Exceeding $1600, this is no doubt an expensive product, but it packs a ton of features. It is also innovative, saving you lots of space as it is a powerful NAS and highly capable PoE switch in one, upgradable through two PCIe slots. Since this is a PoE switch capable of providing up to 380 W of power to network devices, its power supply plays a huge role not only in its own reliability but those of all connected devices. QNAP used a quality PSU by FSP, and the best part is that you can also monitor the power delivered to any connected device in the software.

The combination of QTS and QSS looks to work well and sets the bar relatively high when it comes to managed switches. Two 10 GbE lines connect these systems, which allows for incredibly fast data transfers without any lag, and if you want to directly "talk" to the NAS, there are four available ports for this purpose, of which two provide up to 5 GbE speeds. On the switch, you are confined to 2.5 GbE and 1 GbE ports, however, as well as a pair of 10 GbE fiber optic ports that aren't compatible with the majority of Ethernet ports found in today's mainboards. 10 GbE Ethernet ports on the switch would have been nice, but that would have apparently increased an already hefty price tag.

The lack of an HDMI port is a great shame, especially as the QGD-1600P has one. An HDMI port would allow it to act as a truly independent surveillance station without the necessity of a PC to control it. QNAP also provides the QVR Pro application, which is ideal for advanced surveillance applications. In general, both operating systems, QTS and QSS, are highly intuitive, providing tons of options while being easy to use even by novice users. However, if utilizing these options fully is a consideration, you will need to devote many hours to studying them.

The inclusion of two PCIe ports is a tremendous advantage since you can easily expand capabilities through a large selection of optional PCIe cards. You will find the full list here. Moreover, storage can be expanded with optional expansion units.

As in every product reviewed, not everything is perfect, however. For starters, the asking price is prohibitively high for most users. However, this is a business-oriented product. Another nuisance was that the SSD cache broke its RAID configuration frequently for no apparent reason. I am not sure whether this was a problem with the Corsair NVMe drives I used or the unit itself since I didn't have other NVMe drives available. Furthermore, the long boot time of QTS is something QNAP hasn't addressed yet. It has been a while since my last QNAP review before this one, and QTS is still just as slow to boot, unfortunately. Synology's DSM, on the other hand, has a much shorter boot time. Someone could argue that you won't frequently restart the NAS, which does not hold true in my case, and waiting this long between restarts did get annoying.

In general, I liked the QNAP QGD-1602P, and I find the whole idea of combining a managed PoE switch with a NAS for a one-box solution innovative. The build quality is extremely high, and QNAP's software is topnotch, while the hardware is powerful enough to handle multiple data-hungry clients at once. Its stiff price will be a major issue for most potential buyers. However, as mentioned, this product is meant for businesses, not homes. That is, unless you have a mansion and need multiple IP cameras, in which case cost won't be an issue. I am now expecting an upgraded version featuring 10 GbE ports.