UPDATE: 20/08/2020 - Today Synology announced their new DS1520+. As I said about a month ago the new model would arrive but there was not info on the exact specs. Well there they are now

DS1520+:

https://global.download.synology.com/download/Document/Hardware/DataSheet/DiskStation/20-year/DS1520+/enu/Synology_DS1520_Plus_Data_Sheet_enu.pdf

DS1520+ specifications

As stated last month the model comes with a new Celeron and not Atom CPU, 8GB RAM and no 10G card or the option to expand. It still has 2 NVMe slots for caching, so all in all looks like a DS1019+ refresh. The added bonus is a second eSATA port compared to DS1019+ so you can add a total of 15 drives. Price tag is $649-$700. Not a bad refresh, but if you already own DS1019+ and have no need for 5 more bays, you migh wanna save your money or wait for the new DS1621+ or DS1621xs+.

UPDATE: 03/08/2020 - While we are still waiting for all the x20 models, here is one x21 model coming out, DS1621xs+! More info here!
UPDATE: 14/07/2020 - Well looks like we will get one more x20 model this year. The new DS1520+ is on it way. Still waiting for the HW specs and a complete data sheet but hopefully we will see those soon. Considering that it will not have 2,5G LAN adapter, but rather 4x1G, no Atom CPU inside it, and no PCI slot (like 1517+) this looks like a refresh of DS1019+. Why? Guess we will have to wait and see.
UPDATE: 09/07/2020 - Synology has just announced today on their German site https://www.synology.com/de-de/company/news news about DS920+ hitting the market. The fun thing is that the date for the news article is dated 23/07 and not 09/07. Does this mean that 23/07 will be the date that 920+ will start to ship in the EU? Maybe.
News post on the German Synology site about presentation of the new DS920+

In case the article gets pulled, here it is:

https://ln.blackvoid.club/gph6P

UPDATE: 18/06/2020 - English versions of new x20+ models are now live on the global Synology site - links posted below. Also, the new models have started to appear on the main site as well.
UPDATE: 29/04/2020 - Synology published the new models on their TW website so it's only a matter of time when they will be on the English global website as well. All the specs are the same and confirmed.
New linup visible on Synology TW web site
UPDATE: 27/04/2020 - Looks like Synology pulled all the documents from their web site regarding these new models due to some incorrect information. I have the old spec sheets so I will add them under the official link until the new official versions will be published

Well if we are to believe the documentation on Synology web site looks like we will be getting more then a few new + models soon.

The four new models will be divided into two two-bay and two four-bay models.
So DS220+, DS720+ will be an upgrade to the existing two-bay devices DS218+ as well as DS718+ and on the other side of the spectrum, we have DS420+ and DS920+, upgrades to the current DS918+.

Specification sheets for each are as follows:

DS220+:

https://global.download.synology.com/download/Document/Hardware/DataSheet/DiskStation/20-year/DS220+/enu/Synology_DS220_Plus_Data_Sheet_enu.pdf

DS220+ specification

DS720+:

https://global.download.synology.com/download/Document/Hardware/DataSheet/DiskStation/20-year/DS720+/enu/Synology_DS720_Plus_Data_Sheet_enu.pdf

DS720+ specification - notice the 2xM.2 NVMe slots in this model as well!

DS420+:

https://global.download.synology.com/download/Document/Hardware/DataSheet/DiskStation/20-year/DS420+/enu/Synology_DS420_Plus_Data_Sheet_enu.pdf

DS420+ specification

DS920+:

https://global.download.synology.com/download/Document/Hardware/DataSheet/DiskStation/20-year/DS920+/enu/Synology_DS920_Plus_Data_Sheet_enu.pdf

DS920+ specifications

Personally, three of these models are no surprise but it was interesting to see that Synology is bringing another 4bay model back on the market, the DS420+. What’s odd about this is the fact that its predecessor, DS415+, is a 6y old device that I thought would never see the light of day after we got a highly popular DS918+.

According to the pictures and stats in the sheets, none of these devices are getting a facelift or any IO ports, but rather an upgrade on their SOC.

The good news here is that Synology will be using some more modern chips in these new NAS units (Q4 2019), rather than staying on the tested and true older architecture. With the Intel fiasco with Apollo Lake, these models are running the new Gemini Lake CPUs. Let’s all hope there are no hidden problems from Intel this time around but I guess time will tell.

CPUs in question are Intel Celeron J4025 (2Core) and J4125 (4Core) and their full specs can be seen here:

J4025:

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/197307/intel-celeron-processor-j4025-4m-cache-up-to-2-90-ghz.html

J4125:

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/197305/intel-celeron-processor-j4125-4m-cache-up-to-2-70-ghz.html

Looking at the specifications of these CPUs I’m sure they will not disappoint but it’s also worth mentioning that even though they use the new DDR4 memory, it’s capacity is again limited to 8GB max. The same was with 918+ CPU and in reality, people were able to get them running with 16GB without any problem. This will be proven again, I’m sure when the models hit the market.

Well, for the past several years users have noticed that NAS units can be a powerful asset to your household or business and with the Docker platform officially running on most Intel-powered plus models, maybe this was the reason to bring more Docker and VMM capable devices to the market. It will be interesting to see how this decision will affect 5 and 6 bay models that Synology has in their x19+ series.

I will be reflecting on these models some more in the future as we get more information but it’s great to see that Corona has not rendered Synology HW operations to the ground. Hopefully, some DSM7 news will come out as well in the coming months.

Are you excited about the new plus lineup? Any particular model in your sights? Let me know in the comments.