Synology refresh - what are they aim for?

[Sonic]

If have just seen some news about the a big refresh of the Synology line up. (We can discuss about how big big is 🙂).
https://nascompares.com/2025/03/13/synology-ds525-ds1525-ds425-ds1825-and-more-revealed/

To be honest, I think it is in general not a exciting refresh. Synology was always more famous for the software as for the hardware. But introducing 2,5gbe in 2025 is already odd, they seem to sacrafice the 10 gbe upgrade option (TBC). This looks really strange to me. And the CPU upgrade is also not a major step. It looks like they are still pretty confident and not afraid for competition.

I see a lot of new NAS vendors entering the market with great hardware specs. And there is also great NAS software available. Of course HexOs is not there yet, but looks very promissing. But e.g. a brand as Ugreen in also investing heavely in the software. I had expect a stonger answer of Synology, but perhaps they are not so interested in home / SoHo space anymore.

What do you think? Looking forward to hear your opinion.
 

[PsychoWards]

I have to thank Synology for their current line-up, since without them I wouldn't be here. I have an old DS412+ which I was looking to replace a couple of months ago with a new Synology model. However their line up was so bad, that I decided to go down the custom NAS route, which eventually made me end up here. And I do know from other people which are now looking for alternatives because Synology just doesn't offer what they want.

 

So, yes I agree, it's definitely not an exciting refresh and some people might be disappointed, just as I was and switch to another solution, maybe this makes someone else switch to Hexos. I do think that it's an exciting time for NAS in general and this line up only helps to push some people over the edge and start looking for alternatives.

[kysian]

Same here. Especially with the news of them limiting storage to only their own rebranded ones or 3rd-party certified drives which has not been updated in years. Seeing their path forward has convinced me to jump ship and when my Synology NAS is running long in the tooth, I hope HexOS will be ready for primetime for my transition, with my pick of much better hardware to boot.

[Mawson]

Synology was the first topic on WAN last night:

 

 

[Sonic]

This reviewof Linus is spot on.

 

The reviews of Wundertech is also pretty clear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBNxWyQhQbY

 

[Sonic]

And ServerTheHome, quote:
Synology Lost the Plot with Hard Drive Locking Move

https://www.servethehome.com/synology-lost-the-plot-with-hard-drive-locking-move/

It's really a pitty, but it seems Synology don't want to have consumers as customers