Be careful with WD reds and CMR/SMR. Even though every WD Red Plus should be CMR, WD is known for selling SMR drives marketed as CMR. The whole Red Plus line exists because, before that, the WD Reds were supposed to be CMR, but they started mixing them with SMR drives. People found out and lawsuits were filed, so WD’s answer was to say that the WD Red line didn’t guarantee CMR, and people needed to pay extra for the WD Red Plus line.

WD is forever off my list of trustworthy manufacturers. But there aren’t many options, and I understand that in these times it may be difficult to pass on a good offer. Read customer reviews and, upon arrival, make sure they’re CMR.

I do agree with you, but it’s pretty much an imitation of Google Photos, which is what they were going for.

For sending files between a phone and a PC, I use KDE Connect.

For sending files between PCs, I use SSH.

Both are really simple and lightweight tools that normally come preinstalled, and you can use them with no configuration.