Synology DS118 vs Synology DS218play Review: Pros and Cons
Synology releases various devices of Network Attached Storage (NAS) to save your multimedia file collections starting from music, movies, videos, images, audio, and so forth. Interestingly, the options are also available in which you can choose it based on the capacity you need. For big sizes, there are two of the products recommended. Here they are.
Synology DS118 Review
Design
The design is quite compact and simple with black matte color. It features dimensions of 8.8×6.5×2.8 inches make it small and practical enough.
Something unique about this series is the design that tends to be thin and taller. Besides, there are some indicator lights to ensure whether the storage has already been in turning on the condition or not.
Features
You may consider it as a kind of high-performance 1-bay NAS once you use it. This product is also intended for home users and small offices. There are some features available in Synology DS118, including the capability of sequential throughput for more than 113 MB/s for reading and 112 MB/s for writing. Meanwhile, it is also equipped with a 64-bit quad-core 1.4GHz processor.
The video transcoding is provided on the fly part along with the capacity of 4K 10-bit H.265. It makes the data transfer more excellent.
The additional features, including the Bulletproof Backup to maintain the data controller as well as secure and reliable solutions for data backup, Personal Multimedia Hub to access Smart TV, Chromecast, and more.
File Sharing and Syncing that supports network sharing protocol, and Smart Security Solution for 24 hours 7 days along with Surveillance Station to deliver the monitoring system and video management tools for streaming and other activities.
>> See the latest pricing for Synology DS118 on Amazon <<
Synology DS118 Pros and Cons
- Good performance with high speed
- High security
- Supporting multimedia devices to stream digital content
- Easy to backup and protect the data from damage and loss
- The capacity is indeed big for home and small office necessity, but it is not enough for bigger needs.
See also: Synology NVR1218 vs Synology NVR216 Review: Pros and Cons
Synology DS218play Review
Design
Although the design, in general, is similar to Synology DS118, there are some differences, particularly in terms of dimension. Yes, Synology DS218 provides a wider body it is 6.5×8.88×3.94 for the dimension and 1.92 for the weight. It is designed simply in black matte and some indicator lights on the front part.
Features
Synology DS218play is categorized as 2-bay NAS for home users for multimedia solutions. It has 4K video transcoding on the fly equipped with 10-bit H.265 codec support. For the speed, it can read and write throughput, respectively, for up to 112 MB/s and 112 MB/s.
Meanwhile, for the encrypted sequential reading throughput and sequential writing throughput, it is available for over 112 MB/s both. The NAS is powered by a 64-bit 1.4 GHz quad-core processor with RAM for 1GB DDR4.
There is also some other feature available in this NAS. First, the Private Cloud offers massive storage capacity to keep the multimedia library.
Second, Bulletproof Backup is functioned to control the data as well as make sure that the data is safe and secured. Third, Personal Multimedia Server is to support some multimedia devices, including Smart TV, Roku Player, Apple TV, Chromecast, and more. Lastly, there are also File Sharing and Syncing, and Smart Security solutions.
>> See the latest pricing for Synology DS218play on Amazon <<
Synology DS218play Pros and Cons
- High speed for high performance
- Good security system for 24/7
- Supporting multimedia devices including Smart TV and Chromecast
- The big capacity for cloud system
- This NAS is intended only for home users, which means that size is still limited and less flexible.
See also: Synology DS118 vs Synology DS216play Review: Pros and Cons
Conclusion
Both Synology DS118 and SynologyDS218 are relatively the same in terms of functions and features. However, Synology DS118 is a little bit faster for sequential throughput. It can be concluded that Synology DS118 is slightly better for performance. For the design, it seems that Synology DS218play looks more straightforward and more practical.