4-Bay NAS for Content Creators: UGREEN DH4300 Plus vs TerraMaster F4-425

What a 4-bay NAS means for content creators

A 4-bay NAS for content creators is a network-attached storage box with four drive slots that centralizes footage, projects, and archives, delivering shared access, data protection, and smoother 4K media workflows for editors, photographers, and small creative teams.

Between the UGREEN NASync DH4300 Plus and the TerraMaster F4-425, both aim to give budget-conscious creatives a private cloud instead of ongoing online storage fees. The UGREEN leans toward a polished, user-friendly experience and 4K-friendly workflows, while the TerraMaster focuses on raw capacity and flexible media serving. If you want a NAS for video editing with minimal setup and a modern interface, the DH4300 Plus is easier to live with day-to-day. If your priority is building a huge media library and streaming it over a faster 2.5GbE network at the lowest hardware cost, the F4-425 pulls ahead. Both are affordable NAS storage options, but they suit different stages of a content creator’s journey.

Core specs: UGREEN DH4300 Plus vs TerraMaster F4-425

On paper, these two 4-bay NAS systems share a lot: four drive bays, 2.5GbE networking, and a clear focus on media workflows. The UGREEN DH4300 Plus tops out at 128TB using four 32TB drives, making it generous for most solo editors and small teams. The TerraMaster F4-425 supports up to four 30TB drives for a 120TB raw capacity, which is practically identical in real-world planning. Both are diskless and rely on your own drives, so total cost will scale with the capacity you need. Importantly, each can act as a central “content creator storage” hub, consolidating multiple workstations and backing up laptops, cameras, and phones. Where they start to diverge is in the processing platform, software ecosystem, and how friendly they feel during setup and daily use.

UGREEN DH4300 Plus: User-friendly NAS for video editing

The UGREEN NASync DH4300 Plus is built as an approachable NAS for video editing and photography, with a clear focus on 4K workflows. It uses a Rockchip A76+A55 processor with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, which keeps the interface snappy and supports smooth 4K media streaming for both editing and viewing. In testing, 4K footage streamed directly over SMB into a video editor played back at full resolution without issues, even with basic effects applied. More intensive grading caused some lag, but this can be eased by using local cache while still keeping source files on the NAS. A big win is UGREEN’s client software: setup is guided, quick, and straightforward, making it attractive if you do not want to wrestle with complex menus. AI-driven photo management further helps photographers by automatically sorting images for easier access.

Physically, the DH4300 Plus is compact and light at 155 x 155 x 215.7 mm and 1.57 kg, with a modern two-tone design that fits into a studio or living room without screaming “server”. The top hood lifts off to access the four drive trays, which support 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch drives but rely on thin plastic and screws, making them less premium than tool-less designs. There is a handy front USB-C port, plus rear USB-A ports and 4K 60Hz HDMI for direct display output, though the lack of an SD card slot is a clear miss for on-set backups. One important caveat: the DH4300 Plus does not support M.2 NVMe, Docker, or virtual machines, which limits scalability for power users and more advanced workflows. As a result, it shines as a straightforward, reliable content creator storage hub rather than a heavy-duty virtualized lab.

TerraMaster F4-425: High-capacity media hub for growing libraries

The TerraMaster F4-425 leans into capacity and media flexibility. Its four bays support up to 30TB drives, giving a maximum raw capacity of 120TB. For content creators who keep every project and every proxy, that is plenty of headroom, especially when combined with TRAID or TRAID+ for flexible redundancy. An Intel x86 quad-core processor with 4GB of RAM powers the system, providing enough performance for multitasking and hardware-assisted 4K H.265 decoding. This makes the F4-425 well suited to large media libraries and home or studio streaming workloads, particularly when you combine it with popular media platforms and cloud sync tools such as Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox.

The F4-425’s 2.5GbE networking offers more bandwidth than standard Gigabit, but you only gain that benefit if the rest of your network supports 2.5GbE. Otherwise, speeds will be capped by slower hardware. Tool-free Push-Lock trays make drive installation quick and reduce the risk of lost screws, while a claimed 21dB(A) noise level helps keep it unobtrusive in small studios. Like the UGREEN, it is diskless, so the headline 120TB figure assumes four 30TB drives and does not account for capacity used by redundancy. Overall, the F4-425 is ideal if you want an affordable NAS storage box that behaves like a central home or studio server, storing backups, media, and shared project assets rather than serving as a bleeding-edge virtual machine host.

Value, limitations, and who each NAS is for

Both systems are clearly aimed at people who would rather pay once for hardware than commit to long-term cloud storage subscriptions. For freelancers and small production teams, the real question is which one gives better price-to-performance for their workflow. The UGREEN DH4300 Plus emphasizes ease of use, smooth 4K editing over the network, and polished photo and media tools. It is a strong fit if you prioritize a NAS for video editing with minimal friction, work mostly with a single workstation or small team, and appreciate a compact, living-room-friendly design. Its main trade-offs are plastic trays, no SD slot, and limited room to grow into more advanced virtualization or container setups.

The TerraMaster F4-425 feels more like a classic home or small-studio server. While its 4GB RAM is lower than UGREEN’s 8GB, the Intel x86 platform and 4K H.265 hardware decoding make it a strong media library and streaming hub. Its 120TB raw capacity and tool-free trays favor teams who will keep expanding storage over time. Both share some limitations: you must supply your own drives, and to get the most from 2.5GbE, you need compatible switches and NICs. The bottom line: if your focus is streamlined 4K editing and photo management, UGREEN is the better everyday companion; if you are planning a large, always-on media and backup server with room to grow, TerraMaster is the safer long-term bet.

One quotable summary is: “The UGREEN DH4300 Plus is an ideal solution for anyone who wants reliable photo backup and 4K video editing capabilities”. Another is: “Its four bays support up to 30TB drives for a maximum raw capacity of 120TB, while 2.5GbE networking provides far more bandwidth than standard Gigabit Ethernet when paired with compatible network hardware”.

Buy if / Skip if

• Buy the UGREEN DH4300 Plus if you want a NAS for video editing that is easy to set up, user-friendly, and optimized for 4K workflows with helpful photo management tools.
• Skip the UGREEN DH4300 Plus if you need advanced scalability such as M.2 NVMe caching, Docker containers, or virtual machines for more complex studio infrastructures.
• Buy the TerraMaster F4-425 if your priority is building a large central media library and backup hub with up to 120TB raw capacity and 2.5GbE networking.
• Skip the TerraMaster F4-425 if you only need to store a small collection of files and do not plan to buy multiple large-capacity drives.
• Buy the UGREEN DH4300 Plus if you care about compact dimensions and a living-room-friendly design that blends into your workspace instead of looking like a server box.
• Skip the TerraMaster F4-425 if you are not ready to invest in compatible 2.5GbE network gear, since on a standard Gigabit network you will not see its full speed benefit.