're starting with just a couple of drives or building toward a full 112TB setup, it can grow with your needs. The only real limitations I encountered were software-based. The lack of offline music support and a slightly smaller app library compared to Synology are noticeable, but far from deal-breakers. For those who want deeper networking features or tighter integration with certain cloud services, more advanced platforms may be a better fit. But for most users, including creatives, home users, and small businesses, this NAS does everything you need and does it well. Verdict A fast, quiet and beginner-friendly NAS that delivers private, local storage without the usual complexity or cloud costs. Ideal for creatives, families and professionals who want full control over their digital lives. €629
Gizmodo
15-07-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
This UGREEN Data Storage Lets You Build an At-Home NAS for Less Than Prime Day Pricing
Photos, school projects, and work documents pile up faster than we notice. One day your laptop feels roomy, the next you are hunting for a spare thumb drive or paying another cloud fee just to store last month's video clips. A home server solves that headache and keeps everything in one secure spot that you own, not a distant data center. The UGREEN NASync DXP4800 Plus 4‑Bay Desktop NAS turns any spare corner of the house into a private cloud that backs up every device, streams movies, and shares files with family members in only a few clicks. Head over to Amazon to get the UGREEN NASync DXP4800 Plus 4‑Bay Desktop NAS for just $595, down from its usual price of $700. That's a discount of $105 and 15% off. See at Amazon Setting up the NAS feels a lot like sliding books onto a shelf. Pop the front door, insert up to four standard hard drives or solid‑state drives, and lock them in place with the included tool‑free trays. The drives show up in the friendly web dashboard, where a quick setup wizard helps you choose a storage pool and turn on automatic backups for laptops and phones. If you change your mind later, the bays swap drives without powering down, so the system grows alongside your photo library rather than forcing a full rebuild. Inside, a quiet quad‑core processor and eight gigabytes of memory keep things moving smoothly even when several people stream or back up at once. That means you can watch a 4K movie on the living‑room TV while your partner syncs vacation photos and your teenager plays music upstairs. Two gigabit Ethernet ports handle fast transfers, and a pair of USB slots let you plug in an external drive for one‑button copies of old data. Because the unit sits on rubber feet and uses a smart cooling fan, it hums softer than most desk fans and tucks neatly beside a router or game console. Security is built in from the start. The NAS creates user accounts with individual passwords, so siblings see only their homework folders while parents keep financial records private. Daily snapshots guard against accidental deletes, and remote access works through an encrypted tunnel that shields traffic from snoops on public Wi‑Fi. A mobile app lets you browse files, stream music, or share a link while you wait in line for coffee. If you are tired of juggling flash drives or paying monthly fees for extra cloud space, giving your household its own shared hub is a smart step. The UGREEN NASync DXP4800 Plus 4‑Bay Desktop NAS is still available for $595 at Amazon, a solid drop from the regular $700 price. See at Amazon
