Synology DS223 Review

Regular readers would know that we’ve been long-time users of NAS devices from Synology for many years.

From their DS1522+, DS923+, and even DS920+ NAS devices — we’ve regularly featured them because of their reliable performance and user-friendly interface that has helped us streamlined our video production process.

While their utility is undeniable to tech enthusiasts, businesses, and the YugaTech team, you may wonder why a NAS would be a great option for your storage needs this 2023.

This is where the Synology DS223 NAS device comes in.

As one of Synology’s newest NAS releases this 2023, it aims to be your next data management platform for either your home or small office.

After testing the DS223 ourselves, we think it’s a great option for those who want to move away from either local or cloud storage and adopt a more personalized, reliable, and modular storage solution.

Let’s learn more in our review of Synology’s DS223!

How we use NAS devices

As mentioned earlier, having a NAS has been a staple in YugaTech workflow for years now. We’ve even used more than half o the 22TB of drive space in our current setup.

We use them for the following purposes:

• Remote access to all archives for video editing (RAW footage, music, SFX collection, final output videos)
• Real-time syncing with our DropBox Pro account (team DropBox files are synched with Synology NAS) so whatever we dump in the NAS, it gets copied to our DropBox account right away.
• Back-up of all files per department, especially our Video Team.
• Serves as a central repository of documents, essential files, and onboarding materials and training materials.
• Storage for the office CCTV
• Dump the personal files of each team member

The speed of the NAS will heavily depend on the local network and our ISP. So far, we have it set up in a gigabit LAN in our studio and subscribed to Converge’s 800Mbps plan. For the most part, we have not experienced any issues, and if there’s any bottleneck, that would be the speed of actually copying files from the SD card to the NAS.

Common NAS use cases at home.

Meanwhile, for those planning to get a NAS for home use, these are some of the most popular use cases:

• Archive and back-up up all old files from all PCs, laptops, and smartphones
• Store and stream all movies in your collection
• These movies and video files can then be streamed to any Smart TV in the house via the DS Video app
• You can also access the videos on your laptop, tablet, or smartphone

This is ideal if you have a heavy user or multiple users that require local storage. Synology also has a collection of mobile apps you can use to access and manage your NAS. One of them is DS Video which you can use to stream from your movie collection in the NAS, either on your mobile device or cast to your TV. It supports multiple video formats that your TV might not be able to play natively so that is a big plus.

Synology DS223

As far as the above is concerned, the DS223 NAS device is a good option for a first-time NAS user. It has 2 drive bays that have compatibility with 3.5-inch SATA HDDs or a 2.5-inch SATA SSD.

The DS223 supports a maximum single volume size of 38 TBs and 64 maximum internal volume number. It supports Synology Hybrid RAID, Basic, JBOD, RAID 0, and RAID 1.

The system runs on a Realtek RTD1619B CPU, which is a 4-core processor that reaches 1.7 GHz clock speed on a 64-bit architecture.

While it isn’t the most amount of storage or features that you can get from a NAS, what you do get with the DS223 is a solid and affordable entry point to Synology’s DiskStation Manager or DSM.

We’ve raved about DSM for years now as it offers a flexible all-in-one data-sharing solution via a very user-friendly user interface (UI). It adopts a UI that looks pretty similar to Windows 10 or 11, making it familiar to those who already use a PC, and gives users a host of useful storage programs and add-on packages.

In our experience, DSM is an intuitive software experience that will make things like backing up files, synchronization, and surveillance really easy.

Theoretically, you can get access to up to 36 TB of data with the DS223 but that of course depends on the drives you’ll end up using for it and the RAID configuration.

The DS223 also runs at 17.3W in use, which is pretty reasonable and efficient power consumption today. At current electricity rates, that puts it at around Php4.75USD 0.08INR 7EUR 0.08CNY 0.59 per full day (24 hours) of operation.

In terms of I/O, the DS223 has one x RJ-45 1GbE LAN Port, three USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, and a USB / SD Copy button.

Perhaps the best feature of the DS223 is, as we alluded to earlier, the price. Global pricing of the DS223  is at USD $249.99PHP 14,671INR 21,187EUR 238CNY 1,820 (around Php 13,836USD 236INR 19,987EUR 225CNY 1,717) and Php 16,330USD 278INR 23,590EUR 265CNY 2,027 at Shopee and Lazada (take note, only products from vendors listed on Synology’s website offer local warranty). The price in the Philippines is higher because all local stocks offer a local warranty.

We also want to mention that the DS223 is one of the lightest and smallest NAS devices we’ve had in-studio so far. While this (weight) will change with the amount of drive you put in, the small form factor is a great selling point for those who are tight on space.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if you’ve been thinking about trying out a NAS device yourself but don’t want to over-indulge on storage just yet — the DS223 offers a really good package.

With the DS223, you get all the perks of having a Synology NAS, especially its top-tier DSM software, at a compact form factor and a really affordable price.

Synology DS223 specs:
Realtek RTD1619B
4-core 1.7 Ghz, 64-bit architecture
2 GB DDR4 non-ECC
2 Drive Bays
Hot Swappable Drive
Drive Compatibility
– 3.5″ SATA HDD
– 2.5″ SATA SSD
1 x RJ-45 1GbE LAN Port
3 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Port
USB / SD Copy
165 mm x 108 mm x 232.7 mm (dimensions)
1.28 kg (weight)

Price: Suggested retail price of the Synology DS223 is pegged at Php16,799USD 286INR 24,268EUR 273CNY 2,085 (includes local warranty).

Synology offers a 2-year warranty that’s extendable to 4 years with their Extended Warranty Plus.