Unboxing The Synology DS218PLAY 4K Multimedia NAS for Home

The New Synology 4K 2-Bay DS218play NAS for 2017 is available – Is it worth your data?

The Synology ‘play’ series has got a little bigger with the release of the new Synology DS218play NAS, hot on the heels of the release of it’s 4-Bay big brother (the DS418Play) this is the latest in a long line of 2-Bay multimedia specialized Network Attached Storage devices from Synology and arriving at a modest £190+ without VAT, it is easy to see why it is appealing. But does this 4K NAS actually deliver?

Costing around £40-50 more than the DS218J and DS118, does this latest Synology NAS deserve your attention?

What are the specifications of the DS218play NAS and what can it do?

Arriving with an impressive and budget-friendly set of internal specifications, they have really crammed in a number of more modern features than previous play series NAS devices. The CPU is a new and improved 64bit ARM based chip that can transcode 4K media, as well as arrives in quad-core, at 1.4Ghz per core – twice that of the older DS216play.

Model	Synology DS218play
Price	£200+ ex.VAT
CPU Model	Realtek RTD1296
CPU Architecture	64-bit
CPU Frequency	Quad Core 1.4 GHz
Hardware Encryption Engine 256	YES
Hardware Encryption Engine (AES-NI)	NO
Hardware Transcoding Engine	10-bit H.265 (HEVC), MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-2, VC-1; maximum resolution: 4K (4096 x 2160); maximum frame rate per second (FPS): 30
System Memory	1 GB DDR4

Also, the new DS218play arrives with DDR4 memory. This is fast becoming a standard of a number of Synology NAS and something that QNAP and the like could learn from. At 2133Mhz, compared with the 1800Mhz od the DDR3 of the older unit, it is certainly a welcome addition. Alongside 4K transcoding, this CPU also has a hardware encryption engine supporting live 256-bit encryption. Though both these features were present in the older unit, they are performed bigger and better on this new device. Of course, there is more to this device than just multimedia. Like many Synology NAS, this device also supports many other Synology NAS features, such as:

• Arrives in a plastic compact chassis, thereby reducing power consumption, noise and heat
• Arrives DLNA certified, so you can stream your content to your Smart TV, Xbox One, PS4, Sonos and more

• Supports JBOD (Just a bunch of Drives), RAID 0 (combine both HDD/SSD drives into a single large drive of storage, RAID 1 (your data is copied across two drives, so you always have a complete, up to the millisecond backup) and SHR (Synology Hybrid RAID – all the benefits of RAID 1, but with the ability to mix drives. Very handy years down the line)

• Includes Synology Diskstation Manager (DSM) 6.1 (6.2 in beta) FREE – lots of apps, access, functionality and intuitively designed software options for home and business
• Connect with iOS and Android mobile applications – DS File, DS Video, DS Photo and DS Music available FREE

• Completely compatible with surveillance station (the FREE Synology surveillance software – Review here), arriving with two camera licences and providing live access to at least x15 cameras

When is the Synology DS218play going to be released and where can I buy it?

 

As always, we recommend nascompares.com, the NAS Experts, for buying your first, second or tenth NAS device and they are already taking orders on the new DS218play. With over 20 years of experience in data storage, build and test services included free, cost-effective worldwide shipping, pre and post technical support and a multitude of ways to get in touch with them 24×7, it really is a no-brainer. Arriving at around £190+ ex.VAT, they hope to see a release of this item before the end of the year.

The Synology DS218play 4K Multimedia NAS 2-Bay is Available to Buy NOW

• Release Date – End of October 2017
• Price – £190+ ex.VAT
• Realtek RTD1296 Quad-Core 1.4GHz CPU
• 1GB of DDR4 Memory
• 2x USB 3.0
• 4K and HD Multimedia Playback and Transcoding

 

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