SYNOLOGY DS425+

Synology's DS425+ is a fine mid-range NAS with balanced features and a fair turn of speed

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If you're looking for a well-balanced four-bay NAS enclosure with a reasonable set of features, Synology's DiskStation DS425+ should be on your shortlist. While not highly specified when compared to the fastest here, it still has a decent configuration and can certainly tick most of the boxes for advanced home or light business use. We've previously criticised Synology's more affordable enclosures for sticking with 1GbE interfaces, but this new model has both 2.5GbE and 1GbE, giving it a significant speed advantage over earlier models. That said, several competitors now have dual 2.5GbE, dual 5GbE or even 10GbE.

The DS425+ enclosure shares the same Celeron J4125 processor found in the two-bay DS225+, again paired with 2GB of memory. Although you can upgrade to 6GB, doing so involves removing the module it comes with. There are also two USB-A ports rated at 5Gbits/sec. With no HDMI port, the DS425+ isn't ideal as a surveillance station or multimedia centre, although there are apps to let you use it in those roles.