I have around 4000 photos and videos in this folder. I don't know what it is but I know that it's not a network issue.
I think it takes a long time because the phone CPU is much slower than the desktop but I couldn't tell you what it's doing, the status doesn't say anything useful except noting that files are out of sync and that the other device is connected.
yes I do wish it would say a bit more of what's going on and have a big button that says "try it now".