compare

SOFTWARE - 10/10
HARDWARE - 7/10
PERFORMANCE - 8/10
PRICE - 7/10
VALUE - 7/10

7.8

PROS

👍🏻Synology 4-Bay NAS with a 4-Core Intel Integrated Gfx Processor - Lovely stuff!
👍🏻Runs Everything in the Synology DSM Catalogue (Active Backup, Surveillance Station, VMM, Drive, Collab Suite, etc)
👍🏻Great Plex, Emby and Jellyfin Media Server Performance
👍🏻Supports M.2 NVMe SSD Storage Pools
👍🏻Broad HDD/SSD Compatibility with Synology drives AND Seagate+WD
👍🏻Low Impact chassis, low noise in operation (HDD dependant) and efficient power use
👍🏻Runs exceedingly well on just 2GB of Memory
👍🏻More affordable than the DS923+ and DS723+
👍🏻Long-running DSM Support beyond the Hardware 3yr Warranty

CONS

👎🏻No means to upgrade network connectivity and 1GbE by default
👎🏻Memory maximum cap at 6GB as original 2GB is fixed (non-upgradable)
👎🏻Too similar to the DS920+
👎🏻Non-Expandable
👎🏻2019/2020 Gen Intel CPU

SOFTWARE - 8/10
HARDWARE - 9/10
PERFORMANCE - 9/10
PRICE - 8/10
VALUE - 8/10

8.4

PROS

👍🏻Very compact chassis design, despite large storage potential
👍🏻A BIG jump in hardware and scale from the TS-253Be and TS-253D
👍🏻Easily one of the most hardware-packed SMB/Mid-range 2-Bay on the market
👍🏻8GB Memory in the base model will certainly appeal to some users looking at pimping this system out fully in terms of hardware upgrades and storage
👍🏻m.2 NVMe SSD Bays AND a PCIe Upgrade Slot (no need to choose one upgrade path)
👍🏻8x Included Camera Licenses
👍🏻Includes Anti-virus, Firewall Tool, VPN client tools, Malware Remover, network manager and Security Councilor Tool
👍🏻3 Different Container/VM tools that also feature image download centers
👍🏻10Gb/s (1,000MB/s) USB Ports will be incredibly useful
👍🏻Large range of expansion options in the TR/TL series in 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 Bays
👍🏻HDMI 2.1 Support in the 2-Bay, whereas the 4/6-Bay still runs HDMI 2.0 (released in Spring \'22)

CONS

👎🏻The PCIe Slot is PCIe 3x2 and the M.2 SSD Bays are PCIe 3x1 (likely limitations of all this H/W on a Celeron+chipset
👎🏻Default 8GB of memory (again, down to global memory shortages) does increase the base price and is non-upgradable too
👎🏻The software can be a little inconsistent under excessive use and features a steeper learning curve than Synology