QNAP TS-873A-8G-US Now or wait?

[Enquiries]

Hi there,

I currently own a Synology DS1813+, and it's time for an upgrade. Over the past year, I’ve been gradually purchasing WD 22TB Red Pro drives in preparation. However, with Synology’s recent shift toward proprietary drive requirements, I’m now looking to move away from their ecosystem.

I’ve been considering the QNAP TS-873A-8G-US, but I’m concerned about its age—it’s been on the market for about four years. Since I plan to keep my next NAS for 12+ years, I want to ensure I’m making a future-proof investment. Do we have any indication of a successor to this model, possibly coming this fall?

My current NAS is primarily used for:

Plex media storage
Backups
Personal cloud access
I’m also interested in consolidating my server into the new NAS and exploring newer features and capabilities.

Would you recommend waiting for newer models, or are there other options I should consider now? I’m open to any suggestions or insights you might have.

Thanks in advance!

Best regards,
Ed

[ed]

You’re absolutely right to be thinking ahead, especially with an investment you’re planning to keep for over a decade. The QNAP TS-873A-8G-US has been a solid performer since its release, with a good balance of expandability, PCIe flexibility, and support for both ZFS (QuTS hero) and EXT4 (QTS). That said, as you noted, it’s now 4+ years old and based on the Ryzen V1500B platform — the same SoC found in older Synology models like the DS1821+ and RS1221+. While it’s still relevant today, it’s nearing the end of its typical product cycle.

There hasn’t been an official announcement from QNAP about a direct successor to the TS-873A, but given their update patterns, it’s very plausible we’ll see a new AMD Ryzen or Intel-based 8-bay in the next 6–12 months, possibly with PCIe Gen 4, DDR5, or improved AI/NPU acceleration — especially as QNAP has started pushing their newer TVS-H674 series and ZFS-based Hero systems.

Since you already have high-capacity drives ready and are looking for a long-term solution, here are your options:

Option 1: Buy the TS-873A now
• Still a great NAS, especially for Plex, backup, and light server consolidation
• Supports PCIe cards (10GbE, GPU, NVMe expansion)
• Reliable RAID/ZFS functionality with room to grow
• Likely to get QTS/QuTS hero updates for several more years

Option 2: Wait for a next-gen 8-bay model (likely by early 2026)
• Potentially newer Ryzen or Intel CPU with PCIe 4.0/DDR5
• More efficient or AI/NPU-accelerated models are becoming common
• Possibly better support for 2.5/5/10GbE out of the box
• Downside: Unknown timeline, pricing, and possible teething issues at launch

Alternative Option: Consider TVS-H674 or TS-H874 (ZFS)
• These are pricier, but much more modern platforms (Alder Lake i5/i7 CPUs, PCIe Gen 4, ECC memory)
• If you’re consolidating services, want VM support, or might consider Plex transcoding with a GPU, they’re much more future-proof
• You could also explore the TS-664 or TVS-H674, depending on how critical the 8-bay layout is versus overall hardware power

Verdict:
If your current system is still functional and you can wait 3–6 months, holding out may give you access to newer platforms. But if you want to move now and get your drives working — and don’t need cutting-edge PCIe or DDR5 — then the TS-873A is still a very valid, stable, and capable choice, especially if you can find it under budget.