compare

SOFTWARE - 8/10
HARDWARE - 7/10
PERFORMANCE - 8/10
PRICE - 9/10
VALUE - 9/10

8.2

PROS

Good value hardware and software at this pricepoint
2GB of DDR4 Memory at the affordable tier is very welcome

Runs the latest version of QTS 5

First Value Tier NAS in the market to use the Cortex A55 Processor

Quad-Core Processor is a nice bonus

Inclusive AI-powered component built into the hardware

USB 3.2 Gen 1 Port and Copy Button always good at the value tier

Support for NAS-to-NAS/USB/Cloud backups and also supported Hybrid Storage and mounting

CONS

1GbE in 2022 event at the value tier is underwhelming
2x USB 2.0 Ports is equally underwhelming

SOFTWARE - 6/10
HARDWARE - 8/10
PERFORMANCE - 8/10
PRICE - 8/10
VALUE - 9/10

7.8

PROS

Very compact chassis design, despite large storage potential
A BIG jump in hardware and scale from the QNAP TS-251D
Easily one of the most hardware-packed SMB/Mid-range 2-Bay on the market
HDMI 2.1 Support is fantastically future-proof!
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

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
HD Station application needs more updates by the brand
Fixed 4GB of memory will annoy some users
The QuTS ZFS Platform is not available
Software can be a little inconsistent under excessive use and features a steeper learning curve than Synology