The best 4-bay NAS in Canada
By Ryan Fournier · Reviewed by Claire Bergeron · Updated The best four-bay NAS in Canada depends on your priority: Synology DS925+ for the best software and SHR; UGREEN NASync DXP4800 Plus for the most hardware, Plex hardware transcoding and 10GbE per dollar; TerraMaster F4-425 for flexible-RAID (TRAID) value; QNAP TS-464 for expandability and ZFS via QuTS hero. Four bays are the home sweet spot: SHR or RAID 5 keeps three-quarters of the capacity and survives one drive failing.
The four-bay picks, at a glance
| Synology DS925+ | UGREEN DXP4800 Plus | TerraMaster F4-425 | QNAP TS-464 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Ryzen V1500B | Pentium 8505 | Intel N5095 | Celeron N5095 |
| Plex HW transcode | no (no iGPU) | yes (Quick Sync) | yes (Quick Sync) | yes (Quick Sync) |
| Flexible RAID | SHR | none | TRAID | none |
| Network | 2.5GbE | 10GbE + 2.5GbE | 2.5GbE | 2.5GbE (+PCIe) |
| ECC | yes | no | no | no |
| Best for | software, low-maintenance | Plex + hardware value | flexible-RAID value | expandable / ZFS |
The verdict: which should you buy?
Why four bays is the sweet spot
Four bays give you a real choice of layout. In SHR or RAID 5 you keep three of four drives as usable capacity and survive one failure — four 8 TB drives give about 21.8 TiB usable. In RAID 6 or SHR-2 you keep two of four and survive two failures, the safer call once you use 16 TB drives. That flexibility, plus the capacity headroom, is why four bays suit most homes better than two.
The picks compared
- Synology DS925+ — DSM, SHR, ECC, 2.5GbE. The polished, low-maintenance choice; its Ryzen has no iGPU, so not the Plex transcoder.
- UGREEN NASync DXP4800 Plus — Pentium with Quick Sync (Plex 4K), 10GbE, up to 64 GB RAM. The most hardware per dollar; younger software, no SHR.
- TerraMaster F4-425 — Intel N5095, TRAID (SHR equivalent), keen price. The flexible-RAID value pick.
- QNAP TS-464 — Intel with Quick Sync, PCIe for 10GbE, QuTS hero (ZFS) option. The expandable/tinkerer pick.
Size each with its calculator: DS925+, DXP4800 Plus, F4-425, TS-464.
Buying in Canada
Canadians cross-shop Amazon.ca, Best Buy Canada, Canada Computers, Newegg.ca and Memory Express; the cheapest SKU moves between them, and we track Amazon.ca live in CAD as the baseline. It is worth a two-minute check across those before you buy a drive or a NAS.
On importing from Amazon.com: it rarely beats a local CAD price once you add exchange, any duty, brokerage and the harder path to a warranty claim or return. The exchange rate is not a penalty — the honest point is total landed cost plus how much easier a return or RMA is when you bought it in Canada. For a drive that will run 24/7 for years, local warranty support is worth real money.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the best 4-bay NAS in Canada?
Synology DS925+ for software and SHR, UGREEN DXP4800 Plus for hardware value and Plex transcoding, TerraMaster F4-425 for flexible-RAID value, or QNAP TS-464 for expandability and ZFS. Pick by whether you prioritize polish, hardware, value or flexibility.
How much usable space in a 4-bay NAS?
In SHR or RAID 5, three of four drives are usable — four 8 TB drives give about 21.8 TiB, surviving one failure. In RAID 6 or SHR-2, two of four are usable (about 14.5 TiB), surviving two failures — the safer choice with large drives.
Which 4-bay NAS is best for Plex?
An Intel model with Quick Sync — the UGREEN DXP4800 Plus or QNAP TS-464 hardware-transcode 4K. The Synology DS925+'s Ryzen has no iGPU, so it transcodes in software only.
Ryan Fournier covers home-server hardware and efficiency at nasdrives.ca: the right power supply, the UPS, and what a NAS actually draws running around the clock, priced against Canadian hydro rates.
Reviewed by Claire Bergeron, Editor-in-chief