I love my NAS; it’s the heart of my smart home setup, with 5 HDDs in RAID. However, it’s big, bulky, and quite noisy, so I hid it in a cupboard in the kitchen. The new X86-P6 Pocket NAS is so small you could put it in a (large) pocket. This tiny computer measures just 100 x 100 x 58.5mm.
Despite its small size, it packs some serious hardware, with room for four M.2 SSDs, 32GB of DDR5-4800MHz memory, and two 2.5GbE LAN ports. It’s quite a beast. Furthermore, you can have it with an Intel Core i3 N305 Twin Lake processor. That might not sound like much, but for a NAS, it is plenty. The SSDs are limited to PCIe Gen 3, but that’s still 3500MB/s per drive, and obviously far above what you would get with 3.5-inch HDDs.
The X86-P6 is available from Amazon and AliExpress, with prices starting at just $200 for the barebones system with an Intel N100. The faster Core i3 N305 model is $480—a big step up, but it is a lot faster.
Features
- M.2 B-Key slot with support for Wi-Fi 6/Wi-Fi 7 + Bluetooth modules
- 2 x 2.5GbE LAN (Intel i226-V)
- 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (10Gbps)
- 2 x HDMI 2.0
Imagine streaming 4K high-definition video to multiple devices simultaneously. The X86-P6, with its fast SSDs and ample RAM, can easily handle this workload. The dual HDMI 2.0 ports allow for direct connection to displays, turning the NAS into a central hub for your home entertainment system. Furthermore, the quiet operation of SSDs compared to traditional HDDs makes them ideal for a living room environment.
For small businesses or home offices, the X86-P6 offers a compact and powerful storage solution. Its dual 2.5GbE LAN ports (Intel i226-V controllers) ensure fast and reliable network connectivity, allowing multiple users to access and share files seamlessly. The high transfer speeds offered by the SSDs are crucial for tasks like backing up large files, collaborating on projects, and running office applications directly from the NAS. The small footprint also makes it ideal for space-constrained environments.
