CONCLUSION

   First of all, I need to point out that this review has taken a very, very long time to complete. Initially it was my mistake actually since I had gathered 4 PCIe M.2 SSDs only to find out when it arrived that this model was based on M.2 SATA ones just like its predecessor (so getting 4 M.2 SATA models did take some time). Afterwards we found out that 4GB or RAM just wasn’t enough for all of our tests so we had to wait for QNAP to send us an 8GB kit. Basically, this review took more months to complete than I care to even count and it’s certainly not something I’d like to repeat. With that out of the way just like with its predecessor the strongest selling point of the TBS-453DX NASbook is of course its compact size and I seriously doubt that anyone out there can say that there’s something better at that size and weight currently in the market. Still even though the TBS-453DX does offer improved performance levels compared to its predecessor (largely because of the new CPU, RAM and the addition of the 10GbE port - QNAP went with the cost effective AQC107 card by Aquantia) the M.2 SATA drives are clearly not as versatile as regular mechanical drives (price/capacity ratio and available capacities) and this narrows down QNAP’s targets audience by a lot. Overall however we were pleased with its performance levels (however we think that support for M.2 PCIe models would be a better match since they would max-out its 10GbE connectivity), power consumption, bundle and of course the available apps of the QTS OS (two of which we tried to cover extensively today).

   Right now, the TBS-453DX-8G NASbook by QNAP retails for USD661.48 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 725.33Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price tag which may reflect the size and technologies squeezed inside the enclosure of the TBS-453DX-8G. However, since at the same money or less you can easily find something just as good (or even better) but with regular 3.5” bays it all comes down to whether or not you need a very compact NAS which you can take along with you. So, if the answer to that question is yes then the TBS-453DX-8G comes highly recommended by us and for that it also gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Size / Weight
- Intel Celeron J4105 quad-core 1.5GHz processor (2.5GHz Boost)
- Very Good Performance
- Power Consumption / Noise Levels / Temperatures
- Available Features / Apps
- Up To 8GB DDR4L RAM 2400MHz
- 10GbE Ethernet Port (Aquantia AQC107)
- 4 M.2 SATA Slots
- 3 USB 3.0 Ports / 4 USB 2.0 Ports
- HDMI v2.0 Output
- Speaker (Audible Warnings) / Volume Buttons
- Dual 3.5mm Jacks (Karaoke Support)
- JBOD, Single, RAID 0/1/5/6/10/5 + Hot Spare & Global Hot Spare
- QNAP QTS
- Android / iOS Apps

CONS

- Price Including M.2 SATA SSDs (For Some)
- Limited Total Storage Capacity (Compared To HDD Based Models)