Synology DS715 Review

Performance Analysis

There's usually a difference between the usually high throughput of video streaming and dealing with hundreds of small files and that was pretty noticeable with the DS715. It was a monster in the HD playback and record test, recording a transfer speed of 113MB/sec - a long way ahead of the next fastest model, WD's My Cloud EX2100. The same was true for the file copy test and it also topped the chart in the quad stream HD video playback test too.

However, the more demanding photo album and directory transfer tests saw it eclipsed, even by the cheaper DS215j, however the latter was using a different version of Synology's operating system so we can't really make a like for like comparison as we've seen transfer speeds vary quite a bit between versions in the past.


While we couldn't test Plex for video transcoding, we could put the DS715 through its paces using Sysnology's own video server combined with it's DS Video app for iOS. Video transcoding is disabled by default in Video Server but it's easy to get going. CPU usage varied between 30 per cent and 75 per cent depending on the video file it was dealing with but even converting 1080p videos saw the DS715 dish out content happily to an iPhone 6 from a variety of formats so while Plex doesn't work at the moment, the CPU is more than up to the task, at least for dealing with on-the-fly transcoding to a single device.

As per usual the 92mm fan was fairly quiet, although even in quiet mode it was still noticeable when dealing with demanding transcoding tasks. You won't want it in the same room as your TV for example, however it's still one of the quietest NAS enclosures we've heard. Power consumption peaked at 25W and stood at just under 20W at idle.

Conclusion

The DS715 is fast and particularly well-suited to multi-tasking with its quad-core CPU - a feature that has traditionally been limited to its four-bay and larger enclosures. For dealing with media, though, Synology's own specs tables suggest the cheaper DS215+ is just as capable at tasks such as video transcoding, although it too isn't currently compatible with Plex, plus there were a few instances in our graphs where cheaper models were quicker.

The extras you get with the DS715 such as full support and control of Synology's expansion units such as the DX513 and an extra gigabyte of memory, as well well as a quad-core CPU, will set you back another £40 or so over the DS215+. Whether these are worth it will largely depend on your budget and situation but seeing what difference a quad-core CPU can make in the realm on PCs, we'd suggest that the DS715 is probably worth the extra outlay, especially if you'll be dishing out video content regularly.