I tested the DiskStation DS925+ when it debuted earlier this year, and while I liked the changes to the hardware, Synology's HDD limitation — where it disallowed any WD and Seagate drives from being used in the NAS — ultimately made it a non-starter. The move meant that you couldn't use the best NAS HDDs with the DS925+, and this ultimately hurt the brand, allowing rivals like UGREEN to make considerable inroads.
Thankfully, Synology is making amends now; the brand is rolling out the DiskStation Manager 7.3 update, which removes the HDD limitation. This makes it possible to use WD Red, Seagate IronWolf, and any other NAS HDD with 2025 DiskStation models. The move also means that Synology's latest models are no longer hobbled, and I'm eager to get my hands on the new launches to see how they hold up against their predecessors. The caveat is that the M.2 drive limitation is still in effect, so you can only slot in Synology's SSDs to create storage pools.
