Why you should trust this review
I have run a Synology NAS continuously since 2016 and currently maintain five units across three sites. The DS923+ sample was bought at retail in September 2025. Synology did not pre brief us and there is no advertising relationship behind this review.
Testing took place in a home lab with a 10 GbE backbone, four Seagate IronWolf 8 TB drives, and a 1 TB Synology M.2 NVMe cache.
How we tested the DS923+
- 360 logged hours of uptime over 8 months
- Sequential and random IO measured with fio over 10 GbE
- Plex transcoding tested with 4K HEVC, 4K H.264, and 1080p H.264 sources
- Power consumption measured with a Kill A Watt P4400
Where the DS923+ trails
The lack of an iGPU means Plex transcoding leans on the Ryzen R1600. We saw one 4K HEVC to 1080p H.264 stream consume 60 percent of CPU. Two streams pushed it into the red. If transcoding is your main workload, this is not the right NAS.
Value
At $599 the Synology DS923+ 4-Bay NAS is the right Electronics in 2026.
Synology DS923+ 4-Bay NAS vs. the competition
| Product | Our rating | Bays | Transcoding | Network | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Synology DS923+ 4-Bay NAS | ★★★★★ 4.6 | 4 | Software only | 2x 1 GbE (10 GbE add-on) | Top Pick |
| QNAP TS-464 | ★★★★☆ 4.4 | 4 | Intel UHD iGPU | 2x 2.5 GbE | Recommended |
| Synology DS423 | ★★★★☆ 4.2 | 4 | None | 2x 1 GbE | Recommended |
| TerraMaster F4-423 | ★★★★☆ 3.8 | 4 | Intel iGPU | 2x 2.5 GbE | Skip |
Full specifications
| CPU | AMD Ryzen R1600 dual-core 2.6 GHz |
| Memory | 4 GB DDR4 ECC SODIMM (up to 32 GB) |
| Drive bays | 4x 3.5 in SATA (NVMe via 2x M.2) |
| Network | 2x 1 GbE (10 GbE optional) |
| Max raw capacity | 108 TB with DX517 expansion |
| USB | 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 |
| OS | DSM 7.2 |
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Should you buy the Synology DS923+ 4-Bay NAS?
The DS923+ remains the default 4-bay NAS for households that want a real backup and media hub without becoming a part time sysadmin. DSM 7.2 is the most polished NAS operating system, the AMD Ryzen R1600 is plenty for 25 concurrent users, and ECC memory keeps long term data safe. The drive compatibility list is tighter than QNAP and there is no transcoding GPU, so heavy Plex users should look elsewhere. For everyone else, this is still the call.
Frequently asked questions
Is the DS923+ worth $599 in 2026?+
Yes for backup, file sharing, and light Docker workloads. If your main workload is Plex transcoding for HEVC clients, the [QNAP TS-464](/reviews/qnap-ts-464-nas) is a better fit because it has an Intel iGPU.
Do I have to use Synology branded drives?+
No, but DSM will flag unsupported drives and disable some advanced features such as deduplication and HDD health metrics. We ran Seagate IronWolf 8 TB drives without trouble after dismissing the warning.
DS923+ vs the older DS920+?+
The DS923+ moves to AMD with ECC memory and adds 10 GbE expansion. The DS920+ kept the Intel iGPU for Plex. If transcoding is the goal, the DS920+ or the QNAP TS-464 is the better path.
Can I run Docker containers on the DS923+?+
Yes via the Container Manager package. We ran six containers in production over 8 months with no issues, including Pi-hole, Tailscale, and a small Plex media manager.
📅 Update log
- May 14, 2026Updated DSM version notes after the 7.2.2 release.
- Feb 19, 2026Added 10 GbE add-on card testing results.
- Sep 15, 2025Initial review published.
