It’s been five years since the last time I reviewed a Synology DiskStation, and at the time, the model I had in my lab was the one that currently serves as my personal NAS, the DS920+. For the last month or so, I’ve been using the new DS925+, which was announced earlier in April, a month after Computex 2025, and while it certainly feels familiar, I have some thoughts that seemingly echo a larger concern of the brand as a whole.
What Am I Looking At?
The DS925+ is a four-bay NAS powered by a 4-core AMD Ryzen V1500B CPU running at 2.2GHz. Additionally, it carries 4GB DDR4 RAM, which can be expanded to 32GB, although you will need to use ECC SODIMM memory.
As a NAS, the bays of the DS925+ support both the 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch form factor storage options. Capacity is dependent on the storage you use, but if you’re planning on expanding the storage by more than four bays, you’ll want to pair it up with the DX525 expansion bay.
Oh, it’s even got a USB-C port, which serves as the connecting point between the main NAS and the aforementioned expansion bay.
What’s Good About It?
One of the best things about Synology’s DiskStations is that even when they’re being put to work, they rarely make a din. With a rated noise level of 20.5dB, that’s the sound of custard rustling in the refrigerator.
Beyond that, the only other noise I hear is the booting up of the DS925+, along with the beep that indicates that it is active.
Synology’s DiskStation software is, in my opinion, still one of the more intuitive and easiest to use – the UI is self-explanatory, and setting it up is easy enough, thanks to the step-by-step guide that comes with the NAS. Also, the Synology Hybrid Raid (SHR) options makes life a helluva lot easier for me, but if you’re the old-school kind of person that likes setting up a RAID system, with or without redundancy, you can still do that.
What’s The Catch?
Let’s address the elephant in the room, not so much with the DS925+, but with Synology’s decision as a whole: any NAS from this generation is severely limited by the storage options that Synology deems compatible with accessing many of the features from its software. Let me be clear: You can still use non-approved hard drives to run, but only if you’re migrating your older storage drives from an older DiskStation. However, you will require Synology-only storage options in order for the DS925+ to gain full access to the storage solution’s suite of features, such as the ability to create certain types of storage pools, volume-wide deduplication, lifespan analysis features, and technical support for approved drives.
It also isn’t cheap. Sans any HDD or SSD, the NAS alone has a starting SRP of RM2,800, and some online shops are selling it for as much as RM3,300. And again, to populate the bays, you’re now limited to Synology’s own “branded” storage drives for full access to its suite of software features. Some vendors and online retailers do bundle it with Synology’s storage drive, but not for free.
At that price, Synology should’ve provided 10GbE LAN ports, but instead, we’re stuck with dual 2.5GbE ports. I know some that would argue this point: it’s an excessive feature, given that the average household internet speed is between 300Mbps and 500Mbps, 10GbE would be overkill for something small and personal as the DS925+. But, once again, if I’m going to be paying thousands of ringgit for a NAS, the company should make it a staple.
Should I Buy It?
I’ll admit: in the past, recommending a Synology DiskStation would be an effortless affair, given its track record for functionality and ease of use. Now, I find myself having to advise folks such as yourselves to think twice before purchasing the DS925+ or any other model from this generation, due to the limitations of storage choices, put in place by the brand.
This isn’t me saying that the DS925+ is a poor choice for NAS solutions. Again, it’s easy to set up, the dedicated DSM browser and UI is simple to understand, and navigation is a one-click story.
But by limiting the use of third-party HDDs – ironic, considering that the brand sources its HDDs from long-time partners that include WD and Seagate – the brand is effectively kneecapping itself. Not only that, it also means that, moving forward, anyone considering any of Synology’s storage solutions are going to have to invest in the ecosystem, long-term.
Photography by John Law.
