Synology DS1522+ vs DS1520+: Which NAS is best?

The Synology DiskStation DS1522+ is part of the company’s 2022 lineup of NAS enclosures. It has an AMD Ryzen processor, replacing the Intel Celeron J4125 found in the outgoing DiskStation DS1520+. The five-bay enclosures from Synology are an interesting stop gap between home and enthusiast NAS. Here’s how the old compares against the new.

Looking for the outright best NAS between the two? Go with the Synology DiskStation DS1522+. It has fresher hardware, a newer processor, supports more RAM (and ECC at that), and allows you to install an optional 10Gb LAN adapter. The DiskStation DS1520+ should only be considered if heavily discounted or you need an integrated GPU.

Synology DiskStation DS1522+ is great for storing data

The Synology DiskStation DS1522+ is a brilliant piece of kit. Running the latest version of Synology’s DSM OS, the ADM Ryzen R1600 is still a relative newcomer to the world of NAS. It’s a dual-core CPU with four threads and is capable of boosting higher than the older Intel Celeron J4125.

There’s 8GB of DDR4 RAM preinstalled, the same as the DS1520+, but it supports error-checking (ECC) and can be bumped up to a whopping 32GB. If that wasn’t all, the same M.2 slots are present for installing SSD caching, just in case you needed it.

Another new entry for this NAS is the optional 10Gb networking adapter. This uses a non-standard PCIe connection that prevents you from using an aftermarket 10Gb networking card but does mean you can unlock more bandwidth on the DS1522+.

	Synology DiskStation DS1522+	Synology DiskStation DS1520+
CPU	AMD Ryzen R1600 (2 cores, 2.6GHz)	Intel Celeron J4125 (4 cores, 2.7GHz)
RAM	8GB ECC DDR4 (max 32GB)	8GB DDR4 (max 16GB)
Drive bays	5x (SSD/HDD) 2x M.2 slots	5x (SSD/HDD) 2x M.2 slots
Capacity	100TB	100TB
Expansion support	✅	❎
Cooling	2x 92mm fan	2x 92mm fan
Ports	1x 10Gb LAN (sold separately) 4x 1Gb LAN 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 2x eSATA	4x 1Gb LAN 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 2x eSATA
PCIe slots	❎	❎
Power draw	~52.06W	~36.67W
Dimensions	166 x 230 x 223 mm	166 x 230 x 223 mm
Weight	2.7 kg	2.26 kg
Price	$700	$700

The rest of the specifications between the DS1522+ and DS1520+ are largely the same, including the cooling, dimensions, launch price, and capacity. Interestingly, should you need yet more capacity for storing data, the DS1522+ can be hooked up to two Synology DX517 expansion units.

The DiskStation DS1522+ is an all-around brilliant NAS for storing a lot of data.

Synology DiskStation DS1520+ is the better NAS for Plex

It’s difficult to underestimate just how important the processor is inside a NAS for running a media server. Not all media files can be streamed to every device known to man, which is where transcoding comes into play. This requires the NAS CPU to effectively change the media file on the fly to ensure it’s supported by the recipient device.

The process of transcoding is an intensive task for the CPU and is best suited for a graphics card. Most NAS enclosures don’t have the ability to install a dedicated GPU, which is where integrated graphics come into play. Intel Celeron processors all have integrated GPUs. The same cannot be said for all AMD Ryzen CPUs.

The DiskStation DS1522+ has no GPU. The older DiskStation DS1520+ does indeed have Intel graphics, making it the better choice if you need to transcode media files for streaming. That’s not to say it’s not possible on the DS1522+, it just means the AMD Ryzen R1600 would struggle to transcode and perform other tasks simultaneously.

Mostly everything else between the two NAS enclosures is the same, aside from the optional 10Gb LAN adapter, which is truly a niche for the time being.