UGREEN DXP480T Plus review: This Thunderbolt 4-enabled all-flash NAS server is magnificent

While mechanical arduous drives are nonetheless the best choice for residence NAS servers, SSDs are reasonably priced sufficient that they seem to be a professional different. Most NAS servers embrace no less than two M.2 drives that provide the potential to reinforce conventional storage with ultra-fast SSDs, however for those who do not wish to trouble with mechanical drives in any respect, there’s one other selection.UGREEN’s DXP480T Plus is among the most intriguing choices within the model’s fledgling portfolio. I reviewed the DXP4800 Plus just a few weeks in the past, and the 4-bay server has one of the best {hardware} configuration in its class. With the DXP480T Plus, UGREEN is taking a distinct path — this NAS server is a 3rd of the dimensions because the DXP4800 Plus, and that is as a result of it has simply M.2 slots; there isn’t any approach so as to add a regular 3.5-inch HDD.All-flash NAS storage servers are slowly gaining momentum, and with a 4TB Gen. 4 SSD promoting for as little as $226, it is not arduous to see why. SSDs are rather more dependable than HDDs as they have no transferring components, and when you’ve got a 2.5GbE or 10GbE residence community, they’ve significantly better headroom.So if you wish to swap to all-flash storage, the DXP480T Plus could be your best option proper now.UGREEN DXP480T Plus: Pricing and availability(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)UGREEN unveiled its NASync sequence on March 26, and in contrast to many of the model’s choices, you may’t purchase the NAS servers through its web site or Amazon. That will come later, however for now, you will must go the crowdsourcing route; the merchandise are listed on Kickstarter, and you may get your palms on the DXP480T Plus for $519. That’s a full 35% off its $799 retail value, and as of writing, there are 639 items (out of 1000) left at this tier.UGREEN says it’s going to begin deliveries by June 2024, and that’s according to the remainder of its NAS fashions being crowdfunded on Kickstarter proper now. There’s just one variant of the DXP480T Plus, and it comes with 8GB of RAM that may be upgraded to 64GB, 4 M.2 drive bays, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one 10 Gigabit Ethernet port, and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port with 10Gbps bandwidth.Swipe to scroll horizontallyCategoryUGREEN DXP480T PlusInside drive baysFour (4TB every bay), M.2 2280Community interface1 x 10 Gigabit EthernetUSB ports1 x USB 3.2 Gen2, 10GbpsThunderbolt 4TwoPCIe❌HDMIYes, HDMI 2.0b portCPU4.4GHz 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1235UPlex transcodingYesRAM8GB DDR5 non-ECC, upgradeable to 64GBUGREEN DXP480T Plus: Design(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)Most 4-bay NAS servers are massive and hulking, however as a result of the DXP480T Plus would not should take care of 3.5-inch drive bays, it has a diminutive dimension. The design is extra according to that of a mini-PC, and whereas the exterior design is made out of plastic, construct high quality is great. This is a product that appears and feels premium, and whereas it’s considerably smaller than different NAS servers, it has nice cooling potential.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)There are vents on three sides that help in passive cooling, and the underside of the DXP480T Plus has two followers that actively cool the M.2 drive bays. The followers are just like what you get on most notebooks, and so they get loud; I might have most well-liked an even bigger fan with higher cooling, however the sheer dimension of the unit limits it.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)UGREEN bundles an honest set of equipment within the field, together with an Ethernet cable, thermal pads to connect to the M.2 SSDs housed within the enclosure, and an set up information. While it is nice to see the model bundling thermal pads — they’re important on this product — they disintegrated as I used to be attaching them to the SSDs, so I went with an aftermarket resolution.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)The entrance of the NAS has the ability button and the model’s tagline, Protect What You Love, highlighted. The commonplace UGREEN brand would have been higher as a substitute, however that’s positioned on the high.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)Accessing the M.2 slots is easy; there are two screws on the underside, and the panel comes away to disclose the 4 M.2 2280 slots. What I like in regards to the panel is that the followers are housed inside, and so they’re linked through magnetic pins to the NAS.Overall, UGREEN did a terrific job with the design of the DXP480T Plus, and it is among the smallest all-flash storage options round.UGREEN DXP480T Plus: Ports and connectivity(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)The DXP480T Plus homes 4 M.2 2280 drive bays, and it holds as much as a complete of 16TB of storage — a most of 4TB every drive. There’s lots to love relating to the ports, with the NAS providing two Thunderbolt 4 ports together with HDMI out, USB 3.2 Gen 2, and a 10 Gigabit Ethernet port.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)The NAS comes with 8GB of DDR5 RAM as commonplace, and it has two SO-DIMM slots that allow you to add as much as 64GB of whole storage. However, accessing these slots is a little bit of a problem as you could dismantle the underside housing. That stated, you will not must do it greater than as soon as.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)What I like about UGREEN’s NAS servers is that the model features a 128GB M.2 2242 drive out of the field; the web-based OS is housed on this drive, and it makes configuring the DXP480T Plus a breeze.UGREEN DXP480T Plus: Performance(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)Powering the DXP480T Plus is an Alder Lake-based Intel Core i5-1235U. It has 10 cores and 12 threads in whole, goes as much as 4.4GHz, and is a superb selection in a NAS server as you get {hardware} transcoding. You cannot do a lot with that simply but, because the software program itself continues to be in beta.UGREEN has a customized OS known as UGOS that powers its NAS servers, and it isn’t in a usable state as of writing. It’s clear that for this reason the model took the crowdfunding route as a substitute of releasing the NASync sequence on its web site, and whereas it is simple sufficient to see that the software program has numerous potential, that is nonetheless some methods away.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)The interface itself appears clear, and also you get a great set of utilities to watch storage and tweak the settings of the NAS. There’s a worldwide search function that is fairly nifty, however once more, it is not fairly dependable simply but. As such, most of my testing was completed in SMB mode, and in that regard, the all-flash storage has lots to supply. On my 10GbE community, I constantly obtained writes of over 540MB/s when transferring knowledge between servers, with reads of 700MB/s.That’s clearly rather more than what you get with an HDD, and you’ll simply maximize the potential of multi-Gigabit connectivity with the DXP480T Plus. But with reference to media streaming and backing up knowledge, the NAS nonetheless has an extended method to go.UGREEN DXP480T Plus: The competitors(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)ASUSTOR additionally has an all-flash storage providing dubbed the Flashstor FS6706T, and it homes six M.2 bays. It would not have Thunderbolt 4 connectivity or 10GbE, however you get twin 2.5GbE ports, and three USB ports on the again. The {hardware} is not as highly effective, with the unit rocking an Intel N5105. And coming in at $449, you do not get one of the best worth.UGREEN DXP480T Plus: Should you purchase it?(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)You should purchase this if:You need one of the best {hardware} package deal on this sectionYou desire a NAS with a diminutive designYou want Thunderbolt 4 connectivityYou should not purchase this if:You need polished software program out of the boxUltimately, the DXP480T Plus has one of the best {hardware} of any all-flash storage servers round at present. The truth that you simply get twin Thunderbolt 4 ports and 10GbE connectivity permits it to face out significantly, and despite the fact that it’s on Kickstarter, $519 is a steal for the caliber of {hardware} you are getting.The Core i5-1235U is considerably extra highly effective than one of the best residence NAS servers, which often use Intel’s N-series designs. And with 4 M.2 2280 drive bays out there, you will have sufficient headroom for storage. The solely unknown is the software program; UGREEN says it’s going to ship a usable construct by the point these drives exit to backers, and I’ll replace the submit at the moment to see if the software program holds as much as established rivals.That stated, UGOS has a strong basis, and for those who do not thoughts ready for the secure construct to roll out, the DXP480T Plus is a standout selection at $519. That will not be the case as soon as it hits retail availability, so if you wish to swap to an all-flash NAS and wish to maximise worth, you will must act now.