Yesterday in New York City, Synology took the wraps off its latest consumer product, the . Like other popular mesh router systems, Synology’s MR2200ac allows users to fill their home with Wi-Fi in an effort to eliminate the so-called dead zones in coverage.
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Synology just launched its newest prosumer NAS box, the . This 6-bay machine comes with a quad-core 2.1GHz CPU, and 4GB of DDR4 non-ECC memory that can be upgraded to 32GB of ECC RAM.
What makes the DS1618+ particularly special is its expandability — and not just eSATA storage expandability that we usually associate with Synology products. The DS1618+ features a PCIe 3.0 x8 expansion slot that can accommodate either an M.2 card for cache, or a 10GbE NIC for significantly faster throughput. Such an addition makes the DS1618+ ideal for connecting to machines with 10 Gigabit Ethernet, such as the iMac Pro.
There are many reasons why individuals and companies employ the use of NAS boxes. In household environments, they can act like a media server, storing high quality video rips for local streaming. Others, perhaps those in corporate environments, like to use NAS setups as a storage solution for video editing.
But there is another key reason why you might want to consider a NAS, especially in light of Apple’s decision to abandon its AirPort and Time Capsule products — Time Machine backups. In this hands-on video, I show you how I use the DS1618+ as a quiet and reliable Time Machine backup solution.
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I’ve used a Synology NAS to store Final Cut Pro X libraries in the past, but the process wasn’t very straightforward at the time, and performance was never good enough to convince me to use it over the long-term. This was especially true as I started to dabble more in 4K workflows.
As we all know, the iMac Pro features built in 10GbE connectivity, which opens up the possibilities when it comes to using a NAS as a Final Cut Pro X storage solution. Final Cut Pro X also received updates in the last year in order to better facilitate working from network attached storage.
Is a 10GbE NAS a viable storage solution for Final Cut Pro X users?
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Storage space is getting cheaper, whether you're talking about phones or computers. It used to cost astronomical amounts of money to get even 1GB of storage. As storage has become cheaper, files sizes are increasing. A photo taken with the Pixel 2 might be nearly 10MB, and that adds up over time. 4K video? We're talking many gigabytes.That's why many of us have gotten serious about backing up data, and the cloud is only half the equation. You should also have local copies of all your important files, and a network attached storage (NAS) machine is a good way to do it. We've talked about Synology's NAS devices a few times on AP and Rita already reviewed the DS416play. This is a company that takes mobile integration seriously with more than a dozen Android apps that work with its line of DiskStation NAS boxes. That's why we (Ryan, Cody, and Jordan) have been testing the latest generation of DiskStation models to see how they fit into our digital lifestyles. We're overall pretty impressed.
Synology is one of the most well-known makers of NAS boxes, and it has more than a dozen Android apps that plug into these devices. You can add two more apps to the list today with the release of Synology Drive and Synology Moments. They're both free, but they both require Synology packages that aren't available quite yet.
We love Synology's products here, but this latest deal isn't on the company's famous NAS gear but its lesser known routers. Jordan has already reviewed the RT2600ac, one of Synology's two routers, and came away impressed. He called it a beast thanks to its good range, speed, as well as its user-friendly interface and Android app that lets you control priorities and change settings easily from your phone.If you were looking for a router (and you're not swayed by the various mesh options), I'd suggest you check out Jordan's review first and then look at these deals. Both the RT2600ac and its older sibling the RT1900ac are being discounted around $30 on Amazon, Newegg, and B&H. Here are the links to the deals:
This is one of the most difficult reviews I've had to write to date. I've been using the Synology DS416play for several months, yet everytime I sat down to start writing, I felt overwhelmed by what I should and shouldn't discuss and eventually found myself drifting to work on another simpler and more urgent news article. I love detailed reviews, I enjoy delving deep into every single feature a product offers and discussing its benefits and limitations, as evidenced by the lengthy reviews I've written on Android Police over the years. But if I wanted to do the same for this NAS, I knew I'd end up with 10K+ words at the very least without even scratching the surface of many options. A 300-page book wouldn't cover everything I want to talk about with the DS416play, because it's that feature-filled.So naturally, compromises had to be made. I eventually convinced myself that I'd have to selectively choose from the hundreds of screenshots and notes I've taken over the months and tackle the review from a specific point of view: the Android user. After all, we're on Android Police and it makes sense to focus on what the average Android user would get out of having this personal NAS server. The other limitation is a personal one: it's true that I know about nerdy things more than your average Joe, but I have nowhere near the detailed understanding and expertise of an advanced user. I came to this review with zero previous experience with personal servers and no background whatsoever in networks, NAS servers, and connectivity. I don't know the jargon and I am not very interested in learning it unless it's essential for a feature I'm actively setting up or using.With that preamble out in the open, what do I think of the DS416play? In one word: outstanding. If you're thinking about buying a personal server and you're not easily terrified by having to set a couple of things up and research a few acronyms, then the Synology experience should be very approachable to you. The performance is excellent and the options are mind boggling once you start digging deeper. There's a lot here for more advanced users too, though I wouldn't have the slightest idea if the specs satisfy the super-uber-mega demanding users. I'm sure some of our readers can easily point to a couple of specs and scoff saying they wouldn't touch a server with at least quadruple that number and/or with 3 other missing options. But everyone else probably wouldn't complain.
When Synology approached us with an offer to review a new product, I was thrilled. The company is well-known for its NAS (Network Attached Storage) machines, but the item in question turned out to be a router. Now, I know what you're thinking: a router review from Android Police? As some of you may well know, we do not exclusively handle Android-specific products like phones, tablets, etc. Sometimes, we like to provide all of you with our opinions on other accessories and the like to help improve your experience with your Android devices. Get it?A router is a pretty crucial thing to have in your home, especially for your phone (unless you have unlimited data, but still). But there's a lot more involved than simply picking the cheapest or most expensive one — I mean, you have speeds, frequencies, features, firmware, range, and security to consider. Luckily, the RT2600AC by Synology provides some of the best performance in all of those categories without being needlessly expensive.For lack of a better way to say it, this is one hell of a beast. But I don't want to spoil one of the few router reviews to be featured on Android Police, so let's dive in.