Synology DS923+ NAS DiskStation — My Personal Hands-On Review

 Upgrade at last my home server setup, I went with the Synology DS923+ — and I must say, one of the smartest tech buys I've recently made. I've been using it every day for media storage, backups, file access on all devices, and even some simple virtualization. Here's how it served me from installation to everyday use.

Unboxing & First Impressions

Source: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central (Image credit: Source: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)

Straight from the box, the DS923+ exudes a premium, solid, and purpose-built quality. The 4-bay form factor is professional yet compact. The tool-less drive trays made installing my 4x 4TB drives easy as pie — just pop them in and slide the trays back.

It also includes dual 1GbE LAN, two USB 3.2 ports, and an eSATA port, with NVMe SSD caching or expansion through the M.2 slots underneath it being supported. It's kind of clear that this thing was made both for prosumers and enthusiasts.

Setup & Software (DSM 7.2)

Setting it up was highly effortless. I connected it, set up my network connection, and within a few minutes I was navigating Synology's DSM 7.2 web interface through my browser. Synology's OS is by far the most user-friendly NAS software I have ever had the pleasure to use.

I set up using the setup wizard:

RAID type (I chose SHR for flexibility)

User accounts

Network settings

QuickConnect for remote access

DSM is quick, tidy, and comes with a plethora of pre-installed apps: File Station, Synology Drive, Photos, Surveillance Station, Docker, and plenty more. It was like working on a full OS in my browser.

Real-World Performance

Source: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central (Image credit: Source: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)

I experimented with file copying over both 1GbE LAN and Wi-Fi, and I was blown away. Big video files copied steadily at 110–115 MB/s over wired LAN. I also enabled SSD caching, which greatly accelerated response times for frequently accessed files and applications.

Streaming 4K content off the NAS to my smart TV and phone with Plex (docked installed) was seamless. Despite two users streaming and one doing file backups, the DS923+ didn't even bat an eye.

The Ryzen R1600 dual-core CPU with 4GB DDR4 RAM (up to 32GB) handles multi-user access as well as light virtualization without batting an eyelid. I even booted up a small Ubuntu VM in Virtual Machine Manager, and it ran quite well for a NAS.

Backup & Security

Source: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central (Image credit: Source: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)

I set up Synology Hyper Backup on my PC and it worked perfectly. It supports hybrid cloud with macOS Time Machine, Google Drive sync, Dropbox, and OneDrive too.

With 2FA, encryption, user quotas, firewalls, and access logs, it's a security fortress. I also appreciate that there are automatic snapshots with Btrfs — you can roll back to previous versions of your data with a few clicks.

Remote Access & Mobile Apps

Synology QuickConnect is my go-to feature — I can access my files anywhere securely, no port openings and dynamic DNS to worry about.

I tried the DS File, DS Video, and Synology Drive mobile apps on Android — all three work wonderfully for remote browsing, streaming, and file sharing.

What I Loved:

✔️ Rock-solid build quality and snug 4-bay design

✔️ DSM 7.2 is super strong yet super beginner-friendly software

✔️ Excellent performance for file transfer and 4K streaming

✔️ Support for NVMe SSD caching and RAM upgrades

✔️ Fantastic flexibility with apps, virtualization, and Docker

✔️ Remote access is silky smooth and secure

✔️ Quiet — even under heavy loading

What Could Be Improved:

❌ No 2.5GbE or 10GbE out of box — only 1GbE unless you upgrade

❌ NVMe slots are cache only — not storage pools (not yet)

❌ You'll want to add more RAM to be able to take fullest advantage of Docker/VMs

Conclusion

The Synology DS923+ is a power user's NAS monster, home lab, creative professional, and even small business workhorse. If you require media storage, centralized backup, cloud syncing, hosting Docker, or light VM use, this NAS plays all the right chords.

It's reliable, expandable, and backed by Synology's legendary software. If you’re ready to get serious about your data and want a future-proof setup — this is it.

⭐ My Rating: 9.2/10

“Fast, flexible, and easy to use — the DS923+ makes NAS ownership actually enjoyable.”