Noontec TerraMaster F4-420 4-Bay NAS Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The Noontec TerraMaster F4-420 is available on Amazon for £399.99 or $459.95 at the time of this review. When searching for other NAS devices with the same options, it’s barely more you pay for the F4-420. And it has an aluminium and metal casing instead of the plastic used by others.

Final Thoughts

The F4-420 wasn’t the first NAS from Noontec TerraMaster that I’ve tested, and as such, it wasn’t a big surprise. That doesn’t mean that it didn’t validate a review, for so many reasons. TerraMaster’s concept is simple, a great looking device with a thick aluminium enclosure.

The F4-420 sports fast bootup times, faster than most other devices that I get to test. While booting isn’t something that’s done a whole lot for a device designed for 24/7 usage, it’s a nice bonus on top of a great looking device.

Design

The F4-420 isn’t a tool-less device, but it comes with everything included. Within the accessory package is a screwdriver which allows you to install your drives into the trays as well as take it apart.

The aluminium enclosure doesn’t just look great; it also helps with the heat dissipation. Thereby, the fans need to work less to keep everything running smoothly.

The drive trays are simple but work. They don’t have the same premium feel as the rest of the unit. That said, you won’t be dealing with them a lot. Only when you set it up and if you decide to replace a drive at a later time. The trays support both 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch drives which is another bonus. Another nice bonus is the sticker collection included. With them, you can easily label your trays with what’s loaded inside.

Performance

The F4-420 performs well, but it is a bit slower than other devices we’ve tested in the past. Why is a bit of a mystery, but it could be improved when using a trunked LAN setup. It’s nothing to worry about plenty for day-to-day usage.

OS With Cross Platform Sharing and Streaming

TerrMaster OS, or TOS, is a nice system. It is responsive and it’s easy to find everything you’re looking for. It isn’t as advanced as some other solutions on the market, but it’s promising. TerraMaster is on the right track with it. Hopefully, 3rd-party app creators will discover the brand and start contributing to the possibilities.

With cross-platform file sharing, cloud synchronisation, and remote access, the F4-420 is well equipped to serve you your files. Whether you’re at home or on the go.

Sharing data to PCs and mobile devices is great, but streaming your media files is just as important. TerraMaster OS is well equipped for this too. There’s the basic DLNA server as well as an iTunes server. Plex Server and Emby are also available, both very popular media tools.

Pros:

• Quad-core Intel CPU
• 4GB RAM
• Dual LAN with trunking and fail-over
• USB 3.0
• Aluminium Enclosure

Cons:

• No Btrfs file system
• Fewer third-party apps

“The F4-420 is a great looking NAS. It has a powerful hardware base with a Quad-Core Intel CPU and 4GB RAM which will offer both SOHO and SMB users plenty of resources.”

Thank You, Noontec TerraMaster, for this review sample.