- Xiaomi has launched its first NAS, a dual-base storage solution that comes in three different storage capacities
- The Xiaomi Smart Storage was not planned, but was created by customers eager to own one after an erroneous label indicated that one was being designed
- The Xiaomi Smart Storage device attracted a reported 30,000 net orders within the first hour of crowdsourcing
Network-attached storage appears to be the new frontier for Chinese heavyweight Xiaomi, which has come a long way from its roots as a software developer with a focus on a heavily modified version of Android.
While many of Xiaomi’s moves when it comes to investments and product lines often surprise others given the breadth of its offerings, many of which are unrelated, a NAS drive feels like a relatively timid product line to focus on.
The product sees Xiaomi directly competing in an industry previously dominated by Synology, QNAP, Ugreen and Huawei in the region, with users essentially begging it to execute its plans.
A ‘happy accident’ for Xiaomi fans
The company, whose catalog already spans a Nürburgring-generating electric supercar, rice cookers, nose hair trimmers, electric scooters and the phones that started it all, seems to have stumbled upon the opportunity to have its own NAS, now known as ‘Xiaomi Smart Storage’, purely by accident.
The idea emerged by accident in May 2025, when a schematic labeled “10G NAS” appeared in promotional images for the company’s network switch line. However, Chinese consumers responded loudly enough that Xiaomi’s ecosystem chief, Chen Bo, publicly committed to building one and delivered a finished, crowdfunded option about 13 months later.
Xiaomi’s crowd-funded NAS offering comes in 3 different sizes or configurations: the entry-level 4TB SKU (¥2299), the mid-range 8TB SKU (¥2899), and a top-of-the-line 16TB SKU (¥4699). All these options include dual-bay Xiaomi Smart Storage with two equal-sized hard drives.
The NAS comes pretty well equipped, offering USB 3.0, HDMI, a 2.5-gigabit Ethernet port and support for both 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA drives, and suitable hardware reportedly under the hood (a Realtek RTD1619B, a quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 clocked and 37GB DLDR at 37GHz. 8GB eMMC).
Xiaomi seems equally committed on the software side of the spectrum; It has also released a companion app on both Apple’s App Store and Google Play, while offering support for its Mi Home ecosystem application from the start.
This has allowed the company to rack up an impressive 30,000 orders in the first hour the NAS drive went live on its crowdfunding site, as consumers buy into Xiaomi’s brand value and ecosystem promises alike, even as inventory prices continue to rise thanks to AI-centric demand.
