If you've never heard of UnifyDrive, you're probably not alone. The company, formed just four years ago, is trying to disrupt the storage world with a line of portable NAS devices. We reviewed the UT2 a couple of months ago and, despite a few issues, came away impressed with the product. Today, at CES, the company has announced a new product in the same category, the UP6. UnifyDrive dubs this "the world's first portable AI Tablet NAS."
According to the press release, while the UP6 and UT2 are similar, in that both are portable NAS devices that allow connectivity via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet, the UP6 packs a lot of upgrades, including 10Gig Ethernet, a pair of 40GB Thunderbolt 4 ports, and up to 8,000 MB/s transfer speeds. The biggest upgrade, however, might be a display that can support HDR, allowing creators to see their work in real-time, although details about the screen are lacking.
In addition, the UnifyDrive UP6 has a built-in LLM that gives users an AI-powered file and document manager, allowing people to search both photos and videos for people, content, text, or other identifying information. While AI is going into seemingly everything lately, the fact that it's local should at least help protect privacy, and the ability to search your files for things like "forest" and "cake" could be helpful.
Finally, the UnifyDrive UP6's battery can be charged via the same USB-C charger that you currently use for your laptop, phone, or other devices, meaning it's one less cable you need to carry with you while on the go. The press release did not mention how long the battery would last, but considering the UT2 would only run for an hour, I suspect this will be less if you're using the screen.
We look forward to learning more about the UP6 to understand how it can be built into your workflow.
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