Synology DS218+ vs Synology DS718+: Which should you buy?

The DS218+ is recommended by Synology to be ideal for those who are new to Network Attached Storage and we have no reason to disagree here. It's perfect if you're only just starting out. Where the DS718+ differs is by allowing the use of an expansion unit for an additional five bays. That's 84 TB of storage space, which can come in handy if you plan on storing a lot of data.

It's all in the numbers

Looking at the two NAS models side to side may lead you to believe they're both identical, but that's not the case. Synology hasn't made them too different, which makes the decision making much easier for the consumer. All you need to know is one can make use of a further five bays, while the other cannot.

The pricing has the DS718+ a full $100 more expensive than the DS218+, which makes sense when you consider the use case for each NAS. The latter is a simple unit with two bays — that's all you have to work with. The DS718+ throws in support for an optional expansion unit. The internals are largely the same, only the processor having two more cores in the DS718+, but you shouldn't notice much of a performance bump.

	DS218+	DS718+
CPU	Intel Celeron J3355 Dual-core 2.0GHz	Intel Celeron J3455 Quad-core 1.5GHz
RAM	2 GB Expandable to 6 GB	2 GB Expandable to 6 GB
Bays	2	2
Expansion	-	7
Capacity	24 TB	24 TB + 60 TB
LAN ports	1	2
Weight	1.30 kg	1.74 kg
Power	60 W	65 W
Warranty	2 years	3 years

The addition of one year for the DS718+ with its warranty also makes it worth the additional cost. That said, Synology NAS units are sturdy machines that will last way beyond the warranty period, so it's entirely down to whether you will ever need to add more capacity to your NAS.