TechRadar recommends Ugreen 10GbE NAS with $92 TRENDnet switch for faster transfers
TechRadar suggests pairing the $1,100 Ugreen NASync DXP6800 Pro NAS with a $92 TRENDnet TEG-S762 switch to unlock 10GbE speeds, though cheaper prices have been seen.
The TRENDnet TEG-S762 is an unmanaged switch with two 10GbE RJ45 ports and four 2.5GbE connections, offering a 60Gbps switching capacity. It features a fanless metal design, supports wall mounting, and is compatible with existing Cat5e or better cabling. Connecting the NAS to one of its 10GbE ports provides a much faster route to other compatible devices on the network, substantially reducing transfer times for large backups, photos, and video files compared with standard Gigabit Ethernet.
The Ugreen NASync DXP6800 Pro combines six SATA bays, two M.2 NVMe slots, dual 10GbE ports, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 10-core Intel Core i5-1235U processor, and 8GB of DDR5 memory expandable to 64GB. It supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10, along with JBOD and Basic configurations, giving users flexibility in balancing capacity, performance, and redundancy. TechRadar called the two 10GbE RJ45 ports on the TRENDnet switch a particularly good match, as they let the NAS use its high-speed networking instead of being limited to slower Gigabit or 2.5GbE connections.
In terms of price history, the diskless Ugreen NASync DXP6800 Pro has previously dropped as low as $969.99 earlier in the year, so $1,100 is not the best price seen, though it is the current best available price and matches Newegg's price. The TRENDnet TEG-S762 has also been slightly cheaper in the past by a few dollars.
TechRadar recommends buying the combination for users who regularly work with large amounts of data and need fast centralized storage for photography, video editing, or other creative work, especially when multiple devices need frequent access to the same large project files. It suggests skipping the setup for those who only need basic backup of documents and everyday files, since a six-bay NAS with a Core i5 processor, Thunderbolt 4, and high-speed networking is overkill for basic home storage.
Potential buyers should note that the DXP6800 Pro is diskless, so the $1,099.99 price does not include hard drives; filling six bays with high-capacity NAS drives can add a substantial cost, particularly for RAID configurations. The $92 TRENDnet switch provides the necessary 10GbE RJ45 connection without needing an SFP+ adapter, and its fanless design suits a home office or studio.