The NAS That Makes Everyone Feel Like a Pro

I’ve been using my trusty Western Digital My Cloud EX2 Ultra for years now, and the time has come to upgrade. I was not only running out of storage, but I wanted to use something with a bit more umph and something current. So, when UGREEN reached out about the UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT, I was intrigued. It’s a 4-bay NAS, and I was eyeing a UGREEN NAS for quite some time. I’ve heard positive things about UGOS and decided to give it a go.

For full transparency reasons, do note that I’m not exactly a NAS expert. I’ve been using WD’s NAS for years for storage and (mostly) home media streaming purposes. That is the only NAS that I’ve personally owned. So this is technically my second NAS, and a considerably more powerful one. If you’d like to hear about my experience with the UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT, let’s get on with the review, shall we?

Rating

First-timer friendly, power-user capable.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Build quality
• Sleek looks
• Dual 10GbE
• Built-in SD card slot
• Plenty of ports
• Excellent cooling
• Magnetic dust cover

Cons

• Single-channel RAM
• There’s a good chance you’ll need a switch boost for dual 10GbE

Disclaimer

UGREEN supplied us with a review unit of the UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT, but didn’t have a say in our opinion, nor did they see this review before you. We’ve been using the device for about two weeks before forming an opinion.

Specs

UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT Review: Design

The UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT is not much different than previous NAS systems from the company. That’s not a bad thing, though, not at all. The company used aluminum and plastic here. The entire shell is made out of aluminum, while the disk bays are plastic, and that’s perfectly fine… preferred, even. Why? Well, because the entire thing is quite hefty as is (which is the case with 4-bay NAS’), so adding more metal to it was really unnecessary.

It both looks and feels premium

It both looks and feels premium as is, and I really don’t have complaints when it comes to the design. Even this black and gold combo that UGREEN used, it works really well. That gold color is kind of washed out and subtle, and it’s used just for accents. I really dig the design here, and quite frankly, it’ll work well for my setup, wherever I decide to put it.

On the front, you have a 4-drive access and LED indicators. Those indicators show drive access, health, and usage for each bay. They’re very useful despite the fact that there’s no actual screen here. Popping out a storage bay is immensely simple. You can press the button, and it pops out, after which you pull it out. You do get two keys for these bays, so you can lock them in, just to be sure someone from the household doesn’t get bright ideas.

You’ll get all the necessary ports here

There are a ton of ports included on the thing. You have two USB 3.2 Gen2 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, a USB-C 3.2 Gen2 port, and an HDMI 4K 60Hz port. There is also a microSD card slot (3.0) here, in case you need it, plus LAN ports, of course. Those LAN ports are 10GbE ports, which is outstanding. You also get two M.2 slots here. It’s a well-equipped NAS.

UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT Review: What’s in the Box

When it comes to the UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT packaging, you’ll get everything you need, except the hard drives themselves. You can check for compatibility for hard drives on the company’s websites, but this NAS supports virtually everything, at least as far as mainstream models are concerned.

The package includes the NAS itself, a user manual, a warranty card, screws, and a screwdriver for the hard drives themselves, U.2 SSD Heatsink (x2), Ethernet cable (CAT7) x2, power cable, power adapter, two SSD silicone thermal pads, and two hard drive tray keys.

UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT Review: Features

The UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT has plenty of modern NAS features to offer. It may not be the most powerful NAS in the company’s lineup, but it has plenty to offer in the feature department. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of this NAS is its dual 10GbE speed for transferring data. You can basically edit your high-resolution content directly from your NAS, like it’s a local drive, thanks to this… and basically everything else.

It can handle up to 144TB of storage and has a capable processors

It has 4 drives which can handle up to 144TB of storage, which essentially means that each drive can take a hard drive of up to 36TB. That’s a ton of storage, needless to say. Another very important feature worth noting is the fact that there’s no monthly subscription or anything like that. You pay once, and you get long-term storage and control over your data locally. There are no additional costs, unlike what some other companies offer.

The AMD Ryzen Embedded R2514 chip can also be considered a feature here, as it’s more than powerful enough to handle the workload here. Though, considering this is a NAS, you can always overdo it if you try to, but then the better upgrade is an SSD, which is a completely different story. On top of all that, the NASync DXP4800 GT has a built-in SD card slot and USB Instant Backup as well. Docker is supported, as I know that many of you will want to know. You can easily grab it from UGREEN’s app store and then install whatever you want.

UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT Review: Performance

I have to mention the initial setup here. If you haven’t used one of UGREEN NAS’ thus far, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. This was my first, and the initial setup is as simple as it gets. You only need bare-bones knowledge about what you bought, and you’ll get through it without a problem. Simply pop the disks in, navigate to find.ugnas.com, and you’re ready to go. You’ll need to wait a couple of minutes for the NAS to boot up and recognize the drives, but after that, you can kick off the setup. Setting up one of the number RAID solutions is extremely simple. RAID 1, RAID 2, even RAID 5 and 10 are at your disposal. Even if you plan on using a single drive and/or don’t want a RAID setup, no problem. The point is, the setup is painfully simple, but we’ll talk about that a bit more in the software section.

It handled my 2x12TB + 2x2TB setup with ease

I wanted to get a 2×2 RAID 1 setup from this NAS, for my usage needs. So, in the first two bays, I placed two 12TB drives, having the first one mirrored onto the other. In the last two drive bays, I placed two 2TB drives that UGREEN sent for testing purposes, but I think I’ll replace those down the line, as my storage needs grow. In any case, the setup went without a hitch, and I had to go through only a couple of setup screens to get everything going. Even the initial formatting and initialization didn’t take a lot of time, not at all. Do note that all of those drives were new and empty, though.

Just to be clear, I am using this NAS as a backup solution and also as a media center at the same time. I set up Plex via Docker. Then I copied over a bunch of my photos and videos and used them as a gallery of sorts as well. If you’re planning on doing some heavy video editing on files that are on the NAS itself, I’d recommend getting an SSD for it. You can easily install it here. I’m talking about an M.2 SSD here, of course. For my purposes, it worked like a charm. I even tried editing some videos that were stored on that, and that went without a hitch; however, it wasn’t exactly a huge project. I’m sure that massive projects will scream for an SSD, as they always do.

Dual 10GbE is here, but you may need to invest in a switch

One of the main selling points of this NAS is dual 10GbE. Many of you won’t be able to take advantage of that, however, without investing in a 10GbE adapter, but it’s well worth it. I didn’t, however, as I didn’t feel the need for 10GbE, but that’s going to be the reason many of you get this thing, that’s for sure.

As I said, for my needs, including media streaming, this thing worked like a charm. However, if you plan on using many apps via Docker, and really push this thing to the max, I’d not only invest in an SSD, but I’d also upgrade the RAM. This NAS comes with just 8GB of single-channel RAM. You can easily push that to 64GB and not worry about a thing after that.

The built-in media player worked well, though I did hear that some people had issues with codec compatibility. I did not, so I cannot attest to that, but I won’t be using that media player all that much, so that doesn’t bother me all that much.

It wasn’t loud at all, quite the contrary

What about noise? Well, it seems to be louder than most NAS systems. The sounds seem to be a bit dampened for some reason. The cooling is outstanding here, so you don’t have to worry about that at all. There’s even a magnetic dust cover on the back, which you can pop off with ease and clean on a regular basis. That always helps things.

UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT: Software

The UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT ships with UGREEN’s native OS, the so-called UGOS Pro system. This is the most user-friendly experience on a NAS I’ve seen to date. Granted, I didn’t own many NAS systems, but I had the opportunity to tinker with quite a few over the years. Nothing comes close to this, IMHO. You have a bunch of apps pre-installed for basic stuff, and you can download more. If that’s enough, Docker can be easily installed, and then via Docker you can do wonders, as you’d on other NAS systems.

Setting it up is immensely easy

The initial setup is immensely simple. It includes setting up storage pools for the hard drives you inserted, and everything is explained extremely well. Even if you have no idea what RAID options are, the initial setup explains everything. Once you’re done with that, you’re welcomed with a desktop PC-like UI, which is very easy to use. I’ve seen UGOS Pro in images and videos before, but using it for the first time is something else entirely. You really get to appreciate the simplicity of it all. Anyone can set this up, really.

If you plan on using the UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT outside of your local network, that’s easily doable. You can also share links to other users if you need them to access specific files or folders. It is all very simple to do, as it basically mimics PC use. The UI itself also looks quite inviting. A rather detailed and capable storage management solution is built into the OS, and the same goes for security (both monitoring and protection).

UGOS Pro is a very capable OS

If you’ve never used a NAS thus far, and you’d like to get going, UGREEN is a great choice in general, and UGOS Pro only makes it the case. I loved my initial two-week experience with UGOS Pro, it’s that simple.

UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT Review: Should you buy it?

The UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT may not be the most powerful NAS system in the company’s lineup, but it could be one of the most popular ones. This is not only enough for first-time users, but also for users who want a very competent NAS for either personal use or perhaps a local server for a smaller company. It is well-equipped with ports, is powerful enough, and offers plenty of storage opportunities. You can also seriously upgrade this thing if you feel the need to, with both RAM and an M.2 SSD. For the vast majority of users, this is all they need, and then some. I can easily recommend it, and I do plan on keeping using it myself. It’s a great offering at its current price, let alone the discounts that come along. Speaking of which, we do have a 20% discount code for you, in case you want to save up some cash.

You should buy the UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT if you:

• Need a personal home server.
• Need a server for a small company.
• Are a first-time NAS user.
• Want a versatile and capable NAS.

You shouldn’t buy the UGREEN NASync DXP4800 GT if you:

• Are a heavy user and plan on pushing your NAS to the max.