I’ll be honest: I’ve never used a NAS before. As a photographer and content creator, I’ve spent years juggling stacks of external SSDs and hard drives in a messy, chaotic system that has somehow worked. But what I don’t have are enough backups, and the constant worry of a drive failing or getting lost has always nagged at me.
I always thought NAS setups were too complicated or expensive for someone like me, but when I found out about Ugreen’s NASync DXP4800 Plus, I was intrigued. Here was a four-bay NAS that looked sleek, had solid specs, and came in at a price point much lower than the Synology and QNAP systems I’d seen.
So, is it the perfect NAS for beginners like me?
NASync DXP4800 Plus Review: Specs and Design
This is what the UGreen DXP4800 has under the hood:
- CPU: Intel X86 12th Generation Intel Pentium Gold processor 8505
- RAM: 8GB DDR5 (expandable to 64GB)
- SATA Drive Bays: 4
- Maximum storage: 136TB (4x 30TB + 2x 8TB)
- Ethernet: 1x 2.5GbE port, 1x 10GbE port
- Ports on front: 1x USB-C, 1x USB-A, 1 SD card reader
My first impressions out of the box were positive. The unboxing experience was clean and simple, and the build quality of the NAS feels sturdy and premium, with a clean, minimalist aesthetic that blends into a studio or home office setup. It’s decently compact and surprisingly quiet in operation, even when the fan is running at full speed.
When it came to installing the hard drives into their bays, I had a lot of fun with this. Although the drive trays seem a bit plastic-y and flimsy, they’re designed incredibly well for easy installation. One part of each tray slides open to allow for the hard drive to slip in, and then there are four pins on the tray that slide perfectly into the hard drive to hold it in place. Then you can insert each bay into the full enclosure, close the latch, and then lock them in place with the included key tool. It was really satisfying.
On the other end of the NAS, there’s a back panel with various connection ports, including HDMI, USB-A, Ethernet, and power supply. I appreciated that Ugreen included a sleek magnetic dust cover for the fan on the back. It’s the little things!
In terms of size and weight, this UGreen model is pretty similar to other popular NAS brands, although it does stand slightly taller and narrower than other models. Weight is pretty standard across all options, especially given the constant that is storage.
Setting up the NASync was straightforward once you get it plugged in, and there’s a great “getting started” guide in the UI that basically walks you through everything you need to know as a beginner. Initial configuration was quick: I chose my RAID setup, created a user account, and set up my file system structure.
NASync DXP4800 Plus Review: Software and Features
UGOS Pro (the UGreen Operating System) is where UGREEN still has room to grow, but that said, I’m pretty happy with it already. It covers all the essentials, like RAID management, SMB/NFS shares, user permissions, snapshots, and remote access, which is really all I need at this point. If you’re coming from Synology or QNAP, you might miss the sheer number of apps, options, and integrations you get with those systems. If you require more complex setups or want to do more than just back up photos and videos, you’ll probably be disappointed.
From that perspective, I can understand that UGOS is probably a lot less full-featured compared to those alternatives, but the UGOS UI is clean and user-friendly so far.
Moving on to the performance of the NAS: because I live in a small NYC apartment, I don’t have the luxury of a dedicated office or studio with wired Ethernet connections running everywhere. My desk is already crammed with a large monitor, an assortment of portable storage, and my laptop, so adding a NAS there wasn’t really an option. Instead, I set up the NASync in my living room, right next to my Spectrum router. It’s plugged in via Ethernet to the router, and I access it wirelessly from my laptop at my desk.
I was worried this wouldn’t work well. I’d read so many articles about needing a direct wired connection for NAS devices to get optimum performance, but for my workflow — which is mostly backing up RAW photo files, transferring edited video exports, and occasionally pulling older images for social posts or pitches — wireless connectivity works perfectly fine. Sure, transferring a giant video project takes longer than if I were hardwired in, but since I’m not editing directly off the NAS right now, I’m not feeling particularly pinched by this limitation.
If I ever upgrade to editing 4K or 8K video off the NAS, or if my projects get more complex, I’ll probably invest in a multi-GB switch and wired adapters. For now, though, it’s just nice to have all my files accessible in one place without juggling piles of external SSDs scattered across my tiny apartment. I can’t imagine that I’m alone in this situation. Even considering the wireless connection, my upload speeds have hovered around 50 to 80 MB/s, which feels pretty good to me. I copied around 100GB project to my NAS and it took around 30 minutes to complete. That seems plenty fast to me.
UGreen NASync DXP4800 Plus is an Easy Way Get Into NAS
The UGreen NASync DXP4800 Plus is easy to set up, looks good on your shelf, and has all the basic features you need for storing and accessing your work. The hardware specs are surprisingly solid for the $699 price, and for many creators, UGOS Pro’s simplicity is actually a plus rather than a downside.
However, if you know you’ll need advanced features like cloud syncing integrations, surveillance camera support, virtual machines, or an extensive app ecosystem, you might be better off with Synology or QNAP. These brands have been in the NAS market for years, and their software shows it.
For me right now, the UGREEN does exactly what I need: it keeps my files safe and accessible without overcomplicating my workflow. If your needs are similar, it’s an affordable, beginner-friendly entry into the NAS world.
Are There Alternatives?
If you’re considering your first NAS, there are definitely alternatives. I personally found that UGreen felt like a healthy balance between price, features, and user-friendliness, but I’d argue that there are compelling reasons to look at some other options.
The Synology DS423+ is one of the company’s most popular 4-bay NAS models designed for photographers, filmmakers, and small studios who want reliable storage without jumping into enterprise pricing. Unlike the UGREEN DXP4800 Plus, it doesn’t have NVMe caching slots or a PCIe slot for future upgrades, and its base RAM is quite limited. But where Synology shines is its DSM software, widely regarded as the best NAS operating system available. That said, Synology recently started requiring only “certified” SSDs, which are way more expensive than users were used to.
QNAP is another big player. The TS-464 has similar specs to the UGREEN, including dual 2.5GbE ports, NVMe slots, and a PCIe expansion slot. Its software is robust and packed with advanced features, though the interface can feel a bit more technical for beginners. It’s more expensive than the UGREEN but has a longer track record in the NAS market.
Finally. TerraMaster is another budget-friendly NAS brand, and the F4-424 is its latest 4-bay model, featuring an Intel Alder Lake-N95 CPU, 8GB of DDR5 RAM (expandable to 32GB), dual 2.5GbE ports, and dual M.2 NVMe slots for SSD caching. Its specs are almost identical to UGREEN’s DXP4800 Plus, but with the slight advantage of DDR5 RAM for future-proofing. TerraMaster’s TOS 5 software is more mature than UGREEN’s UGOS Pro, offering a wider range of apps and backup options, though its interface isn’t as refined as Synology’s DSM. Overall, it’s a solid choice if you want strong hardware at a similar price and don’t mind slightly clunkier software design in exchange for broader functionality.
Should You Buy It?
Maybe. If you are like me — someone who has never used a NAS before — you are tired of juggling piles of external SSDs, and just want a simple, affordable way to centralize and back up your files, and the UGreen NASync DXP4800 Plus fits the bill perfectly. However, if you are making the jump from a more established brand, you may find the current software lacking.
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