Dealectric

Best NAS with drives included

Updated 2026-11-06

Short answer. The best NAS with drives included for a plug-in-and-go family backup is the Synology BeeStation Plus 8 TB: one 8 TB drive pre-installed (about 6.98 TB usable), Plex built in, 3-year warranty. Its catch is that it is a single drive with no mirror, so a drive failure takes everything unless you turn on its USB or cloud backup. If you want two mirrored drives, the best pick is the UGREEN NASync DH2300 ($239.99; buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dh2300): 2 bays with RAID 1, up to 60 TB, 4 GB of memory, 4K HDMI out and a 2-year warranty. You add your own pair of NAS drives, because UGREEN's US store sells it without drives (checked 2026-11-06).

The only mainstream box that ships with two drives already mirrored is the Buffalo LinkStation 720D 8 TB: 2 × 4 TB installed, RAID set up at the factory, a 2.5GbE port, but a dated interface and 2 GB of memory. The WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra, the old default answer to this search, is listed as sold out at Best Buy and no longer available at Adorama, so we left it out.

The question behind this search is really two questions: do I want to skip choosing drives, and do I want the NAS to survive one drive dying. The BeeStation answers yes to the first and no to the second. The DH2300 answers no to the first and yes to the second. Buffalo answers yes to both at the cost of older software.

Where to buy

Published 2026-11-06 · prices checked 2026-11-03 to 2026-11-10.

ModelDrives includedBays / mirrorNetwork portProcessor / memoryWarrantyPriceCode
DH2300
Buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dh2300		No, you add 1 or 2 SATA drives2, RAID 1 mirror1GbE8-core ARM, 4 GB2 years$239.99No discount code applies.
Synology BeeStation Plus 8 TB (BST170-8T)Yes, 1 × 8 TB (about 6.98 TB usable)1, no mirror1GbEIntel Celeron J4125, 4 GB3 years—Not sold through Dealectric; listed for comparison.
Buffalo LinkStation 720D 8 TB (LS720D0802)Yes, 2 × 4 TB, RAID preconfigured2, RAID 1 mirror2.5GbEHexa-core 1.3 GHz, 2 GBNot stated on maker page—Not sold through Dealectric; listed for comparison.
DH4300 Plus
Buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dh4300-plus		No, you add 2 to 4 SATA drives4, RAID 1 or RAID 52.5GbE8-core Rockchip RK3588C, 8 GB2 years$373.99No discount code applies.
Synology BeeStation 4 TB (BST150-4T)Yes, 1 × 4 TB (about 3.45 TB usable)1, no mirror1GbERealtek RTD1619B, 1 GB3 years—Not sold through Dealectric; listed for comparison.

Rows marked with a code and buy link are products Dealectric lists: the price was verified on the brand's own US store on 2026-11-07 and the code is tested daily in that brand's cart; the date shown is its last pass (last check 2026-11-13). The other rows (Buffalo, Synology) are included so the comparison is complete; their figures and prices were read from the makers' own US pages on 2026-11-06 and are not re-checked daily. The buy links are affiliate links: they open the brand's official US store at no cost to the shopper, and the commission pays for the testing; see the disclosure.

What owners complain about

Across the reviews, forum threads and store reviews we read, the same few problems came up. The single-drive design of the BeeStation was raised in six of the eight BeeStation write-ups: if the one drive dies, the data is gone, and two reviewers added that the drive is not meant to be swapped by the owner. Synology's own answer is that safety comes from backups, not RAID, and the Plus can back itself up to a USB drive or its BeeProtect cloud. The 1GbE port came up three times as the speed ceiling for both the BeeStation and the DH2300. On the WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra, the 25 one-star reviews out of 294 at Best Buy are mostly about a slow, clunky interface and app, a drive that failed right after the warranty, and remote access that stopped working; three WD community threads describe firmware updates that would not install. UGREEN DH2300 owners were mostly surprised that it ships with no drives and that the trays need screws (two reviews), that the 4 GB of memory cannot be upgraded (two), and one Reddit thread reports the Photos app freezing on a 155,000-photo library.

Which one by need

Phone and photo backup for a family, nothing to configure: BeeStation Plus 8 TB. It has Plex, face-sorted photos, up to 8 users, and a 3-year warranty. Buy an external USB drive on day one and turn on the backup, because there is no second drive inside.

Two mirrored drives and room to grow, lowest total cost: the UGREEN NASync DH2300 ($239.99; buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dh2300) plus two NAS-rated drives of the same size. Installing them takes a screwdriver and ten minutes, and you choose the capacity instead of paying a bundle markup. Fans are inaudible in reviews and the power supply is internal.

Two drives already installed and mirrored, no screwdriver: Buffalo LinkStation 720D 8 TB. It is the only drives-included unit here with RAID 1 from the factory and a 2.5GbE port. Expect an older interface and only 2 GB of memory.

Four bays, RAID 5 and 2.5GbE on a quiet box: the UGREEN NASync DH4300 Plus ($373.99; buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dh4300-plus). Start with two drives, add two later. It still ships empty.

Not recommended

WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra: it is being sold off. Best Buy lists it as sold out, Adorama as no longer available, and the owner complaints above are about software that is no longer getting much attention.

Synology BeeStation 4 TB as a media server: the original model has 1 GB of memory and no Plex. It is fine as a phone-photo locker, but anyone who wants streaming should step up to the Plus.

Any single-drive NAS without a backup plan: a mirror protects you from one dead drive; a single drive protects you from nothing. If you buy a BeeStation, the USB backup drive is part of the price.

Sources

Published 2026-11-06; figures for other brands read on 2026-11-06; our prices verified 2026-11-07. Corrections welcome at [email protected] or /feedback.