I liked what Synology did with the BeeStation; it delivered an easier-to-use network storage product that makes it easier for those looking to store photos and documents in a centralized location. WD’s My Cloud catered to this category for close to a decade, so it was good to see Synology coming up with a rival.
The brand showcased the BeeStation Plus with 8TB of storage at the start of the year, and the model is now available globally. You can buy it for $459 on Amazon in the U.S. (with deliveries starting June 10), and it is selling for £386 in the U.K. via the brand’s website. To put things into context, the regular BeeStation with 4TB storage is available for $219, so you’re basically paying double.
What do you get for that price, you ask? The BeeStation Plus has double the amount of storage at 8TB, and the fact that it has an integrated HDD makes it that much more convenient. You get all the same features as the standard model, including an AI-backed photo management, and you get easy file management with the ability to connect to public cloud providers like Google Drive.
That’s not all though, as the BeeStation Plus also comes with a native Plex client. The ability to store TV shows and movies and stream them to all devices on your home network is a huge advantage, and this is a key omission on the regular BeeStation. So if you need a no-frills Plex media server that does the basics, the BeeStation Plus is a strong candidate.
The best part is that as the BeeStation Plus is powered by Intel’s Celeron J4125 platform, you get hardware transcoding as well — something that’s not available on the DiskStation DS923+. The product comes with 4GB of RAM installed as standard, and there’s a single Gigabit Ethernet port alongside the usual USB-C and USB-A connectivity.
I’ll be testing the BeeStation Plus in the coming weeks, but if you’re just interested in a centralized storage solution with integrated Plex and 8TB of storage, this is looking like a pretty good deal.
Synology BeeStation Plus (8TB)
With 8TB of integrated storage and easy management of photos, documents, and the added ability to use it as a Plex media server, the BeeStation Plus is a worthy upgrade to the regular model.
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