More HDD Compatibility questions

[Enquiries]

As a long time Synology customer, I have purchased several units and wanted to stay with the brand. However, I primarily used WD drives. Once I could see the writing on the wall that Synology was favoring their own drives, I started replacing my WD drives when they had a failure with Synology drives, so I now have a mix of WD and Synology drives. However, my Synology drives are all HAT3300 (and not HAT 3310) which seem to be the ones listed in the compatibility lists provided so far. So my questions are:
1) Will the Synology HAT3300 drives be considered as officially supported by Synology if I upgrade to a newer system.
2) If I decide not to go along with the Synology drive restrictions and go to QNAP for my next system, do you think the Synology HAT3300 that I have would run in the QNAP system since I don't see Synology drives listed on their supported list.

Thanks!

[ed]

Thanks for your message and for sticking with Synology through the years — I completely understand the frustration many users are feeling with the growing push toward vendor-locked drive support.

To answer your questions:

1) Synology HAT3300 drives and future compatibility:
The HAT3300 drives are Synology’s “Plus” series (SMR-free CMR drives) primarily targeted at home and SOHO use. As of now, they are still officially listed as compatible with many current NAS models, including the DS224+, DS423+, and even some of the newer 2025 units like the DS925+. That said, Synology’s track record suggests that future business-class or higher-end models (like XS or enterprise tiers) may start requiring HAT3310 or HAS series drives exclusively. So if you’re upgrading to another Plus-series NAS, you should be fine — but for higher-end models, the support might become more limited or drop entirely.

2) Using Synology HAT3300 drives in a QNAP NAS:
Yes, in almost all cases the Synology HAT3300 drives will work perfectly fine in QNAP NAS systems. QNAP does not block or whitelist drives the same way Synology does. Even if the Synology drives are not on QNAP’s “tested” list, that list is only based on what they’ve officially validated — not a restriction. As long as the drives are standard SATA (which HAT3300 are), they will be recognized and usable in a QNAP NAS. You may just not get smart health monitoring tailored to them like you would with WD or Seagate drives, but functionality-wise, there should be no issue.