Synology Disk Station DS214play

Overview

TechSpot Metascore

Based on 15 expert reviews

Excellent:

10
Good:

4
Average:

1
Bad:

0

7.6

User Score

Based on 712 reviews
as rated by users

Pros:

Strong enough for a home NAS.
Highly efficient CPU.
Fast network transfer speeds.

Cons:

Price is on the high side.
It should be equipped with an HDMI port.

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Last revision on December 15, 2015

Reviewers Liked

Strong enough for a home NAS
Highly efficient CPU
Fast network transfer speeds
Enhanced multimedia/streaming encoding capabilities
Low CPU utilization while streaming 1080p content
Very low power consumption in all operational modes
Intuitive

Reviewers Didn't Like

Price is on the high side
It should be equipped with an HDMI port
Ideally, audio in/out ports
You cannot format an external disk into NTFS
HDD trays are not numbered
RAM is not upgradeable
No front USB 3.0 port

Expert reviews and ratings

Synology's DS214play offers all of the standard NAS functionality (including mobile device access and RAID configuration), plus the company's powerful DSM operating system and the ability to download apps that expand the unit's versatility. But the icing...

By Home Cinema Choice on June 13, 2014

100

The DS214play is the fastest NAS on test, but it isn't merely speed that gains it the Labs Winner award. It's hugely versatile, with excellent media-streaming capabilities and some of the best cloud features we've seen. It's well designed and solidly...

By bit.com.au on May 29, 2014

Looking to store all of your media, files and backups in one accessible place? A network attached storage (NAS) drive is a great option. But what will suit your needs?ADAM TURNER and ANTHONY CARUANA take a look. Linked to cloud storage Single drive;...

By Macworld Australia on May 08, 2014

100

A superb NAS with superfast performance and a huge raft of features, made even better by top-notch cloud capabilities and a reasonable...

By Alphr on January 28, 2014

Streaming media from a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device is not a new concept. This feature has been found in Synology network attached servers for many years. However, those NAS servers can only stream to 720p at best.With theDiskStation DS214play,...

By technogog.com on January 13, 2014

100

This terrific NAS enclosure uses hardware transcoding to help stream all media with...

By Expert Reviews on January 08, 2014

We would like to thank Synology for supplying the review sample. As we see it, most NAS servers will soon have the capabilities to fully replace your media players and HTPCs if you aren't much into gaming (unless they start to equip NAS servers with...

By techPowerUp! on January 08, 2014

Today we are taking a look at the latest NAS system from Synology, the DS214 Play. This unit is optimised for multimedia processing and has been designed to handle high quality images, music and video streaming.The DS214 Play is a media centric two...

By Kitguru.net on December 16, 2013

There is no denying the DS214play is an extremely impressive device. It continues Synology's tradition of smart designs, seamless setups, bags of performance and stacks of functionality. Against it is a price tag which could push well past £500 with a...

By Trusted Reviews on November 29, 2013

All said, the strengths of DSM 5.0 and the well-developed mobile ecosystem combine to create an enjoyable and unique experience for DS214play users once the transcoding limitations are understood.

By AnandTech on May 20, 2014

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