Synology DiskStation DS223 Review – 2-Bay Home and Small Business NAS Review UK 2026 — Worth It?

Synology has dominated the consumer and prosumer NAS market for years, and the DS223 represents the company's current 2-bay offering — a straightforward, well-engineered unit whose chief selling point is the software it runs.

DiskStation Manager (DSM) is genuinely the best NAS operating system available. It's a browser-based desktop environment with a package centre that installs media servers (Plex, Emby, Synology's own Video Station), backup software, personal cloud sync (Synology Drive), surveillance station for IP cameras, and dozens of other services. For most users, Synology Drive alone justifies the NAS: sync files across all your devices to your local NAS rather than paying cloud subscription fees indefinitely.

The hardware is competent for the use case. The dual-core ARM processor handles simultaneous DSM services, Synology Drive syncing and network transfers without strain. One Gigabit Ethernet port handles typical home and small office file transfer rates. The USB 3.2 Gen 1 port lets you attach an external drive for additional backup or offsite backup scheduling.

For media use, the DS223 will serve local video files to compatible media players and Smart TVs via Plex or DLNA with no issues. 4K playback works well for direct-play capable clients; hardware transcoding is limited on the ARM platform, so 4K transcoding to different formats on the fly is not its strength.

Drive setup is straightforward: insert compatible 3.5" or 2.5" drives, power on, follow the web-based setup wizard. Synology's RAID options include SHR (Synology Hybrid RAID), which offers flexibility for mixing drive sizes while maintaining redundancy.

For anyone wanting a personal cloud, home media library or centralised backup that they control, the DS223 is the right starting point.