compare

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

8.4

PROS

8GB of ECC Memory that can be scaled to 32GB – LOVELY STUFF
Optional 10GbE Upgrade
Continued Support of Synology Hybrid RAID on this scale
4x LAN Ports by default
Expandable with another 10 Drives down the line (2x DS517)
NVMe SSD Bays for Caching will be very useful with this 5-Bay RAID Storage
DSM 7.1 is hands down the best NAS software and services in the market right now
3 years base warranty, with optional extra 2yrs
Numerous storage service advantages inc. BTRFS, Fast RAID Rebuild and Auto-Repair
First Party Hybrid Cloud services with Synology C2
Exceptionally good surveillance software included

CONS

That CPU is going to divide opinion
HDD & SSD Compatibility list is a little thinner than I expected
Optional 10GbE upgrade is via a heavily proprietary route

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

8.6

PROS

DSM 7/7.1 (and DSM7.2 Around the corner) still continues to be an absolute tour-de-force of NAS Software
Most Affordable 10GbE upgradable Synology NAS in the market!
ECC Memory Support and scalability to 32GB is completely unparallel at this price point
The design of the DS723+ NAS still continues to be market-leading
The New CPU architecture allows great PCIe3 bandwidth to be afforded to the rest of the hardware, inside and out
Low Noise, Low Physical Impact and Intelligent Automatic Power Use Adjustment Settings
Increased Support for macOS in Synology Drive and Active Backup Suite (DSM 7.2)
Synology C2 Cloud Services, 1st Party Backup/Sync Tools and Collaboration Suite App = Complete 1st Party Eco-system that can rival Office365 and Google Workspace
PCIe Gen 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Support as Storage Pools!!! FINALLY!
Tremendously User-Friendly!!!

CONS

The AMD Emb.Ryzen instead of a Intel Celeron (with Integrated Graphics) will be a dealbreaker for alot of users
The default 1GbE ports that the system arrives with are tremendously dated
The USB port on the system (only x1?!) is older gen USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gb/s) and their support/usability have been quite pared back in recent DSM releases
The continued moves by Synology to prioritize 1st party hardware and software services may put some users off
Plex Support on the Synology DS723+ is still great for native playback, client-side handling and client devices with relevant multimedia licenses in place, but if server-side media conversions are needed - this system will struggle in comparison with the DS720+ before it

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

8.6

PROS

DSM 7/7.1 (and DSM7.2 Around the corner) still continues to be an absolute tour-de-force of NAS Software
This latest generation expandable 4-Bay arriving with a 10G Upgrade Option is fantastic
ECC Memory Support and scalability to 32GB is completely unparallel at this price point
The design of the DS923+ NAS still continues to be market-leading
The New CPU architecture allows great PCIe3 bandwidth to be afforded to the rest of the hardware, inside and out
Low Noise, Low Physical Impact and Intelligent Automatic Power Use Adjustment Settings
Increased Support for macOS in Synology Drive and Active Backup Suite (DSM 7.2)
Synology C2 Cloud Services, 1st Party Backup/Sync Tools and Collaboration Suite App = Complete 1st Party Eco-system that can rival Office365 and Google Workspace
PCIe Gen 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Support as Storage Pools!!! FINALLY!
Tremendously User-Friendly!!!

CONS

The AMD Emb.Ryzen instead of a Intel Celeron (with Integrated Graphics) will be a dealbreaker for alot of users
The default 1GbE ports that the system arrives with are tremendously dated
The USB ports on the system are older gen USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gb/s) and their support/usability have been quite pared back in recent DSM releases
The continued moves by Synology to prioritize 1st party hardware and software services may put some users off
Plex Support on the Synology DS923+ is still great for native playback, client-side handling and client devices with relevant multimedia licenses in place, but if server-side media conversions are needed - this system will struggle in comparison with the DS920+ before it

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

8.2

PROS

Remarkably compact rackmount server with a 10GbE Option
Very quiet for a rackmount server
Default ECC Memory will be hugely reassuring
DSM 7.1 is still hands-down the best NAS software out there
Storage services such as BTRFS/EXT4 Option, Synology Hybrid RAID Support and Fast RAID Rebuild
Very high build quality and slick design

CONS

Lack of M.2 NVMe slots
No Expansion Support
Odd brand position on HDDs and SSDs
CPU Choice is divisive
Default 2GB of memory cannot up upgraded