Synology’s new DiskStation DS225+ keeps the familiar 2‑bay design of the DS224+ while adding a single 2.5 GbE port. The Intel Celeron J4125 core and 2 GB of soldered memory stay unchanged, but the faster Ethernet gives users a tangible boost for streaming and backup tasks in a home network setting.

The DS225+ sold at $339 on major retailers, about $40 more than the DS224+ launch price. After a brief period of forcing users onto Synology‑branded drives, the company now accepts Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba HDDs without issue, restoring confidence among its core audience for customers.

Internally, the NAS runs on the decade‑old Intel Celeron J4125 processor and ships with only 2 GB of RAM, leaving room for a SO‑DIMM upgrade. Hardware‑accelerated transcoding via Quick Sync is disabled, so media servers like Plex must rely on software decoding unless users add the necessary drivers for smooth operation.

What sets the DS225+ apart is its DSM operating system, offering a rich suite of backup, media, and container tools out of the box. Even with limited memory, Docker containers such as Pi‑hole, Tailscale, and Home Assistant run after a modest 4 GB RAM upgrade. The device remains a solid 2‑bay choice for home use in today's network environment.