Side-by-side specifications of the Synology DS216 and DS216+, from official datasheets. Differences are highlighted.
| DS216 | DS216+ | |
| CPU | null | Intel Celeron N3050/N3060 |
| Cores / threads | null | 2 cores |
| RAM (base) | null | 1GB DDR3 |
| RAM (max) | null | 1GB |
| Drive bays | 2 | 2 |
| Expandable to | 0 | 0 |
| M.2 slots | 0 | 0 |
| Network | 1x 1GbE | 1x 1GbE RJ-45 |
| 10GbE | no | no |
| Max raw capacity | 16TB | 16TB |
| Hot-swap | yes | yes |
| Form factor | desktop | desktop |
| Released | 2016 | 2016 |
Choose the DS216+ if you want noticeably more headroom: it has a much stronger CPU and supports more RAM than the DS216, so it’s better for heavier apps, multitasking, and Plex/transcoding. Both are 2-bay units with no expansion, no 10GbE, and no M.2 support, so the deciding factor is really performance and RAM ceiling, not storage expandability.