Full review of the BeeStation has been published
At the end of last October, Synology surprised us with a sneak peek into their new upcoming OS, the BSM (BeeStationManager). At that point, we had no idea what was behind that door until a few days later when the PAT file was examined, and information on the upcoming new line of products was revealed.
The initial article on the BSM, the new OS powering the brand-new BeeStation
This week, Synology officially announced a new product from their Bee lineup, the BeeStation!
Presented at CES 2024, the BeeStation will see the light of day on March 6th of this year.
In case you are unfamiliar, be sure to read up on another Bee product that was also introduced in May of 2023, the BeeDrive. While not quite the same as the BeeStation or any NAS models that Synology produces, with the BeeDrive Synology wanted to compete with similar devices from other vendors by elevating the experience beyond the standard USB storage device.
Synology BeeDrive review. A brand new USB-C powered DAS device
Aimed at mainstream users, who want a turn-key solution, the BeeStation will allow them to store, share, and sync files and photos without the need to have any NAS or network experience whatsoever.
:: Specifications
This unit will arrive with an already familiar hardware configuration, running with a Realtek RTD1619B CPU and 1GB of DDR4 RAM. This exact setup is a match to the latest 1-bay unit, the DS124, but the CPU can be found on multiple 2 and 4-bay units as well. This is nothing out of the ordinary, as Synology is known to hold a certain CPU architecture for a long time and drive multiple products with it.
Looks like the said CPU has proven to be stable, affordable, and compatible with all the features the new BeeStation needs to perform. The back of the unit has all the ports including the power button, and there we can see a single 1GbE ethernet port for network connectivity, as well as two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports. Unlike on the NAS lineup, the USB ports here are type A and C, so there is a way to connect various devices. For example, the new BeeDrive is USB-C, so there will be no need to use an adapter if we want to connect it to the new BeeStation as a backup.
The BeeStation (front and back view)
These ports are Gen 1 meaning 5 Gbps maximum speed of transfer. This is half of the BeeDrive speed, but also BeeDrive is running with an NVMe drive as opposed to a mechanical HAT3300 5400 RPM HDD that is inside this device. Expecting more than 240MB/s will be an illusion for a single-drive setup such as this one.
With its physical size of an average lengthy novel and smooth elegant design, the BeeStation will look nice in any setup without occupying too much space.
BeeStation will have a 3-year fixed Synology warranty, and the unit is not a candidate for the Extended Warranty program as the NAS lineup is.
Be sure that a full first-hand review will be available here on March 6th, covering the unboxing, tests, BSM, and everything else that this new product has to offer.
