TerraMaster F5-421 vs PR4100 vs DS918+

I’m thinking about getting a NAS and am looking at comparing the PR4100, DS918+ and the new F5-421. Wondering which of these would be the best choice? I’m only going to be using it as a media server and backing it up to GDrive (something that all support). But I find the F5 particularly interesting as for 50 dollars more than the DS918+, it gives you an extra drive bay along with most of the same features, sans the number of apps, while the PR4100 makes me think it might not be as relevant given that its two-years-old now. I’m not a Plex or Emby user but am considering using these to make it easier to share my files with the family. Thanks for the great content and hope to hear from you soon!

300-600     40-50TB

What are the main differences:

PR4100

This will be the weakest NAS of these three. It will have very limited app support and stability. It is quite reliable NAS in general thanks to a Pentium processor, dual LAN, and dual power supply. It will also be the cheapest option between all these. If all you need is a media center – then this will be the best value for money option because it’s cheaper.

F5-421

Terramaster is not a NAS leader in the market. It competes with the hardware but as much with software. Apps will be very basic and not very well made. But as a media server- again it will work just fine.

DS918+

Will mainly compete with their software. They have their Moments app with facebook like functionality – face recognition, object recognition, timeline, and geographical filters. You can back up your computers as well as your phones. It also gives away free licenses for their surveillance station app – also including artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. It will also allow you to synchronize with many cloud platforms (allowing to exclude/include certain file types)This would be my choice. But cheapest of these three could simply be your choice if all you need is plex server.

Processor	F5-421	PR4100	DS918+
Processor model	Intel® Celeron® J3455  Quad Core, 1.5GHz (Maximum Turo: 2.3GHz)	Intel Pentium N3710 1.6 GHz (Burst speed up to 2.56 GHz)	Intel Celeron J3455 Quad Core 1.5 GHz (up to 2.3 GHz)
CPU Mark	2153	1870	2153
System memory	4GB	4GB	4GB
RJ-45 1GbE network jack	4 LAN	2 LAN	2 LAN
USB 3.0 port	2	3	2
Price

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