The NASync DH2300 is Ugreen's first affordable NAS product for the global market, although it's already its second generation Arm based NAS, if we look at products the Ugreen offers in China. Together with the four-bay NASync DH4300 Pro, this is its first lower-cost offer outside of China, and with a $140 lower MSRP than the Intel Processor N100 NASync DXP2800, it's a much more attractive offer if we only look at cost. However, the NASync DH2300 also comes with a lot of trade-offs that will make it a no-go for many, such as non-upgradable memory, no NVMe SSD slot, and of course only 1 Gbps Ethernet. We really hope there will be a new revision of the NASync DH2300 with faster Ethernet, as Gigabit Ethernet is simply outdated and by far the biggest drawback of the product.

While on the topic of the not so good, the simplified version of UGOS Pro it ships with will further deter some buyers, as it limits the availability of software that can be run on the NASync DH2300, versus Ugreen's Intel based models. It's possible that support for Docker will be added in the future, especially as it's supported on the NASync DH4200 Plus and that same version of Docker runs on the NASync DH2300. However, for someone that is looking for a simple NAS to use mainly for backing up their data, it still delivers all the basics and then some.

On the other hand, we're looking at a very power efficient product here, that sips power when not in use, something many of its competitors can't get close to. Add the fact that it's whisper quiet in use—obviously depending on the drives you pair with it—so it won't be noticeable in the average home. Ugreen also has the best media playback features we've seen on a NAS, both 4K and HDR content is supported. Combined with the quiet operation, this means that you could actually place it next to your TV and use it as your main media player.

For a two-bay NAS, the NASync DH2300 has a somewhat different design, and although the top is a little bit too loose for our liking, it's easy enough to install drives in the NAS and the drives stay nice and cool during use. The fact that the USB 3.2 ports are limited to 5 Gbps is a limitation of the Rockchip SoC, and it's far from unique when it comes to Arm processors. The addition of NFC is really neither here nor there, but if you want to use a phone to set up your NAS, this could be the quickest way to access all the settings, although it's not much faster than using the QR code or just the app itself.

The Ugreen NASync DH2300 is so close to being a good, low-cost NAS, but launching a new product in 2025 with Gigabit Ethernet simply doesn't cut it. We can live with most of the other compromises here, even though we'd like to see Docker support down the road and hopefully some improved handling of small files. With a MSRP of US$210 despite currently selling for a fair bit less on Ugreen's website, the pricing is quite reasonable for what's on offer, if only it wasn't for the slow network interface. We've clearly shown that even with a 2.5 Gbps USB to Ethernet dongle, there's plenty of extra performance to be had in most scenarios, and if you already have such a device, it would be a faster way to get your data onto the NASync DH2300 when copying large chunks of data over. If you just do incremental backups or are looking for a lower cost option to store your photos and videos on, it's far from the worst option out there though, and it will work with any old network switch or router. This means that you don't have to spend extra money on a new switch or router to get the most out of your NAS. You will have to weigh the lower initial cost vs. the time saved by going for a NAS with 2.5 Gbps or faster network support.