What the Ultra actually is
The Ultra is a refresh, not a redesign. The Neowin review says the DXP8800 Pro used an older Intel i5-1235U, while the Ultra moves to the Core 7 150U. UGREEN's listing puts the 150U at 2 performance cores plus 8 efficient cores, with 12 threads and a 5.4GHz maximum turbo. The same listing gives these specs:
- Eight SATA bays and two M.2 2280 NVMe slots.
- Two 10GbE RJ-45 ports and two Thunderbolt 4 ports.
- HDMI 2.1 and a PCIe 4.0 x4 expansion slot.
- A 272TB maximum, calculated as eight 32TB drives plus two 8TB M.2 drives.
- RAID modes of JBOD, Basic, 0, 1, 5, 6 and 10.
TechRadar frames the Ultra as the DXP8800 Plus with a newer processor and a higher memory ceiling. It calls the Ultra the DXP8800 Plus with a newer Intel processor and a higher memory ceiling. The Ultra supports up to 96GB of RAM compared with 64GB on the Plus, while storage capacity and high-speed connectivity are the same.
The Neowin reviewer's own conclusion is that this is "some of the most impressive hardware" in consumer NAS, held back by software.
The memory-speed question
Sources disagree about the memory speed, so treat it as unsettled:
- Neowin reports the preinstalled 8GB Samsung module running at 5600MT/s. It also notes that the BIOS main page showed 5200MHz while UGOS reported 5600MHz.
- TechRadar and IT Pro also describe the supplied module as 5600MHz DDR5.
- UGREEN's Chinese specification page lists a maximum supported frequency of 5200MHz.
- UGREEN's US product page describes the memory as 4800MHz in its overview.
The practical point is that the shipped module is reported as 5600MT/s by three reviewers. The vendor's own pages are inconsistent. If you buy extra SODIMMs, don't count on 5600 and check compatibility. TechRadar notes the platform should work with 4800MHz modules.
The performance numbers
All figures below are Neowin's results from one test setup. Treat them as reported results, not guarantees.
Test setup: eight 2TB WD Red Plus hard drives and two 4TB TEAMGROUP MP44Q NVMe SSDs, in separate HDD and NVMe pools. The client was a 10GbE Windows workstation.
- iPerf3 with jumbo frames (MTU 9000): 9.85Gbps upload and 9.91Gbps reverse-mode download, with 2 retransmissions. This is network-layer throughput, not file-copy speed.
- SMB copy of a Windows 11 Enterprise 26H2 ISO to the HDD pool: a stable write of around 743MB/s, read at 64% completion.
- SATA RAID 5 write benchmark: 787.70MB/s, versus 611.99MB/s on the reviewer's earlier DXP6800 Ultra test.
- NVMe volume sequential write: 1200.48MB/s over the LAN.
The reviewer credits the CPU's single-thread headroom for the write gains. That is plausible, but it is an inference from one machine. The drives and RAID layout also differ from one box to the next.
Where the CPU matters, and where it doesn't
The most useful framing comes from the other reviewers. For plain file serving, the 10GbE link is the ceiling.
- Wilson's Media says the 10GbE LAN port, not compute power, is the limiting factor for plain file serving. It says the Ultra would perform much like the Plus for plain file serving.
- TechRadar says the Ultra matched its Plus results of roughly 980MB/s sustained over a single 10GbE link. It says the extra CPU matters when the NAS runs containers, virtual machines, indexing or encrypted transfers.
- IT Pro tested differently: a Windows Server 2025 host, Iometer, and a mirrored NVMe cache. It saw sequential rates of 9.2Gbit/s read and 8.8Gbit/s write with jumbo frames. Its mirrored NVMe cache raised random-write speeds by 245% on the NAS share and 290% on an iSCSI LUN.
IT Pro's figures are a different configuration from Neowin's. Don't combine them.
The virtualization and transcoding test
Neowin ran Jellyfin with Quick Sync acceleration and HDR-to-SDR tone mapping. It transcoded two 4K streams down to 1080p at 10Mbps. At the same time, it ran a Windows 11 Enterprise evaluation VM pinned to two performance cores.
- Host CPU peaked at 74.07%.
- Jellyfin used 23.4% and the hypervisor 13.7%.
- One transcode reportedly ran at 131fps.
- The reviewer called the Windows VM fluid and responsive.
Everything ran from the NVMe pool, including the OS, VM engine, Jellyfin and media. This does not show the same result on an HDD-only array. The reviewer himself argues that spinning disks would struggle with many small, simultaneous requests.
Other reviewers also found the transcoding headroom ample. GamingTrend says the Ultra beat UGREEN's own transcoding ratings in every test. How-To Geek says its streaming client setup overloaded at 16 streams while the NAS still had headroom.
Power draw
Neowin measured these wall readings:
| Condition | Reported draw |
|---|---|
| Eight HDDs spun down (idle) | 31.8W |
| Jellyfin Direct Play, drives active | 54.6W |
| Two transcodes plus the Windows VM | about 76.7W, peaking near 80.4W |
UGREEN's published figures are 28.99W in hibernation and 70.39W during drive access. The test conditions differ, so these are not a controlled comparison. They are still useful for a 24/7 appliance.
The trade-offs
Price. The $1,779.99 price is for the diskless unit. TechRadar's comparison puts it $410 above the Plus. It lists the Plus at a reduced $1,369.99, against $1,779.99 for the Ultra. Neowin sees the closest modern-CPU rival as the TerraMaster T9-500 Pro, at $1,799.99 with 16GB. It lacks dual Thunderbolt 4 and front-panel connectivity.
RAM costs. TechRadar warns that DDR5 is expensive in 2026. It says filling the Ultra to its 96GB ceiling would cost almost as much as the NAS. Budget accordingly if you plan to run many VMs.
No hybrid RAID. UGOS has nothing like Synology's SHR or TerraMaster's TRAID for mixing drive sizes. Neowin says pool expansion on RAID 1 or 5 requires replacing all the smaller disks first. Plan your drive sizes before populating the bays. RAID is also not a backup.
No ECC. TechRadar notes that neither the Plus nor the Ultra supports full ECC memory. The Ultra's specification lists on-die ECC, which is not the same thing. That matters to some business buyers.
The second M.2 slot. Neowin says it is limited to PCIe 3.0 x2. TechRadar confirms this on the Plus and says the board marks one slot Gen4 x4 and the other Gen3 x2. The Core 7 150U doesn't add PCIe lanes. So put your faster NVMe drive in the right slot.
Awkward PCIe access. Neowin says adding a NIC or GPU needs a partial teardown. The steps are:
- Remove the bottom panel and the screws in the rubber feet.
- Remove the rear panel covers and screws.
- Unscrew the internal fixing screws, then slide the unit out of its casing.
- Remove the PCIe slot cover.
TechRadar and IT Pro agree it is fiddly, so install any card before you fill the bays. TechRadar adds that a GPU must physically fit and run on slot power alone.
Software maturity. Neowin couldn't find desktop or mobile apps for the new Surveillance Center. It also couldn't disable a camera without removing it, and couldn't get person, pet or vehicle detection working with its Reolink PoE doorbell. That is one reviewer's experience, not a general compatibility finding. IT Pro calls UGOS a work in progress but says the important apps are present, with 35 available for the Ultra.
Windows-side notes
The UGREEN NAS app has a dedicated Windows client. Neowin says it scans for NAS devices on the network and handles initial setup. Setup does not force a storage pool. You choose which drives form each pool afterward.
UGOS also gained the ability to mount OneDrive in the Files app, according to Neowin. Neowin's roadmap lists Google Drive mounting as planned. That roadmap also lists enforced OTP at sign-in, an item worth watching if you manage multiple users.
If UGOS doesn't suit you, Neowin notes that UGREEN doesn't block alternative bootloaders. You can run TrueNAS, Unraid or DSM with ARC Loader. TechRadar adds some caveats:
- Fan and LED plugins have not been tested on the Ultra.
- Unraid's $49 starter license covers only six storage devices, so using every bay and slot needs the $109 unlimited license.
Who should buy it
This is a straightforward call.
- Buy the Ultra if you run virtual machines, many containers, heavy Jellyfin or Plex transcoding, or local AI workloads, and you'll fund the RAM.
- Consider the Plus if you mostly want file serving, backups and a handful of containers. Several reviewers argue it does nearly everything for roughly $410 less at current pricing.
- Weigh software needs if you require a mature surveillance suite, hybrid RAID or ECC memory.
Neowin received its review sample from UGREEN, with no editorial approval, and uses affiliate links. That is disclosed and doesn't invalidate the tests. Even so, weigh its glowing hardware verdict against the more measured TechRadar and IT Pro conclusions. The CPU is a real upgrade. Whether it's worth about $400 over the Plus depends on whether your workloads can use it.