Synology Bee Drive Review - the EASIEST NAS to use?

[@thedeejlam]

My immediate thought was 'B: Drive', which transported me back to my 3.25" floppy storage.

[@AJ_UK_LIVE]

I love that Katie has the same Hawaiian style as you :) Good video! I can see my Mum using this once I show her how.

[@HellGoodDoogz]

Haha yeh i was gonna say that too

[@stephensears7483]

Thanks to you and hello to Katie! This device will be perfect for my university design students, who i recommend acquire a portable ssd to back up their space-heavy work. Im surprised the price is in line with other portable ssd drives that do not have Synology’s great software. The Bee goes to the top of the list- especially given the latest round of WD failures.

[@waw4]

The video title grabbed my attention immediately & made me laugh! Also Hi to Katie! Enjoyed being introduced to her!

[@SpaceRexWill]

Haha glad you liked it!

[@rachaelpreston8976]

A completely wireless NAS would be great, free from being plugged into a PC. Photographers would find that extremely powerful, especially if it synchronizes with Synology C2 or a onsite appliance enabling photo editors, etc. immediate access to the images, without requiring a lot time or work from the photographers end. It would open the door to power users and not just the casual user seeking a rather simple and limited device. Hopefully, they will offer that as a future product and correct the image and other issues you mentioned. Personally, my images and files that I need access to on a regular basis are synced with iCloud, making them available on my laptop (when I'm actually using it), and the iPad and iPhone that are always with me. That and much more are synced with a 4tb SSD. I use Beyond Compare for syncing, but there are many other options that will sync manually or automatically, which are not restricted to a 1 or 2 tb SSD. But in the grand scheme of things, I do see the potential of the Bee Drive for a lot of casual users, in fact I will mention it to a few people at work that were asking about backing up their data. Go go redhead power, Katie! 😁

[@philippemiller4740]

Awesome video as always. Your wife and editor seems to be awsome! Seems that a password manager video might be needed and would be appreciated. Especially with different 2FA and moving away from analog passwords. I really enjoyed your into, conclusion and real life test with Katie :-)

[@SpaceRexWill]

Thanks man! Been planning on self hosting bitwarden and after that I should be able to write up well on it!

[@philippemiller4740]

@@SpaceRexWillYeah bitwarden rocks ! Would it be vaultwarden project or self-hosted official bitwarden server? Hoping to see that soon. Keep up the good work :)

[@UncleBuck327]

As of last weekend I no longer trust SSDs for macbook TimeMachine backups. My Synology T7 keeps disconnecting halfway through the backup. Thanks to your video, I'm now in the process of using my Synology for my TimeMachine backups.

[@42DangerVision]

Question: Do the backed up files (the photo backups in particular) report their date as the backup date or the write date the original file? As you pointed out, the unaorted photos are a bit of an issue. Even moreso if the files are all timestamped with the same date when they are backed up... Thanks for making this video. I've been curious to hear your thoughts on the beedrive since it was announced.

[@jeffweidemann927]

Really appreciate you tutorials. I think Synology bailed on the ipad/iphone users as - they are all wrapped up in the iCloud. They give very little thought to their 'world' and apple has automated the thinking for them.... and thus will be wedded the the monthly iCloud (every increasing) fees.

[@rayraman3243]

For a Mac, you can plug in any external drive and it is very easy to turn it into a time machine backup, so, this may not be for Mac users. Thank you for the review for Windows.

[@SpaceRexWill]

I do think there is a lot of value for Mac users, including backing up photos from phones and syncing files between different computers

[@kriswallace7051]

Thinking this may be what i need to send with my daughter to collage with.

[@Subcultured_Outcast]

I’m so glad I watched this video. The beedrive should have a battery, it’s literally an ssd with software.

[@keenly]

interesting, honestly wish synology would just sell me the software, always wanted something like this to get my parents backing up, the best option i've found is onedrive on a microsoft family plan. any one have some other recommendations?

[@coolcat23]

1:30 "You know where your files are". Yes, that's my main problem with the NAS I have. It is perfectly visible and even makes noises, but you know, honestly, I never really know where my files are. Perhaps if I took the new small thing into my hands, I might just know where my files are. This really, honestly, is an advantage worth mentioning.

[@SpaceRexWill]

I can definitely see that for people. With this, even without the Synology software on top you can plug it into any computer and just see the files as they are

[@erwinmalimban2197]

Since it needs desktop connected. Can it use the desktop's hard drives as part of its backup storage?

[@Guttex]

Have feeling that Synology didnt noticed what year it is. Similiar solutions was aviable...around 10 years ago, where you could auto sync/backup files with usb drive. Only way that this device would be usefull in current times, would be if it had WiFi and battery and could connect to local network.

[@richard281150]

Can I use the BeeDrive to sync file on an external HDD rather than my computer HDD?

[@nf737_ak]

Hi sir, can BeeDrive be accessed by USB-C (connected to PC) and Wi-Fi (connected to laptop) "at the same time"?

[@Ghhrjovi]

Does it backup Live Photos? Can I still download the Live Photo from the beedrive and see the Live on the iPhone?

[@sm0ki]

IS there a solution like the one you mention on the market? That my grandpa could plug into his smartphone and it would automatically back up all the photos/videos etc. to an external drive? I've been looking for something like that. He hates cloud backup and the hassle that comes with a manual backup.

[@RaGe_74]

Really wondering if i can connect this drive to my router to see if i can backup my photo's taken with my phone backup on the fly.

[@Petran892]

Isn't there any software where you can just make an auto backup on a regular das

[@be-kind00]

I have a question about the performance of using USB 3 (5 of 10gbps) or thunderbird (USB4) ports for adding a 2.5 of 10g ethernet port adapters. Do they work as well as direct attached Intel constollers on the motherboard or a PCI card? I am thinking of using one of these mini PC's for a pfsense firewall and need 3 ethernet ports and most don't even have 2. Will these USB-Ethernet adapters work well on pfsense or TrueNas? Has Anyone done any videos on this?

[@justinjones9255]

If the bee drive is running on a laptop can I access it via my iPad through the Apple Files app?

[@zeadon]

Its nifty, but for the cost of one of these, you can pay for several years of iCloud (or alternative)

[@macned]

Is there any Beta software for OSX?

[@gerardo.galvan]

is it password protected?

[@rockzors]

Should blur her email when installing the app on her phone

[@SpaceRexWill]

its just her work email (actually published online already)

[@versa319]

I'm not laughing....YOU'RE LAUGHING! I died laughing at the opening of this video. lol. Stop laughing, Will! lol.

[@puck528co]

Your mom? Katie? 😂

[@benji405]

I do really like all your videos but as a woman, I am disappointed that you seem to imply that this drive is so easy to use, even your mum or your wife can figure it out. I’m sure you didn’t intend this but that is how it’s coming across to me. Anyway, thanks for reviewing this as i was also curious what the function of this drive was.

[@SpaceRexWill]

Ah did not mean that. Katie is just not super tech savvy and that’s why I used her

[@giacomorotondi7251]

Enough with these comments, please I beg you, the guy is great with approach and contents.

[@gianluca.biondi]

You are a beautiful girlfriend

[@jorgesousa1199]

Hi SpeceRex, sorry but for the first time i am disappointed with what i saw. This is a DAS not even close to a NAS. No redundancy, do not work without a pc, no external access. It's just an external SSD with some good software, nothing more.

[@SpaceRexWill]

A NAS does not require redundancy, external access, or even a web interface. While this is not a NAS that I would recommend to most Synology users (who understand how to setup a NAS), it still turns the users computer into a NAS in a way that I think most people can really easily figure out

[@jorgesousa1199]

@@SpaceRexWill Sorry but i can't agree. Why the first NAS appeared? Because we all needed a stand alone machine with some power so our pc's could be OFF and the info still available. How this is a NAS if you go out and take with you the BeeDrive? No one can access the files it. This is the first thing we all wanted a NAS. Any PC either Linux, Windows or MAC can be a file server (in your words a NAS). As i said the BeeDrive is not more than a external SSD with a fancy software. I have Synology NAS since they started, around 20 years ago and all have served their purpose, being a NAS and not an external storage. Keep the good work.

[@user-xv1vm5xc1f]

It sounds more complicated. I’m confused if it’s a nas . Or just an external storage / das

[@SpaceRexWill]

So it is somewhere in between. Its basically a DAS that has software to make your computer a NAS from the ‘backup photos’ perspective. It walks an interesting line