Xiaomi launches its first NAS with affordable starting price, compact design

Xiaomi has made its first NAS available to purchase through the Chinese crowdfunding platform Youpin. It's called the Smart Storage, and it's essentially a two-bay Network Attached Storage system with a relatively small and compact form factor.

As Xiaomi details, the NAS measures 161mm in height, 200.5mm in width, and 85mm in thickness. This small form factor should make it easier to set it up in pretty much every living space. The sleek and minimalistic overall design should even make it easily fit in.

It's a two-bay NAS with support for 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch SATA drives. Xiaomi is offering the system in three configurations, and the top-end option comes with an 8TB drive installed in each of the two bays, totaling 16TB. However, there's support for up to 60TB of storage, meaning each bay can hold up to a 30TB drive (12TB Seagate IronWolf Pro curr. $429.99 on Amazon).

The company didn't offer many details on the hardware powering this Xiaomi NAS. However, a recent leak suggested that the Realtek RTD1619B powers the system, which is also found in storage solutions like the Synology DS223J.

There's no explicit mention of the operating system, either, but it's likely a proprietary OS with integration of HyperOS elements. Xiaomi has, however, shared that there's a multi-platform app, offering fast and easy access from clients running on iOS, Android, macOS, Android, and Android TV.

Other than that, Xiaomi has highlighted many backup-related features, including full phone backup, WeChat backup, and security camera backup. The company also notes that when connected to a TV, it can act like an entertainment hub. There's support for 4K video playback with HDR10 and wireless screen casting as well.

Port-wise, the NAS has one USB 3.0 Type-A, one HDMI port with 4K30Hz support, and one 2.5G Ethernet port. Among the other highlights are 32GB of built-in storage, 4GB of RAM, and active cooling.

In China, the base configuration with Xiaomi NAS comes with 4TB of storage, and it's going for CNY 2,299 during the crowdfunding phase, about $338. There's an 8TB config, costing CNY 2,899, about $427, and one 16TB config, which is going for CNY 4,699, about $691. Global launch details are yet to be confirmed, but it could be introduced outside China soon.