After QNAP launched their TS-233, the company returned with a 4-bay version. So, we will focus on that specific version of the NAS in our QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS Review.
The TS-433 runs on a quad-core ARM Cortex A55 processor. It is clocked at 2GHz and supported by a non-expandable 4GB RAM. Take note that the latter is twice as much as the TS-233 model.
With the NAS, you can run your cloud storage and take advantage of convenient file access. Not only that, but you can also easily share files and synchronise with the TS-433.
This NAS sports essential features like a 2.5GbE port to optimise collaboration while boosting remote work productivity. It also provides vital multimedia applications, making it a complete home entertainment portal.
If you want to know more about its features, performance, etc., continue reading our QNAP TS-433 4 BAY NAS Review. We will share all the essentials you need to know about the product. These will help you determine if it is good enough for your needs.
QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS Packaging
Before getting into details about the NAS, our QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS Review will discuss its packaging and contents.
Our NAS arrived in your standard-looking QNAP container, which was enough to protect the item inside. Inside, everything was neatly-packed in an organised manner which we appreciate greatly.
Aside from the TS-433, the package includes an Ethernet cable, one AC adapter, and a power cable. You will also find 16x 3.5-inch and 12x 2.5-inch hard disk screws, 2x insertion wrenches, and a manual.
QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS Review – Design and Functionality
This time, our QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS Review will focus on the design and functions of the NAS.
Users wishing to set up their cloud storage should use the TS-433. It has four drive bays and can handle high-capacity storage. Its design allows the NAS to focus on user experience with data backups matched with a simple design.
With the product, QNAP users can guarantee that their data is secure. It is because of the solid security management from QNAP and Snapshot protection. These come in handy during virus attacks or unintentional data deletions.
The most notable design feature of the NAS is its colour – a solid white shade around the TS-433. This style feature provides a sleeker design that’s simple yet classy.
Directly on the front section of the NAS is a white panel, while the left area holds more of its functions. From up to down, you will find its LED indicators: Status, LAN, USB, and Disks 1 to 4.
The USB copy and power buttons are vertically stacked. These are situated immediately above the USB 3.2 Gen1 port for quick connection.
Rear and Internal Parts of the QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS
The device’s 2.5GbE and gigabit RJ-45 ports are on the rear section of the NAS. Here, two USB 2.0 ports are directly beneath the RJ-45 port.
We think USB 3.0 ports would be better. But with a budget NAS, saving a penny is crucial whenever possible. Lastly, the reset button and power adapter port can are present in the area.
Inside the TS-433 is where you position the drives. But remember that you need to remove the case to access these. Doing so is not tedious, so it will not be a problem when you try reaching the area.
The NAS features one fan. Nevertheless, the TS-433 can stay cooled and silent since air passes through the base. Then, it gets pushed out the rear.
Key Features of the QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS
This section of our QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS Review focuses on the key features of this NAS. Let us see what makes it better than its competition.
Centralised Multimedia Management
The NAS offers centralised storage for your photos, music, and videos. This feature of the TS-433 allows you to organise, browse, and easily share multimedia files.
Image Recognition with AI
With an integrated NPU (Neural Network Processing Unit) processor, the TS-433 enhances performance. It is for quick object and face recognition.
The QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS as a Home Entertainment Centre
The TS-433 supports ARM NEON technology that boats video processing to offer a better entertainment experience. This feature allows streaming media files from the NAS to TVs and DLNAs with common media streaming platforms. These include Apple TV. Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Google Chromecast.
Snapshot Protection Against Ransomware
Keep your data and files protected from accidental deletion and malware attacks with advanced snapshot protection.
Complete Security Management
This NAS unit serves as a secure private cloud. It provides user account protection, two-step verification, IP blocking, encrypted access, etc.
Minimalist Design of the QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS
The TS-433 has a minimalist design that easily blends with various home or office aesthetics. So no matter what style you have in your space, the TS-433 will blend in nicely.
Effective Cooling Fan to Keep Temperatures Low
The TS-433 features an efficient cooling fan that quietly operates while providing adequate airflow to keep its temperature low.
Creating a 2.5GbE High-speed Network Environment with the QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS
QNAP offers affordable storage and networking solutions with numerous connectivity options. The TS-433 can handle bandwidth-intensive tasks, making it an excellent upgrade for your home or office network.
QuMagie Smart Photo Management
QuMagie is an AI-powered technology that recognises faces and objects, making it an excellent photo management solution. It features a powerful search tool, timeline scrolling, iOS Live Photo display, customisable folder covers, and more.
The QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS, an Easy-to-Use, All-in-One Solution
The TS-433 can do a lot, but it is primarily a backup solution that keeps your data and files protected. It regularly backs up files to prevent data loss.
Accessible from Anywhere
The myQNAPcloud offers convenient remote access to your TS-433. This feature keeps you connected without configuring complex network settings.
The myQNAPcloud Link provides you with a unique domain name for your NAS. It automatically connects to your NAS with the optimal method based on your network environment.
Enhanced Security of the QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS for Data Protection
The TS-433 has advanced security and privacy settings that are easy to activate and use. Aside from HTTP connectivity and IP blocking, it offers more apps to guarantee the best protection for your NAS. With this NAS, you will not worry about threats like malware and hackers.
In our QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS Review, we are elaborating on the security and protection features of the product. First is the two-step verification that asks for an additional code after a user logs in. Advanced folder permissions lets you set folder management or modification permissions and deny access to users.
QuFirewall protection supports IPv6 and GeoIP filtering to restrict access based on geographical locations. QVPN lets you access network resources using the TS-433 as a secure, easy-to-use VPN server.
It works with the WireGuard VPN to provide a user-friendly interface and a secure connection.
Security Counsellor is a portal for the TS-433 to detect weaknesses and sends recommendations to enhance your NAS security. It provides an integrated anti-malware and anti-virus scanner too.
Hosting Container Applications
If you are a hobbyist developer or are curious about Docker, the TS-433 features Container Station, which integrates Docker. This lightweight virtualisation technology enables running all types of self-contained apps. It allows you to download popular or fully-configured apps from the built-in Docker Hub and deploy these with a click.
Explore your creativity and bring containerised apps to your smart homes and multimedia applications.
Aside from Container Station, the App Centre has more apps to offer. You can find tools for content management, backup & sync, download, entertainment, and communications. With one click, you can install on-demand
Hardware Warranty Extension for the QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS
When you buy the TS-433, it comes with a two-year warranty at no additional cost. If you want to prolong its coverage, you can purchase an extension to make it last up to five years.
Specifications
Our QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS Review will discuss the different specifications of the TS-433.
The NAS uses an ARM 4-core Cortex A55 2.0GHz with a 64-bit ARM CPU design. It has a 4GB, non-expandable system memory, while its maximum memory is also 4GB and non-expandable.
The NAS also sports a 4GB flash memory with dual-boot OS protection. Also, its drive bay has 4x 3.5-inch SATA 6GB/s, 3Gb/s. Additionally, the TS-433 is compatible with 3.5-inch SATA HDDs, 2.5-inch SATA HDDs, and 2.5-inch SATA SSDs.
Here, you will find one RJ45 and one 2.5 (2.5G|1G|100M) Gigabit Ethernet port.
The TS-433 is 169 x 160 x 219mm (HxWxD) and weighs 2.07kg.
QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS Power
The TS-433 from QNAP uses a 90W adapter, 100-240V. It consumes 8.45W HDD on sleep mode while consumption is 22.54W while operating.
Also, it comes with a single 120mm, 12VDC fan, 200 CIFS with maximum memory, and a 5-year manufacturer warranty.
Hands-on with the QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS
We used the NAS for more than a week to see if it was better than its competition. Also, we wanted to determine if this model is more efficient than the two-bay version.
We put TS-433 to the test, and after doing so, we will share our experience with the NAS. Doing so will help determine if purchasing one is necessary for your needs.
But before we look into that, we will discuss the QTS 5.0 software.
QTS 5.0
Data and photo organisation are possible with QTS 5. Plus, it offers remote management via TeamViewer for more secure internet access.
The most recent QTS 5.0 comes with the QNAP TS-433 out of the box. The App Centre QTS 5 has a wide selection of home and business applications. Despite having an ARM processor, the NAS is capable of light virtualisation using Docker through Container Station.
User Interface and Layout
Let us discuss the software UI and layout in our QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS Review.
When accessing the product via a web browser, its UI is among the first places you will notice an upgrade. This enhancement is in the software and services GUI of QNAP.
Here, the icons are still the same, and the placement of options did not change.
However, the vibrancy and responsiveness of the UI improved, and we are happy about this.
From the earlier version, the default wallpaper has changed in QTS 5. And more importantly, the font and colour palette sizes changed substantially.
These changes give the GUI an overall look of appearing larger.
Little has changed in the QTS 5 resource monitor, where you can check the status/activity of your NAS hardware. Not only that, but you can also check the current services of the software.
There is a one-button check option at the desktop level in the browser. You will also find a QBoost option for clearing the memory cache and junk files. Plus, you will see a full-resource monitor for additional information and control.
Overall, QTS 5 feels considerably snappier than previous iterations, except for the little “skin deep” improvements in its appearance. Though the enhanced responsiveness and user information presentation are appreciated, we wish QNAP extended the cosmetic modifications further.
App Centre
Tap the symbol for the App Centre to download more apps. Numerous QNAP and third-party programs are available here. These allow you to use the NAS as a cloud server, multimedia server, surveillance system, backup solution, etc.
Although not nearly as generous as others, there is still a sizable assortment of apps available for you to use.
The app centre was tidied and organised in the QTS 5.0 software. Many third-party applications were removed, either through compatibility or support.
Then, the most popular ones have enhanced their default version as standard or were improvised and made better. It could be considered a modest but valuable and quality enhancement.
Security
Accessing the TS-433 with a web browser is the same as the previous QNAP NAS. We accessed it via the web login ports, which users can secure with a unique password. Two-step authentication, encrypted certification, and more are also available for NAS security.
Additionally, the encryption and security settings improved and got stronger. In QTS 5, you can make a user-specific array of permissions/access for the NAS. It no longer allows weak passwords, locking to IPs, and other common mistakes that make data vulnerable. QTS 5.0 emphasises avoiding these too.
Another security feature in QTS 5.0 is granting access and permissions for the TS-433. It is similar to the security options of the older versions of QTS.
Control Panel of the QTS 5.0
In this most recent version, little has changed based on how you manage your QNAP NAS in QTS 5. And for the control panel, it mostly remained the same.
Things have sped up significantly thanks to the upgraded kernel. However, the aesthetic differences between design windows are still evident.
Everything is in its proper place, with some services launching into their UI window.
Storage Features
Storage organisation on the NAS via QTS 5 happens with the help of config tools and visual representations. The system utilised is shown clearly with individual drive bays that are adequately displayed. It also extends to the RAID setup management, volume capacity, storage pool utilisation, etc.
The ZFS-based version of the QTS (the QTS Hero 5) includes the choice of in-line compression and deduplication.
A few options are available on the EXT4 version of the QTS 5. It comes with SSD caching, remote-connected storage, and configuration for snapshots.
In QTS, SSD caching is better with more customisable ranges of caching setup options. You will find several choices in selecting your prefered cache to behave together with the large RAID array.
While some storage solutions offer tiering options, QTS 5.0 continues to provide the best SSD customisation options. The software also has conventional read/write options, but there are better cache mode options. Of course, your choices will depend on your file type and size, capacity, and utilisation.
With the improved management and caching operations, using these can be intimidating. But once we finished the SSD cache setup process, these features worked immediately and effectively. We also managed to monitor, dismount, and tweak these settings afterwards.
With the new and improved SSD caching feature, QTS 5.0 boosts the performance of NVMe SSDs. As a result, the NAS uses the space of SSDs more efficiently with lower memory consumption. Aside from NVMe SSDs, it will also improve the efficiency of M.2 SATA and SATA3 SSDs.
Using QTS 5.0
When we used the QTS 5.0, we took advantage of all the available features and options. The software provided us with adequate flexibility from storage to security and other elements in the interface. Plus, its wide selection of apps enhanced our experience.
Aside from the versatility of the software, it was also user-friendly. It may not be as straightforward as other NAS software, but its interface was simple enough to understand.
Overall, the updated QTS is an excellent improvement. While using the NAS and navigating the software, we noticed a significant change in the responsiveness and smoothness of operation. We also loved the new GUI colour palette and design, which enhanced our user experience.
QTS 5.0 is still not a perfect interface. However, we can see QNAP making the necessary changes in the following updates.
Installation and Performance of the QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS
Like all other QNAP NAS we reviewed in the last few years, the TS-433 was easy to install. We installed four drives to fill its bays before connecting it to our network with the included LAN cable. After that, we powered up the TS-433 and accessed the QTS 5.0 to download the QNAP Qfiner Pro app.
When we launched the app, it recognised the TS-433 instantly.
We clicked on the drive entry in the utility and then chose Start Smart Installation. We named the NAS, created a password, and utilised DHCP to acquire an IP address.
After a few minutes, the drives initialised, and the NAS continued to restart. Next, we began the QTS management console.
It took a a bit of time for the drives to sync, but was fairly quick. At that point, the NAS was ready for our file transfer tests. To gauge the NAS read/write performance, we moved a range of 6 GB folders to a desktop system. After, we returned the files to their original storage.
These files in the folder included various photos, videos, and work documents.
We love how fast the new NAS is since it reached speeds of about 198 MB/s in reads. Then, 287MB/s in writing.
Overall, the NAS was more than capable of delivering adequate performance.
QNAP TS-433 4 Bay NAS Review Summary
The NAS market has grown further in the past few years, which made manufacturers pay attention to the entry-level market. As a result, we are seeing more brands releasing ARM-powered storage solutions. These products have also been utilising the Intel SoCs often.
The TS-433 is an excellent choice for storing music, video, photos and other personal data locally. Aside from storage, it offers cloud features that allow convenient remote access to your files, no matter where you are.
We love the hot-swappable drive bays that allow easy replacement with its tool-less design. Another great thing about this is Its user-friendly QTS 5.0 software that offers a catalogue of handy apps.
The TS-433 is the perfect NAS for general use, especially if you want more storage than its smaller predecessor. Based on our tests, its file transfer performance was excellent and kept our data safe from malware. Plus, its regular backup was efficient, so we did not have to worry about data loss.
With its wide selection of apps and multi-gig LAN port, it is an impressive update from the smaller TS-233. Since you are getting aesthetics, performance, and features in a single package, it is worth purchasing this product.
Overall, the features, specs, and performance of the TS-433 were satisfying, so we highly recommend this NAS.
To learn more about the TS-433 4 Bay NAS, visit the official product page of QNAP for additional details.