MAIWO 4 Bay Hard Drive Enclosure with USB-C & 10 Gbps Speed, 4-Bay DAS Design for 3.5” SATA HDDs with 2 Cooling Fans, USB3.1 HDD Enclosure Daisy Chain Expansion, DAS(NO RAID)

The drive bays were solid, had all the necessary screws, and while it wasn't flawless to install, you get what you pay for, and it delivers on what it advertises for everything I've tested. it only lost 2 stars because it arrived without the necessary power adapter brick to power the damn thing. i tried to contact the company, but they stopped responding, so i eventually just ordered my own with overnight shipping. UPDATE: the seller reached out and remedied the missing power supply issue, refunded the price we paid for the new power adapter to our original payment method! lovely customer service, highly recommend!

This MAIWO 4 bay drive enclosure might be corrupting existing partitions or writing over existing partitions without warning! It would be wise to BACKUP all your PERSONAL DATA (like videos and photos) on any drives BEFORE you connect them to this MAIWO 4 bay drive enclosure for the first time! I installed four (10TB, 5TB and two 3TB) WD drives into this MAIWO 4 bay enclosure and all 4 drives had personal data on them. After installing them (only physically, NO partitioning) and turning each drive on I was immediately prompted in Windows 11 to format three of the four drives! Three (5TB and two 3TB) drives somehow had their original partitions and files system overwritten, removed or corrupted! Their data was wiped out, GONE! For some reason the 10TB drive was the only drive that didn't lose it's data since it's partition and files system was untouched. It was in the number 4 bay of this MAIWO 4 bay drive enclosure, and was the first drive to be turned on (before the other 3 drives). I'm using Windows 11 pro OS and was NEVER prompted or warned about any partition or file system change warning. After turning on these drives Windows prompted me to perform a disk format for three of the affected drives since their file systems were either removed, deleted or corrupted. Either it's a built-in software feature in the circuit board of this MAIWO 4 bay drive enclosure that did this, or Windows does this whenever you plug in ANY USB 4 bay drive enclosure for the first time to install drives, or something happened that's defective in the device or software, I don't know at this point. I will update my review once I have time to run some tests on this MAIWO 4 bay drive enclosure to see if it's working correctly, and hopefully not the cause of this data loss. So I'm forewarning you to be CAREFULL AND BACKUP UP ALL DRIVES before installing them in this MAIWO 4 bay enclosure! On a lighter note, this MAIWO 4 bay drive enclosure will only power-on if you have a drive installed AND the usb cable is connected to a running computer. Otherwise it will seem like the AC power to this device is not working, I think it's a safety or drive standard feature and not an issue with this device. Also the fans ONLY turn on when the MAIWO 4 bay drive enclosure reaches a certain temperature (that's in the manual) which is another feature built-in to this device. I like the well designed and solid aluminum case shell/cover, even though the rest of this device is plastic there are these brass implanted threads in the plastic parts so screws can be tighter and more secure, without being strip and loosened over time. I do like that each bay has it's own power switch for turning on/off individual drive and has USB Type-C 10GB/s transfer speeds at a reasonable price, these two features are mainly why I purchased it. Fortunately I did a backup all my drives to a WD 20TB drive before installing them into this 4 bay enclosure. It was just sheer luck I did because I NEVER expected these drives to have their data and partition wiped clean!

Buyer beware! Read the reviews on this, they are accurate. Purchased this April 4th. Died tonight, two months later. Seems to be a power issue. Nothing wrong with the power block the best I can see. The indicator light is illuminating anyway. But for whatever reason when I flip the power to On, the power LED basically turns of for a fraction of a second then turns off and nothing happens beyond that. No start up, no fan movement, no additional lights turn off. In short this thing is a total brick. I wanted to love this thing. Functionally it was great for the last two months. Had no issues installing my HHDs. Speeds where alright. Seemed like a win at the price until tonight. I checked the manufacturers website and the instructions given to combat an outage were futile. I'll attempt to reconcile this with there customer service department but from what I've read it sounds like its an uphill battle to find a resolution that doesn't involve buying another unit. I hate wasting my hard earned money and that sadly is how I feel tonight. Such a shame.

UPDATE (14 months later): Unfortunately, after about 14 months of normal use, this enclosure failed completely. It will no longer power on or stay powered, even with no drives installed. I verified the original power adapter and tested multiple known-good 12V adapters (including a higher-rated 12V/10A unit, confirmed with a multimeter). The issue is not the power supply — the enclosure itself has failed. I contacted the seller (MAIWOASIA). They suggested purchasing a replacement power adapter and offered reimbursement, but after I explained that I had already tested multiple adapters and that the enclosure fails with no drives installed, they stopped responding. Amazon ultimately stepped in and processed a one-time exception refund, which I appreciate. However, given the complete failure just outside the warranty period and the lack of follow-up from the seller, I can no longer recommend this enclosure for long-term use — especially for important data. ORIGINAL POST: (UPDATE: When using a proper cable (Thunderbolt 4) the unit CAN be used in the back ports of your Mac mini M4 AND the HDMI works with no issues.)) This device is an absolute bargain. It features four hard drive bays and is an ideal enclosure for backup drives. The exterior is made of aluminum, while the interior is plastic. However, it’s not suitable for everyone. I’m using it with a 2024 Mac mini Pro. When connected to the Thunderbolt 5 ports on the back, it doesn’t function. It works perfectly with the USB ports on the front of the machine. I couldn’t get the HDMI port to work, but since I don’t need it, I’m not using it. CAUTION: all the pieces are slightly rough around the edges, and some of the edges are razor-sharp. You could easily get cut.

I bought this MAIWO 4 Bay Hard Drive Enclosure almost a year ago. I read all reviews at the time and there were many bad reviews. I use this almost every day and have swapped out drives many times. There is nothing I can say bad about this enclosure. I gave 5 stars because it works great and for as long as I have had it. I would recommend this to someone who wants to backup, mirror, or a desktop multi drive. It works great in Windows 11 Storage spaces to make all the drives as 1 big one.

To echo other buyers, this enclosure died after **19** months of use! Crazy how it almost seems this has a planned failure time, seems sort of uncanny. The backplane started going flaky and not mounting correctly to UnRAID and then finally just died completely. Other compatible power supplies didn't work, conversely the one that came with this enclosure, powered my existing 2-disk replication station just fine. So that station is currently backing up the drives this enclosure hopefully didn't corrupt. I don't think the $120 or so I spent at the time, is a good use of 18 months of life. Additionally the chassis would sometimes rattle/vibrate with only 2 disks in it so I had to put a strip of packing tape across the front, top to bottom, on the unused side, to quiet it.

This was just what I wanted and needed. Easy to set up, just make sure that the drives are formanted correctly. This takes up a lots lest room than four sperated enclosures.

First off, the external drives system is very easy to set up and to get started. Comes with all tools needed except readable instructions unless you happen to have a microscope. That or a telephoto eyes! The instructions were useless they were made so small... 1 star dinged for that. Next, in the description it was stated you could use 'software raid' with this enclosure which was what I was interested in because I wanted to get away from the hardware raid that often becomes glitchy with the OS unless the drivers are updated regularly. Well... 1 star ding for no software raid support. Tried every which way possible other than basic disk type structures (single drives only, no spanned / stripped or anything of the sort in raid configuration) The fans are relatively quiet, though I wish there was a dust cover or an easy way to attach one to the front to keep dust out. Being the case is aluminum, magnetic won't stick and there are no screw slots. Still, a plus star here. When installing the drives, it was fairly easy. Loosely tighten the screws so the drives still slide then screw the tray in place. Nowslide the drive into place and hold it firmly in place to the sata port while you tighten down the screws. Repeat for the second drive on that tray if one is there. +1 star for ease. Lastly, the ease of using the window management window to format through... +1. Again, if only spandisk would work here or. Basic software raid like they claim. 3 star total. I wish I could give more. It really is deserving of it. It is very sell made and solid! Well thought out and great construction. Even with the issues I am happy with it.

This is an initial review. I may update later if there are issues. TLDR; It works great, with a few minor annoyances. Excellent value. Update: I created a basic Windows Storage Space with 2 of the drives: a 2TB and a 1TB. The process was easy - if you follow the instructions. You Must back up whatever is on the drives before you create the storage space. Everything on the drives gets wiped out in the process. Then you can restore it afterwards. 1) It was easier, to set up than putting internal drives into a PC case. Granted, the font in the instructions is fairly small - not the best if you don't have good eyesight. Truth is, I found the setup to be straightforward enough that I didn't refer to the instructions. There are _lots_ of screws to deal with - remove 1 to get part of the frame out, then 27 to be screwed in to hold it all together. That is a PITA, for sure, and you _could_ use fewer and I'm sure it would be fine. 2) There is a procedure for creating a software RAID or JBOD. It involves some technical knowledge, or the ability to follow step-by-step instructions. And THAT may involve re-initializing the drives. If you have anything on the drives, you must back them up or the contents will be lost and unrecoverable. I'm not using Windows Storage Spaces, although I might at some point in the future. 3) The fan isn't THAT loud. Certainly not loud enough to deduct any stars. It is a 2-speed fan. The speeds are 0 and 1. Again, mildly annoying but not worth deducting a star. 4) The USB-C ports. You have to get them right. Use the one labelled PC to connect to the computer. The other one allows you to connect more stuff, such as a hub or card reader or another drive enclosure. 5) Make sure the drives are properly seated before you lock them down. I put in "HDD 2" and seated it before putting the HDD 1 / HDD2 cage in place. It would be difficult to move the drive and seat it properly if you put it in the cage first. (I just thought of a different way. I'll try it if I buy another of these enclosures.) 6) I tried the HDMI port. Apparently it only works if you have a USB-C connection from the PC. I don't. I can confirm that there is no HDMI output if you use a USB-A connection from the PC. Not worth deducting a star - for me - because I didn't buy it for the HDMI port. It would be a nice extra, but not something I require.

This is such a shame! I really liked this disk enclosure and it is working perfectly as a TrueNAS disk pool for just over one month, and then it died! Similar to what others have said, when turned on the power light just flashes briefly, but it won't come on. I tested the power brick and everything is good there. The unit needs more robust electronics, particularly on the power internals.

Don't waste your money? Received item with a power cord that doesn't fit the unit

This is a quality product for the price. I picked up two units to house eight repurposed 2TB and 4TB 3.5" HDDs, and they have worked flawlessly. Many of the low ratings are due to user errors, specifically when trying to set up software RAID (Storage Spaces). The enclosure is fully compatible, but your drives need to be prepped first. TROUBLESHOOTING: Common User Issues 1. Power State: This unit is not designed to be a standalone, always-on device. It requires a proper USB-C connection to a PC to power on the drives. If the main power LED is flashing, the unit is likely not properly connected to your computer's USB-C port. If a drive doesn't spin up, try toggling its individual power switch. 2, Storage Spaces Error: This enclosure completely supports Windows Storage Spaces for pooling multiple HDDs using all resiliency types (Simple, Two-Way Mirror, Three-Way Mirror, and Parity). I successfully created a single 18TB pool spanning both of my enclosures. If you are getting an error like "The physical disk's sector size is not supported..." or cannot create your pool, it's almost certainly because of leftover partition metadata on your drives. The Fix: Preparing Drives for Storage Spaces (Data Loss Warning!) 🚨 WARNING: These steps will permanently erase ALL DATA on the drives. Only proceed if you have no important data saved on them or you've backed up your files to another drive. Launch DiskPart: After installing the drives and connecting the enclosure, open an elevated Command Prompt (Run as Administrator). Type diskpart and press Enter. Clean the Drives: Type list disk to see all available drives. Identify the drive numbers (e.g., Disk 1, Disk 2, etc.) that are inside the enclosure. For each drive in the enclosure, run the following commands, replacing # with the correct disk number: select disk # clean Repeat the select disk # and clean process for all drives you want to use in the pool. Initialize to GPT: This is the crucial step to resolve metadata conflicts. Close the Command Prompt window. Open Disk Management (search for it in the Start Menu). A new window should pop up immediately, prompting you to Initialize Disks. If it doesn't, right-click on the left-hand side of any of the "Unknown" disks from the enclosure and choose Initialize Disk. Ensure all your newly cleaned drives are selected. Choose the GPT (GUID Partition Table) partition style and click OK. Create Your Pool: You can now launch Storage Spaces (search for it in the Start Menu or Settings). Create a new pool. All of the drives in your enclosure should now be recognized and available. Proceed with creating your desired Storage Space (virtual drive) with your chosen resiliency type.

After installing 4 3tb drives one drive no.3 didn't show up. After trying different thing. Still nothing. Then decided to swap drives 3&4 To see if I had a bad drive. Because it is not easy to remove drives like with other unit I had call probox. Which that one you just have to open the front door & pull out any drive & replace it. Which this unit you have to turn it over remove 6 tiny screws then take out the plastic case remove 8 more screws . Remove drives & swap them. You have to be very careful. When all replaced. It work great. Fan was quiet. I think when I put the drive in the first time one wasn't seated completely. Love the unit. If in the future if I need more storage I will buy another. States you can keep adding units. With 12tb of storage & 1 3tb drive full. It's great for backup & storage. Highly recomend this unit.