Side-by-side specifications of the Synology DS115j and DS116, from official datasheets. Differences are highlighted.
| DS115j | DS116 | |
| CPU | Marvell Armada 370 800 MHz | Marvell ARMADA 385 88F6820 1.8GHz |
| Cores / threads | 1 core / 1 thread | 2 cores / 2 threads |
| RAM (base) | 256 MB DDR3 | 1GB DDR3 |
| RAM (max) | 256 MB | 1GB |
| Drive bays | 1 | 1 |
| Expandable to | 0 | 0 |
| M.2 slots | 0 | 0 |
| Network | 1 x Gigabit Ethernet | 1 x Gigabit RJ-45 |
| 10GbE | no | no |
| Max raw capacity | 5 TB | 8TB |
| Hot-swap | no | no |
| Form factor | Desktop | Desktop |
| Released | 2015 | 2016 |
| Power consumption | 14.5 W / 3.85 W | — |
| DSM at launch | — | — |
Pick the DS116 if you want a noticeably faster NAS: it has a 1.8 GHz dual-core CPU and 1 GB RAM max, versus the DS115j’s much weaker 800 MHz single-core CPU and 256 MB RAM. Both are single-bay units with no expansion, no 10GbE, and no M.2, so the DS116’s real advantage is just much better performance for the same basic form factor.