Ubiquiti announced the new UniFi Dream Machine Pro SE earlier this year in July and it builds upon the original UDM Pro, which went on sale in February 2020. Both units are very similar, with only some minor yet very important enhancements being changed between the two models.
The form factor is the same, with a small 1.3-inch LCM display, 3.5-inch HDD bay, eight LAN ports, 2 SFP ports and one WAN port. However, everything has been tweaked to make the Dream Machine Pro a more compelling choice. First of all, the eight LAN ports are now all PoE capable, only 802.3af here mind and the WAN port is now capable of 2.5GbE. The CPU and RAM levels are the same, but the internal SSD storage has been bumped from 16GB to 128GB. That SSD is used for UniFi Protect.
UDM Pro | UDM Pro SE | |
Supported software | Runs UniFi OS and supports UniFi Network, UniFi Protect, UniFi Access, UniFi Talk and UniFi LED | Runs UniFi OS and supports UniFi Network, UniFi Protect, UniFi Access, UniFi Talk and UniFi LED |
WAN ports | 2 - 1x RJ45 and 2x SFP+ | 2 - 1x RJ45 and 2x SFP+ |
Maxiumum throughput | 3.5Gbps | 3.5Gbps |
Form factor | Desk mountable and 1U rack moutable | Desk mountable and 1U rack moutable |
Number of interfaces | 11 - 8 RJ45 LAN, 1x SFP+ LAN, 1x RJ45 WAN and 1x SFP+ WAN | 11 - 8 RJ45 LAN, 1x SFP+ LAN, 1x RJ45 WAN and 1x SFP+ WAN |
Special features | - | 2.5GbE on RJ45 WAN All LAN ports support PoE
|
UniFi parts broken down | Cloud Key, USG, and Switch | Cloud Key, USG and Switch |
Price | $379 US / £327.94 UK / €382.80 EU | N/A - In Early Access |
Recommendation
If the idea of having a compact all in one device for your network, plus a couple cameras and a couple of access points appeals to you, then I would wait for the UDM Pro SE. The addition of the 802.3af PoE ports makes it worth it for a more simple set up. However, in terms of any extra performance boost, both the UDM Pro and UDM Pro SE have the same specs, so there won’t be any increase there, the only other difference is the 2.5GbE port on the WAN, but that is a very uncommon interface speed and is unlikely to be used, if users are on an internet package above 1Gbps, then SFP+ will likely be used.
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