Synology DS220+ Review
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Synology DS220+
View on AmazonOur verdict
The DS220+ is the right choice for most home NAS users. The upgrade path is the DS923+ when 4K transcoding or more bays are needed.
DSM Software
DSM 7 is the primary reason to choose Synology over the competition.
The package center provides first-party apps for every common NAS use case: Synology Photos: automatic photo backup from phones, with AI face and subject recognition Drive: cloud-style sync between the NAS and computers Plex Media Server: installable from the package center Hyper Backup: scheduled backups to external drives or cloud destinations
Plex Performance
1080p direct play works without issue for any number of simultaneous streams the home network supports.
Hardware transcoding (Plex Pass required) handles 1080p to 480p and 720p downscaling for remote streaming.
Software 4K transcoding at the Intel Celeron's speed is too slow for real use.
Noise Level
At normal operating temperatures, the DS220+ fan is quiet enough to be placed in a living room or bedroom.
Under heavy load (large file transfers or Plex transcoding), the fan spins up audibly, typical for this class of hardware.
Verdict
The DS220+ is the right choice for most home NAS users.
The upgrade path is the DS923+ when 4K transcoding or more bays are needed.
Verdict
The DS220+ is the right choice for most home NAS users. The upgrade path is the DS923+ when 4K transcoding or more bays are needed.
View on AmazonFAQ
Common questions
What hard drives should I use with the Synology DS220+?
Western Digital Red Plus (CMR, not SMR) or Seagate IronWolf are the two standard recommendations. Both are NAS-optimized, RAID-compatible, and verified on Synology's compatibility list. Avoid WD Red (not Red Plus) which uses SMR technology that is slower for RAID writes. 4TB or 8TB capacity per drive is the most common choice for home setups.
Can the DS220+ stream 4K video through Plex?
Direct play (no transcoding) works for any bitrate 4K content on capable Plex clients (Apple TV 4K, NVIDIA Shield). Hardware transcoding with Plex Pass handles 4K to 1080p conversion efficiently. Software 4K transcoding on the Intel Celeron is too slow for smooth playback.
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