UGREEN NASync DH2300 review

The UGREEN NASync DH2300 is a diskless two-bay NAS built around an ARM chip. It runs UGREEN's UGOS Pro from 32GB of eMMC. Drives are not included. Each bay takes a 3.5" or 2.5" SATA drive, and UGREEN quotes a maximum of 64TB using two 32TB drives. RAID options are Basic, JBOD, RAID 0 and RAID 1.

UGREEN features it in its beginner's NAS buying guide, and the spec sheet matches that pitch. It is a storage and media box, not a home server. UGREEN states it supports neither Docker nor virtual machines. That single fact decides whether it suits you.

UGREEN also sells a bundle with a 72W DC UPS, so check which version a listing is for.

The chip is a Rockchip RK3576 with eight cores: four Cortex-A72 cores at 2.2GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores at 1.8GHz. Alongside them sit a Mali-G52 GPU and a 6 TOPS NPU. There is no Intel Quick Sync. In its own range, UGREEN lists Quick Sync only for the DXP2800.

Digital Camera World reports that the DH2300 can transcode H.264, H.265 and AV1. That is a reviewer claim, not a UGREEN specification. If hardware transcoding for a media server is the main reason you're buying, the lack of an official spec is a risk to weigh before you commit.

There is also an HDMI output rated at 4K 60Hz.

Memory is 4GB of LPDDR4X. It is fixed and not upgradeable, so what you buy is what you keep. Combined with UGREEN's statement that the DH2300 supports neither Docker nor virtual machines, this rules it out as a self-hosting box by the manufacturer's own account. Reviews and owner write-ups repeatedly complain about the lack of Docker and self-hosting, and the fixed RAM comes up as a complaint too.

TechPowerUp reviewed it on UGOS Pro (simplified) version 1.10.0.0108, running Linux kernel 6.1.115+. The research doesn't set out the full app list or UGREEN's update history for this model, so check the current UGOS Pro feature list for the services you need, such as photo backup or file sync, before buying.

There is one 1GbE port. Digital Camera World measured real-world transfers of around 110–115 MB/s over it. TechPowerUp reports that the chip shares SATA and PCIe lanes, which rules out 2.5GbE on this design, and the networking is not user-upgradeable. Owners and reviewers repeatedly name 1GbE-only networking as a drawback.

There are no M.2 slots and no PCIe slot, and UGREEN hasn't published an expansion unit. Connectivity is two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports and one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port, plus the HDMI output. With two bays and no M.2, the 64TB ceiling from two 32TB drives is the internal limit.

Power draw is where the DH2300 stands out. TechPowerUp measured 0.2W in standby and 3.1W at idle, and several reviews praise its very low power use.

Noise gets a similar reception. Most reviews and a six-month owner write-up describe it as quiet in use. One review found it noisy with spinning drives installed, so your choice of hard drives will affect how it sounds.

The DH2300 does a narrow job. It offers two SATA bays, RAID 1 for mirroring, a single 1GbE port and very low measured power draw. Owners report it as quiet. That makes it a fit for someone who wants a first NAS for photos, documents and backups and is happy to stay inside UGREEN's own software.

The limits are hard ones. The 4GB of RAM is fixed. UGREEN states there is no Docker or VM support. The chip's shared lanes rule out 2.5GbE, and there are no M.2 or PCIe slots. Hardware transcoding rests on a reviewer's report rather than a UGREEN spec, and there's no Quick Sync. If you want to run containers, a media server with confirmed transcoding, or anything you'd describe as a homelab, these are not things you can add later on this box.