Synology is most attention-grabbing identified for its enviornment of interest network storage devices that automatically accumulate it to our list of popular NAS enclosures made for both work and play. But it absolutely ventured into internal onerous drives now not too prolonged ago to present its clients a whole equipment in-residence, and now, the company is rising its drive choices to transportable exterior SSDs. The main machine to be a part of its roster is the Synology BeeDrive.
The BeeDrive isn’t just appropriate yet any other transportable SSD — it is a natty SSD that can attain plenty extra than just appropriate store your data. When paired with its accomplice app to your computer, this Synology SSD can abet you wirelessly switch recordsdata to the drive and even doubtlessly exchange Google Drive’s desktop app. Whereas the BeeDrive appears to be like rather succesful on paper, we are in a position to search out out if all its highlighting machine aspects account for the rather elevated asking label.
Synology BeeDrive
With the Synology Drive, you doubtlessly can automate a lot of backup initiatives so that your folders in your computer and the drive live in sync the whole time. The exhaust of the BeeDrive app for smartphones and BeeDrop, backing up pictures and recordsdata from your phones is moreover a plod. Nonetheless, the drive’s reliance on a computer for all its natty aspects and the lack of a Mac app currently are what build it reduction.
- Capability
- 1TB/2TB
- Tempo
- As much as 1050MB/s
- Connection
- USB 3.2 Gen 2 Form-C
- Portable
- Sure
- Guarantee
- 3 years
Mavens
- Compact and simple to build spherical
- Decent machine performance
- Wi-fi photo backups from your telephone
- Uncomplicated setup direction of
- Snappy wired and wi-fi transfers
Cons
- No file encryption
- Easy aspects need a computer to work
- Ineffective drop protection
- No Mac app (for now)
Designate and availability
The Synology BeeDrive is on hand in two storage sizes — 1TB and 2TB, which you doubtlessly can accumulate for $120 and $200, respectively, from Synology’s legitimate gross sales channels, along side Amazon. These prices are a tad elevated than other transportable SSDs from Samsung or SanDisk, however the BeeDrive has many strengths over its non-natty counterparts.
The characteristic-neatly to place machine bundled with the Synology SSD does account for the payment to a stage, despite the indisputable reality that the drive however remains a rather costly alternative if all you wish is a straightforward SSD to store your data.
Invent, hardware, and what’s within the sphere
No longer like extinct spinning drives, exterior SSDs are somewhat compact, making them perfect for traveling with colossal quantities of data, and the BeeDrive isn’t any different. It’s light and itsy-bitsy ample to with out wretchedness fit within the palm of your hand, ensuing from its plastic shell and its squircle puck shape. It’s somewhat skinny as neatly, so slipping it even into your denims pocket gained’t be a project.
One of its corners has a white LED light with different blinking patterns to level if a switch is in progress or when there is a project with the drive. The handiest port on the drive is a USB Form-C port that you just’ll exhaust for data transfers. Enact undergo in mind that Synology has incorporated questionable two-meter drop protection (“tested on a carpeted concrete floor”), with no IP ranking to talk of.
All thru my evaluate direction of, I unintentionally dropped the BeeDrive from a height of about two toes, and its casing spread out somewhat along the seam, despite the indisputable reality that the information on the drive wasn’t impacted in any skill. So accumulate sure to reduction it safe.
All thru the sphere, you might perchance perchance secure the drive itself, along side a USB-C to USB-C cable that supports stout USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds, along side a USB-A adapter — with a lock that firmly fixes it to the equipped cable — for connecting it with older laptops that don’t bear a USB-C port.
Utility and performance
The Synology BeeDrive is a dash-and-play storage machine that you just doubtlessly can begin up utilizing lawful out of the sphere. But its several unfamiliar aspects are what accumulate it smarter than most other transportable SSDs within the marketplace lawful now.
Equivalent to the Google Drive app for desktop, the BeeDrive can reduction up your computer folders automatically, and Synology has moreover incorporated a nifty skill to wirelessly reduction up your pictures — and even recordsdata — from your telephone to the drive.
Nonetheless, to attain all those treasure issues, the drive relies totally in your computer’s Wi-Fi connection and its accomplice app, which is currently on hand handiest for Dwelling windows. The corporate tells us that a Mac app could perchance perchance also silent be out by one year-discontinue. For the time being, Mac users can continue to make exhaust of the BeeDrive as a fashioned transportable drive sans the app-enabled capabilities.
An installer file for Dwelling windows comes incorporated within the drive storage; you doubtlessly can exhaust it to install the app in your PC. All thru the initial setup direction of, the app will quiz you to stamp in to your (or bear a brand current) Synology sage. Here’s required for the drive’s rotten-machine linked aspects. Synology has assured me that your data handiest travels in your native Wi-Fi network and no data or even metadata reaches its servers, excluding to your IP handle, which is extinct for QuickConnect pairing.
In step with about a of the most attention-grabbing exterior SSDs, the BeeDrive supports switch hurries up to 1050MB/s. In our checking out, the sequential learn speeds did provoke us by reaching that make a selection when linked to a USB-C port on our Dwelling windows machine. Nonetheless, on streak dawdle take a look at apps for Mac, the speeds hovered spherical 700MB/s, which is silent somewhat rapidly for working straight off of the drive. These switch speeds rely on a lot of factors, from the file dimension to the USB form in your computer, so your right-world mileage could perchance perchance also fluctuate.
But that’s now not what you’ll accumulate the BeeDrive for — its Dwelling windows app is the highlighting characteristic right here. With Computer Backup, Synology wants to interchange the Google Drive app for PC, permitting you to automatically reduction up changes between chosen folders in your computer and this drive. Any alternate you accumulate to the recordsdata appears to be like all of the sudden on the BeeDrive, making it a to hand machine for safekeeping your recordsdata on an exterior drive. It keeps five archival copies of your recordsdata so that retrieving an older version is that you just doubtlessly can imagine in case one thing goes south, despite the indisputable reality that it could perhaps perchance perchance also employ up about a of the storage residence reckoning on the file form.
File Sync moreover works equally however is designed to sync recordsdata and folders between two computers. This characteristic could perchance perchance also silent come in in to hand whenever you in general change between computers and wish your whole recordsdata to build in sync throughout both PCs. Whereas I didn’t bear a 2d Dwelling windows machine to entirely take a look at out the sync characteristic, I realized that that one-skill sync from the computer to the drive took a pretty prolonged time.
What I treasure the most referring to the BeeDrive is its chance to reduction up pictures from your telephone wirelessly. The exhaust of the BeeDrive app to your smartphone, you doubtlessly can place up the drive to keep a duplicate of your pictures in stout decision.
These backups happen like a flash — it took lower than 5 minutes to reduction up 260 pictures amounting to somewhat over 1GB — despite the indisputable reality that you just’ll bear to accumulate streak the BeeDrive app is open in your telephone to begin up the strategy. Whereas Synology NAS enclosures accumulate for implausible Google Photos selections, the BeeDrive appears to be like to be a miles extra realistic chance if taking photo backups is your priority.
iPhone users accumulate an further chance to automatically convert their HEIF pictures to jpegs for better rotten-machine compatibility. What’s extra, Synology has incorporated an AirDrop-inspired characteristic called BeeDrop that enables you to swiftly send any form of file to the drive from your telephone.
It the truth is works reliably neatly and opens the File Explorer in your PC as soon as the switch is whole. The handiest main blueprint back of the cellular app is that you just can not even seek for let alone access the recordsdata stored on the drive wirelessly from your telephone, which is a gigantic miss.
What’s extra troubling is the indisputable reality that the drive needs to be linked to a computer with its accomplice app running for the whole backup and switch aspects to work. That’s because the drive doesn’t bear a mind of its bear and relies in your PC’s network to jog recordsdata.
It gained’t be a project if the BeeDrive can build linked to your computer all day. But for those seeking to search out occasional photo backups from their telephone, they’ll bear to first hook the drive to a computer. When when put next, WD’s now discontinued My Passport Wi-fi Professional modified into bulkier however had a Wi-Fi card and a battery constructed-in for simpler wi-fi transfers.
Competition
T
he two most popular exterior SSDs within the marketplace lawful now are the Samsung T7 and the SanDisk Uncouth. In phrases of per GB payment, these selections offer a considerably better payment than the Synology BeeDrive. You should perchance perchance also make a selection a transportable 1TB SSD from either ticket for as tiny as $70, that will moreover accumulate you file encryption and even a rugged accumulate for better drop protection (Samsung has a separate rugged variant).
The keep the BeeDrive shines is its machine capabilities. Being ready to reduction up your pictures in new quality ought to you’ve bustle out of Google Photos residence will in all probability be a boon for many. The indisputable reality that Synology isn’t charging a month-to-month payment for its aspects moreover works in its want, despite the indisputable reality that we hope that the company provides a file encryption chance as many exterior drives attain sooner somewhat than later.
Would perhaps silent you buy it?
Extra than its hardware, Synology is identified for its very just appropriate machine — we’ve viewed that Synology Drive can with out wretchedness exchange Google Drive. The newly launched BeeDrive has inherited about a of those traits with accompanying machine that does plenty extra than a extinct transportable SSD. It could perhaps automate folder backups and even assist your household pictures and videos in a safe pronounce with out paying a routine month-to-month payment.
If all these natty aspects strike your treasure, the Synology BeeDrive could perchance perchance be perfect for you, despite its somewhat excessive asking label. The drive pays for itself within the prolonged bustle if the computer backup and file syncing aspects can toughen your workflow when switching between your work and residence laptops.
The handiest well-known issues maintaining the BeeDrive reduction are its lack of a Mac app, no constructed-in file encryption, and that it needs to be twisted to a PC for wi-fi transfers. Whereas Synology can fix the main two downsides, the BeeDrive is designed to rely on a computer for its natty aspects, one thing the company can not alternate — now not lower than within the present iteration. Mavens who employ a worthy period of time on their work machines will silent secure it easy, however the strategy will in all probability be severely cumbersome for folk who are occupied with the BeeDrive for every so frequently backing up their pictures.
Synology BeeDrive
The Synology BeeDrive will in all probability be your perfect buddy for backing up main recordsdata automatically and maintaining folders in sync between your work and residence laptops. The photo backup characteristic is an added bonus that can keep you from spending a month-to-month payment on Google Photos storage.
