Also, having a Kickstarter launch only in two countries will annoy potential customers.
Rather than a review, this is a hands-on of the Ugreen DXP4800 Plus.
Also, theoperating systemand software are undergoing significant changes at this time.
Ugreen is best known for some of thebest portable power stations, hubs, and docking stations.
But it clearly has much wider ambitions, as it has recently introduced a range of six NAS boxes.
Its ability to be upgraded to 64GB of DDR5 memory makes it highly suitable for software developers.
There are a few caveats.
Weve seen this before, and were not fans.
Ugreen DXP4800 Plus: Price and availability
Not a fan of Kickstarter.
More specifically, I’m not entirely happy with how some companies use it for marketing purposes.
With that came the risk that the funding wouldnt cover the development, and the product wouldnt be realised.
However, there is a counterpoint to what should have been a generally positive story.
Were not talking thin metal.
The case sides are 2.8mm thick, providing both a high resilience and some heat dissipation potential.
The trays are plastic, but you’re free to install 3.5-inch drives without screws quickly.
I’m not sure why NAS makers stopped including card readers, but it’s good to see one.
The rear has three more USB ports, all bang out-A, and a HDMI outlet.
Inside here is access to the SODIMM memory slots and dual NVMe drives.
The vanilla DXP4800 model uses the N100 chip, so a logical progression might have been the Core i3-N305.
The 8505 is also a 12th-generation design, whereas the N305 is the newer 13th-generation.
Although both use 10nm fabrication.
That said, while the 8505 has fewer cores, they are a little faster for single-thread tasks.
But none of this is why they picked this CPU over a later option.
Regrettably, it didnt stretch to a PCIe slot.
However, at this time, this NAS doesnt have the software to do virtuality or Docker.
It had only seven apps, including the control panel, file manager, and task manager.
However, there are many standard applications that most NAS users will expect that are currently missing in action.
These include VM and Docker tools, Plex, a Torrent client and client sync.
Considering how early these solutions are in development, omissions shouldnt be a surprise.
However, it might blight this product line if key or promised features remain unavailable after the Kickstarter ends.
Given that owners cant use TrueNAS or Unraid as a working alternative in the meantime.
But having a plan B and then intentionally blocking its use does seem silly.
What we can say is that the Intel Pentium Gold 8505 processor was an inspired choice for this gadget.
It comes with 20 PCIe lanes and enough cores to drive multiple apps smoothly.
Overall, no mainstream NASs offer a more powerful platform for the MSRP.
The Pentium CPU in the Plus is dramatically better than the N100 in so many ways.
However, unless you are a developer, using this machine’s power effectively could be a genuine challenge.
Its another $180 on Kickstarter, but for power users, it might be worth the extra investment.
If Ugreen followed that path, considering the highly polished hardware it has, that would be disappointing.
But is this a real issue?
If the maker allows that.
What is a hands on review?
It may be just a few moments, or a few hours.
For more information, seeTechRadar’s Reviews Guarantee.
