Why UGREEN’s new iDX NAS is more than storage—and superior to the Cloud

UGREEN’s presence at CES 2026 wasn’t just about adding another pair of NAS boxes to an already crowded market. With the introduction of the NASync iDX6011 and iDX6011 Pro, the company made a clear argument: network-attached storage is overdue for a rethink. In UGREEN’s vision, a NAS shouldn’t merely hold files—it should understand them, help you work with them, and do so without pushing your most personal data into the cloud.

Rethinking what a NAS is for

Traditional NAS systems excel at one thing: storage. They back up data, share files across a network, and little else. As data volumes grow and workflows become more complex, that passive role feels increasingly limited. UGREEN’s new NASync iDX Series aims to change that dynamic by embedding intelligence directly into the device, turning local storage into something closer to an active data partner.

Both the iDX6011 and iDX6011 Pro are built around Intel® Core™ Ultra processors and paired with up to 64GB of LPDDR5x memory. On paper, the specs are immediately attention-grabbing: dual 10GbE Ethernet ports capable of 20Gbps via aggregation, dual Thunderbolt™ 4 ports offering up to 40Gbps, and storage scalability up to 196TB through six SATA bays and two NVMe slots. This is clearly hardware designed not just for backups, but for demanding creative, professional, and multi-user environments.

Local AI, not Cloud dependence

What truly sets the iDX Series apart, however, is UGREEN’s insistence on fully local AI. At a time when “AI features” often translate to cloud subscriptions and opaque data pipelines, UGREEN is taking a different approach. Its Local AI Engine runs entirely on the NAS itself, meaning files never need to leave the device to be analyzed, searched, or summarized.

The most immediately useful expression of this is Universal Search. Instead of hunting through folders, users can describe what they’re looking for in natural language—an idea, a scene, or even a vague memory—and the system retrieves relevant files across documents, photos, videos, and app data. It’s a small shift in interface, but a big one in daily usability.

UGREEN’s Uliya AI Chat builds on this foundation. Acting as an offline large language model, it allows users to ask questions about their stored content, summarize lengthy documents, or generate notes from local files. Because everything runs on-device, the experience is both fast and private, positioning the NAS as a personal knowledge base rather than a simple file server. Optionally you can access popular third-party cloud-based AI models such as ChatGPT and Gemini directly through your NAS.

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For users with large photo and media libraries, the AI Album feature is likely to be a standout. The system can recognize faces, animals, objects, scenes, and text within images, automatically organizing and tagging content. Typing a phrase like “girl riding a bike” or “meeting notes on whiteboard” surfaces the right images instantly. Voice Memos extend similar intelligence to audio files, enabling on-device transcription, translation, and summarization—useful for meetings, interviews, or lectures.

Behind the scenes, AI File Organization ensures that uploads don’t become a digital junk drawer. Files are automatically sorted by type, date, and name as soon as they’re added, keeping large libraries manageable without constant manual effort.

Two models, two audiences

UGREEN is careful to differentiate the two models in the lineup. The NASync iDX6011 uses an Intel® Core™ Ultra 5 125H processor and is available with either 32GB or 64GB of memory. It’s positioned for creators, families, and prosumers who want strong performance, intelligent organization, and private AI without venturing into workstation territory.

The NASync iDX6011 Pro is aimed squarely at power users and studios. Powered by the more capable Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 255H and equipped with 64GB of memory as standard, it adds an OCuLink port for external GPU connectivity. This opens the door to GPU-accelerated AI workloads, rendering, and other compute-heavy tasks, effectively turning the NAS into a hybrid storage and processing hub. A built-in smart touch display provides at-a-glance visibility into system status, resource usage, and network activity.

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Performance meets practical design

UGREEN hasn’t ignored the fundamentals. Multiple RAID options, pro-grade encryption, real-time virus scanning, and granular permission controls underline a serious approach to security. The aluminum-alloy chassis, magnetic dust filter, and low-noise hydraulic fan result in a system that looks premium and runs quietly, even under load. A three-year warranty and five years of security updates add confidence for long-term deployment.

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Pricing and the bigger picture

Pre-orders are already open, with aggressive early pricing: the iDX6011 starts at $999 for the 32GB version and $1,199 for 64GB, while the iDX6011 Pro comes in at $1,559. A Kickstarter launch is planned for March.

Taken together, the NASync iDX6011 and iDX6011 Pro feel less like incremental updates and more like a statement of intent. UGREEN is betting that the future of NAS lies not in bigger drives alone, but in smarter, privacy-first systems that actively help users understand and use their data. If that vision resonates, the iDX Series could mark a meaningful turning point for the category.