UGREEN NASync vs Synology 2026: Drive Lock and Docker Gaps
Synology's DSM 7.3 reversed its third-party drive lock, but not M.2 SSDs or 2026 models. UGREEN's $227.99 DH2300 has no official Docker support. Which to pick.
The reason anyone is comparing these brands at all
In April 2025, Synology restricted third-party drives on its new 2025 Plus series — the DS925+, DS1825+ and their siblings. Install a drive that was not on Synology’s approved list and you got an “unverified drive” warning and lost the ability to create storage pools, along with health reports, deduplication and firmware updates. Synology’s stated reasoning was a shift to a “more appliance-like business model,” with a claim that validated drives produced roughly 40% fewer storage problems.
The response was immediate and expensive. Longtime customers refused to upgrade, and reports indicated 2025 model sales dropped sharply. In October 2025, with DSM 7.3, Synology reversed course: third-party 3.5-inch HDDs and 2.5-inch SATA SSDs work again on the 2025 Plus, Value and J series, with a commitment to certify more drives.
Two things did not come back, and they are the reason this comparison still matters in August 2026:
- M.2 SSDs remain restricted to Synology’s compatibility list.
- Synology has not committed to third-party HDD support on its 2026 devices.
So the drive-lock question is not resolved. It is deferred. That is the environment UGREEN’s NASync line has been selling into, and it explains why a cable-and-charger company is now a credible NAS vendor.
The UGREEN lineup, at current prices
Prices from UGREEN’s NAS store on 22 August 2026.
| Model | Price | Bays | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| NASync DH2300 | $227.99 | 2 | Rockchip 8-core, 4GB LPDDR4X, 1GbE, up to 64TB — no official Docker |
| NASync DXP2800 | $369.99 | 2 | |
| NASync DH4300 Plus | $399.99 | 4 | |
| NASync DXP2800 GT | $429.99 | 2 | newer GT revision |
| NASync DXP4800 Plus | $619.99 | 4 | Pentium Gold 8505, 10GbE + 2.5GbE, 2× M.2, 144TB |
| NASync DXP4800 GT | $659.99 | 4 | |
| NASync DXP4800 Pro | $679.99 | 4 | |
| NASync DXP480T Plus | $849.99 | all-flash | |
| NASync DXP6800 Pro | $1,099.99 | 6 | |
| NASync DXP8800 Plus | $1,369.99 | 8 | |
| DXP2800 (refurbished) | $269.99 | 2 | |
| DXP4800 Plus (refurbished) | $449.99 | 4 |
Note the same pattern that runs through UGREEN’s whole catalog: the naming is not a ladder. The DXP4800 GT at $659.99 sits above the DXP4800 Plus at $619.99 and below the DXP4800 Pro at $679.99, and none of those three names tells you which is newest or fastest. Read the spec sheet, not the suffix.
The refurbished units are worth a look if you are cost-driven — a DXP4800 Plus at $449.99 against $619.99 new is a $170 saving on a device whose expensive, failure-prone components are the drives you supply yourself.
Check the UGREEN NASync DXP4800 Plus on Amazon
The DH2300 problem nobody puts on the box
The DH2300 is the entry point at $227.99 and, for a specific and common buyer, it is the wrong purchase.
Its published specs are honest enough: Rockchip A72+A53 8-core, 4GB LPDDR4X, two bays, 1GbE networking, up to 64TB with two 32TB drives. Slower than the DXP line, cheaper, aimed at home file storage.
The line that matters is elsewhere in UGREEN’s own documentation: the DH2300 does not currently have official Docker support, and UGREEN warns that using it may result in reduced system performance.
Now connect that to how UGOS Pro works. Reviewers testing UGOS in 2026 describe a platform nearly on par with Synology’s DSM, with one recurring complaint: applications like Plex are not one-click installs. They arrive as Docker containers.
Put those two facts together and the entry-level NASync is the model least able to run the software most people buy a NAS for. If your plan is “cheap NAS, install Plex,” the DH2300 is not the cheap route to it — the DXP2800 at $369.99 is where that plan starts.
The DH2300 is a genuinely fine product for what it is: network file storage, backups, photo sync. Just buy it for that and nothing else.
What $619.99 buys at the top of the mainstream
The DXP4800 Plus is the model that makes the strongest case against a comparable Synology, and its spec sheet explains why:
- Intel Pentium Gold 8505, 5-core — real x86, which matters for containers, virtual machines and transcoding
- 4× 3.5-inch bays plus 2× M.2 NVMe slots, up to 144TB raw
- One 10GbE port and one 2.5GbE port, with UGREEN quoting 1250MB/s over the 10GbE link
- USB-C 10Gbps, USB-A, SD card slot, 4K HDMI out
The 10GbE port is the headline and deserves the standard warning: it does nothing on a 1GbE network. A 10GbE NAS attached to an ordinary home router still tops out around 110MB/s, because the bottleneck moved to the switch. Budget for a 10GbE switch and a 10GbE adapter in the client machine, or buy the cheaper model and spend the difference on drives.
The HDMI output is the more quietly useful feature. It lets the box behave as a local media player or a headless machine you can actually see during setup — something Synology’s mainstream units generally do not offer.
Check the UGREEN NASync DXP2800 on Amazon
What UGREEN still has to prove
Being the alternative to an unpopular policy is not the same as being the better long-term platform. Three things are genuinely unresolved:
Software longevity. Synology’s advantage was never hardware; it was two decades of packaged apps, a mature backup ecosystem and a track record of supporting old units. UGOS Pro is two years old. Reviewers rate it well. Nobody yet knows what it looks like in 2032.
The app-install gap. Docker-for-everything works, and it is a real barrier for the non-technical buyer who chose a NAS specifically to avoid running a server.
Hardware pricing volatility. UGREEN’s NAS prices have moved repeatedly during 2026, and the lineup carries overlapping GT, Plus and Pro revisions of the same bay count. That churn is normal for a young line and it means the model you research may not be the model on sale next month.
None of that argues against buying one. It argues for buying the model whose specs you have actually read, rather than the one with the reassuring suffix.
Which to buy
Network file storage and backups, nothing clever. DH2300, $227.99. Accept no Docker.
The default recommendation. DXP2800 at $369.99 — x86, Docker-capable, two bays is enough for most households running mirrored drives.
Four bays and room to grow. DXP4800 Plus at $619.99, or the refurbished unit at $449.99 if you are comfortable with refurbished electronics whose most fragile parts you supply yourself.
You already run 10GbE. DXP4800 Plus, and make sure the switch and client match. Otherwise you are paying for a port you cannot use.
You want Synology’s software maturity and can live with the drive question. Buy Synology, but check the compatibility position for the specific 2026 model you are considering rather than assuming DSM 7.3’s reversal applies to it.
Caveats
Prices are from UGREEN’s NAS store on 22 August 2026. Third-party retail listings for the same models differed from these figures when we checked, in both directions, and UGREEN has repriced this line several times during 2026.
Specifications are manufacturer-published. We have not tested any NASync unit, measured transfer rates, or evaluated UGOS Pro hands-on; the software assessments above are attributed to published 2026 reviews.
The Synology policy timeline — April 2025 restriction, October 2025 DSM 7.3 reversal, M.2 exclusion, no 2026 commitment — reflects reporting as of August 2026. Vendor policy is exactly the kind of thing that changes after publication, so verify before you buy on the strength of it.
Related guides
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: Can I use any hard drive in a UGREEN NASync?
- A: UGREEN publishes compatibility lists covering Western Digital, Seagate and Toshiba drives and does not lock out unlisted drives the way Synology's 2025 Plus models initially did. Checking the list is still sensible — compatibility lists exist because some drive firmware behaves badly in RAID — but it is guidance rather than an enforced restriction.
- Q: Is the Synology drive restriction over?
- A: For 2025 hardware, mostly. DSM 7.3 restored third-party 3.5-inch HDD and 2.5-inch SATA SSD support on the 2025 Plus, Value and J series. Two caveats matter: M.2 SSDs are still limited to Synology's compatibility list, and Synology has not committed to third-party HDD support on its 2026 devices. If you are buying 2026 Synology hardware, that is an open question, not a settled one.
- Q: Which UGREEN NAS should I avoid if I want Plex?
- A: The DH2300. UGREEN states it does not currently have official Docker support and that using it may result in reduced system performance. UGOS Pro installs most third-party applications, Plex included, through Docker containers — so the cheapest NASync is the one least able to run the software most people buy a NAS for.
- Q: Is UGOS Pro as good as Synology DSM?
- A: Close, with a gap that shows up in app installation. Reviewers in 2026 describe UGOS as an extremely solid platform nearly on par with DSM, but note that apps like Plex arrive as Docker containers rather than one-click installs — workable, and convoluted if you are not comfortable with containers. Synology's advantage is two decades of packaged software, not raw hardware.
- Q: Do I need the 10GbE model?
- A: Only if your network has 10GbE at both ends. The DXP4800 Plus pairs one 10GbE port with one 2.5GbE port and UGREEN quotes 1250MB/s over the 10GbE link, but that requires a 10GbE switch and a 10GbE client. On an ordinary 1GbE home network every NAS here saturates at roughly 110MB/s regardless of what it cost.