The notable nas releases of 2026 cover three propositions: UGREEN's DXP4800 Plus brings built-in 10GbE at an aggressive price, Synology's DS225+ and DS1525+ push ecosystem depth, and QNAP's TS-464 targets Plex with Intel Celeron transcoding support.
Three companies are pulling network storage in three different directions this year, and the gap between them has never been clearer. UGREEN is buying market share with hardware that undercuts on price, Synology is leaning on the depth of its software ecosystem, and QNAP is chasing the media-server crowd. If you are weighing a 2026 NAS purchase, the right pick depends entirely on which of those three pitches matches how you actually plan to use the box.
UGREEN's DXP4800 Plus is the value standout, bundling built-in 10GbE networking at a price the others reserve for upgrades. Synology's DS225+ and DS1525+ win on ecosystem maturity and app polish. QNAP's TS-464 targets Plex users with an Intel Celeron that handles hardware transcoding. Pick on workload: raw speed and price favour UGREEN, software depth favours Synology, media transcoding favours QNAP.
The headline on the DXP4800 Plus is integrated 10GbE, which on rival units usually means buying an add-in card and a compatible switch. Built into a four-bay enclosure at an aggressive price, it makes fast multi-user file transfer reachable for a home office or small studio that moves large video files. UGREEN is the newer name of the three, so its software is younger, but the hardware-for-the-money equation is the most generous on the market right now.
Under the hood, the DXP4800 Plus runs an Intel Pentium Gold 8505 processor alongside 8GB of DDR5 RAM, which is user-upgradable to 64GB. Two M.2 NVMe slots allow for SSD caching or an all-flash pool. That is a meaningfully more capable hardware platform than what the Synology DS225+ ships with at a comparable price point, making UGREEN's value argument straightforward for buyers who want modern specs without paying a software premium.
Synology's pitch has never been raw specs, it is the software running on top. DSM, its operating system, is the most polished in the category, with mature apps for backups, photo management, surveillance and self-hosted services. The two-bay DS225+ suits a household or solo creator, while the larger DS1525+ scales to more drives for people who expect their storage needs to keep growing. You pay a premium over UGREEN for that maturity, and for many buyers the reliability and app breadth justify it.
The trade-off is value. Synology tends to ship more conservative networking and processing for the money, and recent models have tightened which drives they officially support. The DS225+ is capped at 2.5GbE networking and ships with 2GB of RAM expandable to only 6GB, while the DXP4800 Plus offers 10GbE and far more memory headroom out of the box. If you want the deepest software stack and are comfortable paying for it, the diskless NAS enclosures stocked at Evetech include the Synology line alongside its rivals so you can compare directly.
The DS1525+ is available at the five-bay tier, supports RAID 5 and RAID 6, and has a 10GbE upgrade path through an expansion card, making it the stronger choice for households with growing storage needs and a preference for Synology's software maturity.
QNAP aims the TS-464 squarely at media servers. Its Intel Celeron processor includes Quick Sync, the hardware video engine that lets Plex transcode multiple streams without hammering the CPU. For a household that streams a personal film and music library to phones, TVs and tablets around the house, that transcoding muscle is the deciding factor. The four-bay layout gives room for a growing media collection, and QNAP's app store covers the usual backup and container workloads too.
The TS-464 also ships with dual 2.5GbE ports and NVMe expansion slots, making it a closer hardware match to the UGREEN option than a Synology equivalent. Where QNAP sits between Synology's software polish and UGREEN's value proposition, it earns its place on Plex-centric capability.
For buyers new to NAS, the software experience is as important as the hardware inside. Synology's DSM is the benchmark: consistent updates, a large community, well-documented apps, and a package manager that keeps the ecosystem current years after purchase. QNAP's QTS has comparable depth and suits power users comfortable with a more feature-dense interface. UGREEN's UGOS Pro is the youngest of the three and is improving quickly, but it lacks the years of polish and the sheer breadth of third-party integrations that DSM offers.
If you plan to self-host services, run Docker containers, or rely on a platform-native backup solution long-term, factor software maturity into your decision alongside the hardware specs. A slightly slower NAS running an OS you trust and that gets regular security updates is a better long-term purchase than leading hardware that the manufacturer stops supporting early.
Whichever enclosure you choose, the drives inside decide its real-world feel. A NAS aimed at media or backups wants high-capacity drives, while a unit you will hit with constant small reads and writes benefits from an SSD cache. Pairing the right solid-state drives as a cache layer can sharply lift responsiveness on a busy multi-user box. Plan the drive spend as part of the purchase, not an afterthought.
The UGREEN DXP4800 Plus offers the strongest value, mainly because it builds in 10GbE networking and ships with 8GB of DDR5 RAM that competitors charge extra for. If price-to-performance is your priority, it leads this year's field.
Only if you regularly move very large files or have several users hitting the box at once. For ordinary backups and streaming, standard gigabit networking is plenty, so 10GbE is a bonus rather than a requirement.
The QNAP TS-464 is built for it. Its Intel Celeron includes Quick Sync hardware transcoding, which keeps multiple Plex streams smooth without overloading the processor.
You are paying for the DSM software ecosystem, which is the most mature in the category, with polished apps for backups, photos and surveillance. The hardware is conservative, but the software depth is the draw.
Yes, all three ship diskless so you choose your own drives. Check each maker's compatibility list first, since some models, particularly recent Synology units, are stricter about which drives they officially support.
Ready to pick your enclosure? Compare the full diskless NAS storage range at Evetech and match a 2026 model to how you actually store and stream.
The UGREEN DXP4800 Plus offers the strongest value, mainly because it builds in 10GbE networking and ships with 8GB of DDR5 RAM that competitors charge extra for. If price-to-performance is your priority, it leads this year's field.
Only if you regularly move very large files or have several users hitting the box at once. For ordinary backups and streaming, standard gigabit networking is plenty, so 10GbE is a bonus rather than a requirement.
The QNAP TS-464 is built for it. Its Intel Celeron includes Quick Sync hardware transcoding, which keeps multiple Plex streams smooth without overloading the processor.
You are paying for the DSM software ecosystem, which is the most mature in the category, with polished apps for backups, photos and surveillance. The hardware is conservative, but the software depth is the draw.
Yes, all three ship diskless so you choose your own drives. Check each maker's compatibility list first, since some models, particularly recent Synology units, are stricter about which drives they officially support.
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