Debuting during COMPUTEX 2023, the Synology BeeDrive is the company’s first personal storage solution but in a world filled with external SSDs already, the Synology BeeDrive stands out as a backup system, which marries both hardware and software. Offering an easy-to-use, plug-and-play approach very much rooted in their NAS DNA, Synology offers the BeeDrive as more than just portable storage.
In this review, we’ll take a closer look at the Synology BeeDrive, how it performs and how the companion app takes it further than standard drives. Read on to find out more!
Features & Specification
- PLUG ‘N’ PLAY – Automatic computer backup/syncing every time you plug in your BeeDrive
- INSTANT ACCESSIBILITY – Back up photos and videos from up to 5 iOS & Android devices and see them instantly available on your computer’s File Explorer
- CROSS-PLATFORM – Say goodbye to emailing or messaging files to yourself Wirelessly send files from iOS/Android to your Windows PC using BeeDrop
- DATA OWNERSHIP – All backup files are stored locally in your own BeeDrive with no subscription fees required
- HIGH TRANSFER SPEED – built-in SSD with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) interface
- 3-YEAR WARRANTY
Specification | Details |
---|---|
Capacity | 1 TB (BDS70-1T), 2 TB (BDS70-2T), and 4 TB (BDS70-4T) |
Product dimensions | 2.56″ x 2.56″ x 0.59″ |
Weight | 1.52 oz |
Connector | USB-C |
Interface | USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) |
Speed | Up to 1050MB/s |
System requirements |
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Certifications | RoHS, FCC, CE, BSMI, VCCI, RCM, KC, UKCA, BIS |
Package contents |
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Warranty | 3 years2 |
Closer Look
If you’ve ever had any Synology products, you’d know they like shipping their products in these plain cardboard boxes. Unlike its larger cousins, Synology does put sticker labels on the BeeDrive, perhaps to better woo those are looking to the shelves for their prefered drive.
The packaging itself is minimal, with only a quick bullet list on the sticker to run down the feature.
Inside the package is a simple inclusion of the BeeDrive external SSD itself, a USB Type-C cable and a Type-C to Type-A converter plug.
The Synology BeeDrive is incredibly slim and light. While it has a wider body than the XS1000, it has a smaller overall footprint than Samsung’s T5/T7. It does have a more bulbous body and overall, it looks more like a wireless charger or powerbank than a portable SSD.
The BeeDrive connects directly to your device via the USB cable and supports most systems. While it will work as a regular storage device, Linux does not have a BeeDrive companion app version available.
If you purchase from Synology Philippines online stores (Lazada or Shopee) it will come with an official carry case. Outside of their official store, availability of the case may vary so please check with your dealer.
Software
Synology offers a companion app for the BeeDrive both for mobile and PC/Mac. We’re only showing the PC and Android version below but you can check out the other versions on the official site.
While standalone, the Synology BeeDrive is usable is it is, its core strength lies within the fact is that its prime functionality is heavily tied to the app and Synology’s app will only work with the Synology BeeDrive portable drive. While this exclusivity may be a bit restrictive, take note that Synology is a hardware vendor, and their NAS drives are also similarly designed to primarily operate with both their products’ strength along witht software feature.
In the case of the Synology beeDrive app, we can backup, backup to and from mobile as well as sync with the drive. A wizard greets us in both app installation making it known upfront what to do and how to set it up. This is great for new users or non-techy folks who don’t want to bother knowing which is which.
Desktop App
Mobile App
User Experience & Conclusion
The Synology BeeDrive is priced at PHP8,999 for 1TB and PHp14,799 for the 2TB version and I have to say it out now, this is a very premium price point for just storage. If you’re after just storage, there is a wide range of alternative at half the price from very popular brands but as already mentioned, Synology’s NAS pedigree means they are also selling the BeeDrive with the promise that its software will also be maintained.
We’ll talk about that later, first let’s a look at the performance of the Synology Beedrive. Synology’s a bit mum on the technical details and I don’t want to crack open the case on this unit as the housing is very much sealed in.
This is a very surprising result as most drives will usually drop to SATA speeds or lower after draining their cache buffer but as you can see, the Synology BeeDrive maintains its 800MB/s write speed despite writing 1GB straight to cover the full drive space. That’s 1TB written with barely any drop in speed throughout. Synology perhaps know their potential use case and has prepared beforehand customizing a drive configuration that either has a very fast cache or a very large one. Either way, this drive can endure a lot of write action without tanking in speed meaning you’re getting full speed in most usage situations.
That excellent write speed is again put on display in our small file write test via Crystal DiskMark. While sequential performance is also top billing, other 10Gbps USB3.2 Gen2 drives are able to keep up in sequential but the Synology BeeDrive outpaces them in pure write.
That said, we can see why Synology has put a premium on their BeeDrive as not only does have a software that can make sure you’re backed up, its going to make sure it copies those backups as fast as it can onto itself as its sutained write speeds shows us we’re dealing a NAS-grade storage drive capable of absorbing some large write loads.
In layman’s terms, say you have a Synology BeeDrive and you go out of town for a few days. You take photos…. a lot of photos, for example 200GB worth of photos. You go back to your hotel and you want to save your photos. With Synology BeeDrive, you can just plug in your BeeDrive and if configured correctly, its going to backup all those photos with no questions asked.
Couple that with the ease of use and intuitive design of the app and this is a quick and easy way for those that don’t want to dive thru folders into their Androids or iPhones and find that DCIM or camera folder then scroll down a whole lot. Standard backup exists for those that do work on their laptop or PC and sync makes sure you have it onhand on both device and BeeDrive.
It definitely sounds like a niche case product but having asked someone to choose backup up their 1TB iPhones to a NAS or the BeeDrive, the BeeDrive won hands down.
With that being said, it does have a premium price but more than makes up for it in details that will often get overlooked if one is only looking at outright throughput. The Synology BeeDrive is great personal backup solution for device owners that want hassle-free backup without needing to ask Google or Reddit or ChatGPT what’s the best backup software only to end up getting lost in the pile of outdated or untested recommendations.
Synology still needs to find a way to offer more competitive pricing for their storage products as unlike their NAS, a 2TB BeeDrive is already the price of a 2-bay starter NAS without the drive and that’s still a sore point since they released their first drive.
The Synology BeeDrive is available now the official Synology store at Lazada and Shopee with both a 1TB and 2TB capacity options. Receive a free BeeDrive carry case if you purchase from the official stores. The Synology BeeDrive is also available via Synology authorized dealers.
Synology backs the BeeDrive with a 3-year warranty. I give my B2G Silver Award!