A great NAS for beginners

The latest from Synology 2-bay DS225+ NAS It’s a solid way to get started with network-attached storage systems. It offers a streamlined and simple experience with a fairly affordable price for those who have never used a NAS before.

7/10

Brand

Sinology

UPC

Intel Celeron J4125

Memory

2GB

Drive bays

2

Synology DS225+ is a great storage server for beginners. It has two bays for 3.5-inch hard drives and 2.5 Gb Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet. Designed around Synology’s Disk Station Manager operating system, this NAS offers a simplified experience that anyone will feel at home.

Pros and cons

• Easy to use
• Good read/write speeds even without cache
• Synology’s established app ecosystem
• Solid build quality

• 7 year old processor
• Only 2 GB of RAM in stock and only expands to 6 GB maximum
• No NVMe or M.2 support

Price and availability

The Synology DS225+ 2-Bay NAS is available for purchase at Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H for $340.

Synology continues to make great starter NAS systems

If you’ve never used a NAS before, the DS225+ is one of the best places to start

Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek

I’ve used many NAS systems over the years. From building my own to using pre-made ones, there are a lot of things to like about many of the brands. Synology focuses on one thing and does it well: simplicity.

A Synology NAS is extremely easy to set up and the DS225+ is no exception. From taking it out of the box to having it ready to use was just a few minutes. Of course, erasing the drives and building the RAID array took a while, but that’s not a limitation of the system, just a function of the RAID itself.

Disk Station Manager also remains the easiest NAS operating system to use. Synology has perfected it over the years and it really shows. If I had a family member looking for an entry-level NAS, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend they get the DS225+.

Old Hardware Doesn’t Mean No Power Here

Although I would have liked to see more than 2 GB of RAM.

Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek

Synology is known for being quite stingy in the CPU and RAM department, and the DS225+ is no exception either.

It ships with a 2019-era Intel Celeron J4125 processor. This 4-core, 4-thread CPU is fine for light NAS tasks, but it wouldn’t be my ideal choice for something like a Plex server. The J4125 has Intel UHD Graphics 600, which means that can handle transcoding, but may have problems with newer codecs.

The RAM department of this NAS is also a bit disappointing. For starters, it only comes with 2 GB of RAM. However, the biggest drawback is that it has a maximum of 6 GB of RAM. If you compare the DS225+ to other NAS systems in the price range, about $50 more will get you a Uverde NAS with a much newer Intel N100 processor and 8GB of RAM, although there’s no way to upgrade.

There’s really no reason why Synology should use a 2019-era processor and 2GB of RAM for a NAS in 2026. There are many better options to choose from than a J4125. I really wish Synology had done better in this area.

As much as I wish Synology had used more powerful hardware in this NAS, I will say that it works quite well. The apps I ran on it, such as Synology Drive and moving files, worked fine. I just don’t know how long the NAS will last performance-wise with these measly specs.

No NVMe drive is a bit disappointing

I would like to see some caching capabilities

Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek

I’m a big fan of NVMe caching on a NAS, but the DS225+ doesn’t allow it at all. The only drive bays on this NAS are the two 3.5-inch bays on the front. There’s no SSD support anywhere, which is a bit disappointing.

While that sucks, luckily I was able to see pretty decent transfer rates to the NAS. On a gigabit connection, I saw complete network saturation for both moving files to and from the DS225+. My test file was a 4GB video export of one of my YouTube videos to simulate a real workload of what I would be moving on the NAS.

Actually, it’s not like that need an NVMe drive, but I have more reasons than caching to want NVMe storage. The aforementioned Ugreen NAS, which offers more power and RAM for $50 more than the DS225+, also has two M.2 NVMe slots inside.

Having NVMe on a NAS means you can run local services from faster storage instead of spinning up disks. Things like Plex metadata, Synology Photos, or any other container or app you might run work better when the data is on an SSD instead of a hard drive.

It seems like not including NVMe support is just one more corner that Synology cut in the DS225+. It’s not a necessity, but when other brands include those features without charging much more, it’s something that can easily be could I have done it and I have decided not to do it.

Synology ecosystem remains unmatched

It’s hard to argue with how simple Synology makes its ecosystem to use.

Now, the real reason why people buy a Synology is not because of the power or hardware specifications, but because of the ecosystem and the experience. In those areas, Synology remains unmatched and the DS225+ really shows its expertise.

While I’m a big fan of other companies’ NAS platforms.No one creates an ecosystem better than Synology. There is still no rival for Synology Drive in any modern NAS. If you want a NAS that is a TRUE Google Drive replacement, it’s hard to argue with the value that Synology offers.

I’ve played with NextCloud in the past, as well as a few other Google Drive replacements, and they all require too much maintenance and break too often to be trusted. Synology Drive is reliable, works on all platforms, and uses my own hardware as a replacement for cloud storage, which is the main reason most people buy a NAS in the first place.

Synology Photos is another standout feature here. It acts as a complete replacement for Google Photos or iCloud Photos and just works well. Sure, Immich exists, but Synology Photos is simpler to set up, easier to use, and requires much less maintenance.

Should you buy the Synology DS225+ NAS?

Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek

The Synology ecosystem does a lot of heavy lifting for you. Sinology DS225+. If any other NAS manufacturer had released a system with the DS225+’s specs and hardware features in 2026, it probably wouldn’t be successful at all. But the DS225+ has Synology’s ecosystem, brand recognition, and operating system to lean on, and that’s why this NAS will be a success.

However, if you want to buy a NAS that does it all, the Synology DS225+ is a great option. It may not be the fastest system and it may not have the most hardware features, but the software experience is what seals the deal here, and Synology knows it.

The actual experience of using this NAS is great for beginners and I would definitely recommend it if you want a plug-and-play solution for your home network. At $340, this is the best value 2-bay NAS you can get without encroaching on the $400 mark.

However, if you can spend a little more money and don’t mind setting up a few more services yourself, there are definitely better NAS options out there.

7/10

Brand

Sinology

UPC

Intel Celeron J4125

Memory

2GB

Drive bays

2

Synology DS225+ is a great storage server for beginners. It has two bays for 3.5-inch hard drives and 2.5 Gb Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet. Designed around Synology’s Disk Station Manager operating system, this NAS offers a simplified experience that anyone will feel at home.