I tried to replace my Google Photos subscription with Synology BeeStation

© Robin Sabbadini for Lemon Squeezer

2.99 euros per month. That’s the amount I’ve been paying Google for my 200 GB One subscription without fail for several years. An expense that may seem insignificant, but in the long term it still represents 35.88 euros per year. When I discovered Synology’s BeeStation sold for around 270 euros, I was tempted to do without a subscription.

The idea of ​​regaining control of my personal data, no longer depending on a web giant, and building my own cloud ecosystem was a dream. The BeeStation, being a consumer NAS, promised all of this, with its 3.5 TB of storage, the ability to connect other storage systems with its USB A port and its USB C port, as well as its dedicated applications.

Installation: flawless

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First contact with the BeeStation&amp ;nbsp;: the installation And there, Synology is strong. Two cables to connect (power and network), a few clicks in a clear web interface, and off you go. Even for beginners, it's impossible to go wrong. The BeePhotos and BeeFiles applications are just as easy to install on a smartphone.

Mixed performance

The first few days of use quickly revealed the system's limitations. First pitfall: noise. The BeeStation's mechanical hard drive emits a constant scratching noise when accessed, loud enough to be heard over the sound of the television. A detail? Not really when the device is installed in the living room, close to the box because of its Ethernet connection.

But the most annoying thing remains the performance. The initial import of my Google Photos library (about 150 GB) took more than two days. About 10% of the photos I imported were left out due to missing metadata. This had not posed any problem for Google Photos.

© Robin Sabbadini for Presse-citron

In the photo interface accessible in cloud, facial recognition, so precise at Google, here multiplies duplicates and errors. Searching for a simple photo of “cat” can take up to a minute, while Google Photos gives instant results. It is also better to be able to access all the photos, given the limited reading speed of the disk.

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BeePhotos vs Google Photos: An Unbalanced Match

BeePhotos' interface is not bad, but it lags considerably behind Google Photos. Synchronizing photos from the smartphone has glitches and displaying thumbnails takes several seconds each time you change screens. Google also offers rather advanced photo editing, as well as the automatic production of souvenir albums.

Verdict, back to Google Photos

© Google

After this test, I had to face the facts: the BeeStation does not will not replace my Google One subscription. It has its place as an additional backup solution, especially for important files that I rarely access. But for daily photo management, Google Photos remains unbeatable.

It’s not so much a question of price since the BeeStation remains economically interesting in the long term. It’s more a question of comfort of use and features. Google Photos offers such a fluid user experience and such advanced features that the monthly extra cost of 2.99 euros ultimately seems justified.

The BeeStation finds its place

The BeeStation has proven to be an excellent complement to Google Drive, not a replacement. It now serves as an automatic local backup for my photos and important documents. An added layer of security that allows me to sleep soundly, knowing that my memories are stored both in the Google cloud and on my local network.

This is perhaps where the real wisdom lies: not trying at all costs to replace the cloud services of the web giants, but rather to intelligently complement them with local solutions. The BeeStation excels in this role of automated local backup, even if it struggles to convince as a complete alternative to Google Photos.

Our opinion on the Synology BeeStation

If you are looking for a reliable and easy-to-use local backup solution, the BeeStation is an excellent choice. It will be perfect for those who want to automatically back up their important files, have access to their data with a personal cloud and have a large storage solution at a lower cost.

On the other hand, if you’re hoping for a complete replacement for Google Photos or other mainstream cloud services, you may be disappointed. BeeStation is a great backup tool, but it can’t match the power and ease of use of major cloud services.

My advice? Keep your Google One subscription if you’re a heavy photo user, and use BeeStation as a complementary backup solution. That’s where it’s at its best.

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