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The Synology Beedrive (starts at $ 99.99; $ 169.99 for 2 TB as tested) is an external station station on a mission. At a glance, the Beedrive looks like a number of other very portable external SSDs, but in combination with the Synology Beedrive software, you can back up your computer or mobile device and synchronization between devices between devices. Our extensive performance tests show that Beedrive is not fast for general SSD storage, making it best like a special back -up hub. If you need a faster external SSD of general purposes, you want to view the editors choice Crucial X9 Pro.
Design: On the surface, a typical ultra -portable external SSD
The Synology, based in Taiwan, has made the name of its name Multi-Bay Network Connected storage (NAS) devices, usually Raid-Arrays such as the choice of the Editors’ choice-winning Synology DiskStation DS1522+. The Beedrive and the simultaneously released synology celebration are simplified outgrowth of that ethos, designed as personal devices that are alternatives for subscription -based cloud storage. The Beestation Desktop unit contains a single 4TB synology -hard disk, while the much smaller Beedrive offers the portability that the Beestation and NAS solutions lack.
The completely black birthrive has a stylish look with a square frame, carefully bending top and sides and rounded corners. A status light is up in a corner. The Beedrive measures 0.6 by 2.6 by 2.6 inches (HWD) and weighs only 1.5 grams. The synology logo is printed at the top and the drive information and certifications are at the bottom.
One robustness function Synological notes is that the Beedrive is insensitive to drop up to 2 meters (6 feet, 7 inches) on a concrete floor of floor covering. The Drive lacks native coding, although Windows users can end the Beedrive with BitLocker. A USB-C port is located in the middle from one side; The Beedrive has a USB 3.2 Gen 2 -interface with a maximum nominal transfer speed of 1,050 Mbps.
Synology sells the Beedrive in three capacities, ranging from 1 TB to 4TB. Some SSD makers add an extra premium for their units with the highest capacity; It is good that with the Beedrive, the higher its capacity, the lower are costs per gigabyte.
Using the Beedrive: Back-up, Synchronization and transfer options in abundance
In a pinch, the Beedrive – which is formed in advance in Exfat for compatibility with Windows, MacOS, Linux, iPados and iOS – can be used as a normal external SSD by easily connecting it to the USB port of a device. (The Beedrive comes with a USB-CCT-USB-C cable and a CTA adapter.) However, this does not use this SSD to its best advantage. With the installation of Synology’s Beedrive software and setting a free synological account, the drive turns into slightly more than an SSD: your personal back -up hub.
With BEEDRIVE for desktop software installed on your Windows or Mac computer, you can make a backup of data by selecting computerback -up and then choosing items from a standard list (desktop, documents, music, photos and video) or creating an adapted selection of individual folders. After the first setup, the backup automatically starts when you connect your Beedrive. You can retain a maximum of five different versions of each file and files that have been removed from your computer are stored in the archived files folder of Beedrive for easy recovery.
With the file sync function you can synchronize selected folders between two machines (for example your home and office computer). The mobile transfer function unveils a QR code with which you can link your iOS or Android device (with the installed and opening of the Beedrive app) to cause desktop and backup of photos via Wi-Fi, with the option for iPhones to save apple. In this way you can make a backup of photos of a maximum of five mobile devices.
You can also transfer selected photos or videos from a mobile device to the Beedrive using the Beedrop function of the app, or even Beedrop photos directly from the camera while they are recorded. In addition, you can use the Beedrive to back up photos of your iCloud storage, SD cards and other external discs.
The Beedrive offers a compelling range of back -up and synchronization alternatives for users who want to avoid a cloud subscription or in addition. My only quality in working with the Beedrive is that it can take a long time to make a large photo library in the first instance, such as the one on my iPhone; The use of the targeted back -up function, which keeps the Beedrive app in the foreground, seemed to accelerate the process.
A grill is that when I initially installed the Beedrive software and tried to set a synological account, I couldn’t do that; It seemed to be a problem with Cloudflare authentication. (I could not convince me that I was not a robot, and it would start me when I checked that box.) I used my editor’s synology account up to a few days later, when I tried to set my own account again. Suddenly I was successful.
Synology supports the Beedrive with a three -year warranty. Although that is a common length, many SSD manufacturers guarantee their external disks for five years.
Testing the Beedrive: a relatively slow SSD
We test external SSDs using PC labs’ Windows 10 Storage Test Bed, a desktop built on an Asus Prime X299 Deluxe motherboard with an Intel Core i9-10980xe Extreme Edition CPU housed in a Silverstone case. The system has clocked 48 GB DDR4 Corsair Dominator RAM to 3,600 MHz and an Nvidia GeForce Discrete Graphics Card. We use the 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 -port of the motherboard for testing compatible discs such as the Beedrive; For Gen 2×2 discs we test using a 2×2 port added via an ORICO PCIE expansion card.
We have placed the Beedrive through our usual external State Drive-Benchmark suite, including Crystal Diskmark 6.0, PCmark 10-storage, 3DMark storage, Blackmagic’s Disc speed test and our folder transfer test. The first three are performed on the test bed PC with the Drive Formatting in NTFS, and the last two on an Apple MacBook Pro with the drive in his Native Exfat layout. The sequential speed tests of Crystal Diskmark offer a traditional measure for drive transit, whereby the best, linear transfers of large files simulate. The PCmark 10 -storage test measures the willingness of an SSD for a wide range of daily tasks and produces an aggregated score. Likewise, 3DMark storage collects the results of a number of gaming-related tasks.
The Beedrive was performed as expected for a USB 3.2 Gen 2 External SSD on the Crystal Diskmark transit tests, the BlackMagic Mac-based disk speed test and our MAP copy test. But the score of the Beedrive on PCmark 10 storage was anything but buzzworthy. This was also the case with the gaming-centric 3DMark-storage benchmark.
If you only use the Beedrive for backup and file transfer, these deficits are disputed, but they limit the usefulness of the SSD as a general disk.
Judgment: a slow but user-friendly backup hub
A simple but effective backup solution-based backup solution is an attractive idea, so much that I was disappointed when I could not make a synological account in the beginning, because I am considering buying a Beedrive in the back of my mind if it realized his invoicing. (In addition to the work computer on which I write this review, I have three home computers, two tablets and a smartphone.) Apart from the Snafu account creation, nothing in my tests has deterred me from this idea. I have many external SSDs, so if I were to buy a Beedrive, I would like to use it as a special back -up hub.
Users with heavy back -up needs may want to opt for the animal or one of the desktop -nas -rigs who sell synology and other manufacturers, although they miss the easy portability of the Beedrive.
The Beedrive has the transfer speed to support back -ups and transfers of File, but it is slow in performing general storage tasks and has no native coding. The crucial X9 Pro, the choice of our editors’ choice Gen 2 external SSD, did much better in the PCMark 10 and 3DMark-storage benchmarks and contains AES 256-bit hardware-based coding. It also costs considerably less than the Beedrive on its 2 TB and 4TB capacities, and it has a full five-year warranty. That said, it does not have the multiple backup options that the Beedrive offers.
