ASUSTOR AS6604T Review
The ASUSTOR AS6604T is a four drive NAS positioned for households and small workspaces where storage is no longer an occasional backup task but a recurring part of daily computing. Its strongest buying case is the user who wants four drive capacity while also expecting the NAS to handle repeated file transfers, media organization, and multiple connected devices without being treated as a basic archive box. The decision is therefore about choosing a more performance oriented four bay platform instead of buying a smaller NAS now and replacing it when storage activity becomes more demanding.
Who Should Buy
- People who repeatedly move large photo, video, and project folders between several computers and shared storage.
- Users who maintain a growing home media archive and access it from multiple devices throughout the week.
- Households that want four drive capacity while expecting the NAS to remain an active part of everyday computing.
- Small workgroups that need centralized storage for recurring file sharing without moving immediately to enterprise storage equipment.
Who Should Avoid
- Users who only perform occasional computer backups and rarely access shared files.
- Buyers whose storage requirement is small enough that two drives will remain sufficient for years.
- People who primarily want a simple archive and have no intention of running an active household or workspace storage routine.
- Buyers who expect to turn the NAS into a much larger storage platform and would prefer starting with a newer four or six drive generation.
Unique Buyer Trigger
The strongest purchase trigger is the moment when a two drive NAS or collection of external drives starts becoming inconvenient because several devices are accessing the same files every day. The buyer is no longer simply asking how much storage is available. They need a four drive system that can become the central location for active files, media, and backups. The AS6604T fits the buyer who has reached that transition and wants more room without jumping directly into a larger professional enclosure.
What Makes This Model Different
The AS6604T occupies a performance focused four bay position for buyers whose NAS is part of an active daily workflow. Its key distinction is not simply that it has four drive bays. It is aimed at the buyer who expects centralized storage to be used repeatedly by computers and media devices.
Why not the AS1004T V2? That model makes more sense when four drive capacity is the main requirement and the owner wants a simpler entry position. Why not a larger ASUSTOR model? The AS6604T makes more sense when four bays are enough and the buyer does not want to pay for capacity beyond the intended storage plan.
Why Buy This Model Instead of Others
The AS6604T makes sense when a four drive enclosure needs to serve as active shared storage rather than merely as a backup destination. The buyer is paying attention to how the NAS behaves during recurring file transfers, media access, and multi device use.
Compared with the AS1004T V2, the AS6604T is the better decision for someone whose storage workload has become an everyday activity rather than a periodic backup job. The AS1004T V2 remains the more logical choice when the main objective is simply establishing four drive storage at a lower product tier.
Compared with a newer higher capacity ASUSTOR model, the AS6604T is easier to justify when four drives are enough for the foreseeable storage plan. Moving up only makes sense if additional bays or a longer expansion path is part of the actual requirement.
Against the Synology DS920 plus, the decision becomes a choice between product ecosystems and workload priorities. A buyer committed to Synology may prefer its platform, while someone who specifically wants the ASUSTOR approach and a four bay system for active home or small workspace storage has a more direct reason to choose the AS6604T.
Biggest Strength
Its biggest strength is its ability to occupy the middle ground between basic four drive storage and a substantially larger NAS platform. For a buyer whose home or small workspace has reached frequent shared storage use, four bays provide a practical capacity boundary without requiring an unnecessarily large enclosure.
Biggest Weakness
Its biggest weakness is its age compared with newer NAS options. A buyer starting fresh today may find that a newer model offers a more attractive long term ownership proposition. The limitation becomes more important for someone who expects the NAS to remain a technology platform for many years rather than primarily serving the storage needs that exist today.
Position In Product Line
- Upper model: Larger and newer ASUSTOR systems, for buyers who expect substantially greater storage growth or more demanding workloads.
- Lower model: AS1004T V2, for buyers who want four bays primarily for capacity and straightforward household storage.
- Same tier alternative: Synology DS920 plus, for buyers who want a competing four bay platform and prefer a different NAS software ecosystem.
Ideal Use Cases
- Moving large video and photo folders between a workstation and shared NAS storage every week in a home office.
- Maintaining a four drive family media archive while several televisions and computers repeatedly access the collection.
- Keeping active project files in centralized storage while multiple computers perform regular backup and file management tasks.
- Replacing several independent external drives with one four drive system used as the household’s recurring storage destination.
Better Alternatives
- Choose the ASUSTOR AS1004T V2 if your main goal is four drive capacity and your NAS activity is mostly backup and basic file sharing.
- Choose a newer higher capacity ASUSTOR model if you already know that four drives will not be enough for your long term storage plan.
- Choose a two bay ASUSTOR model if your current storage behavior does not justify four drives and you value a smaller footprint.
- Choose the Synology DS920 plus if your purchase decision is primarily about choosing the Synology ecosystem rather than the ASUSTOR product line.
- Choose the AS6604T if four drives match your expected capacity and your reason for upgrading is the shift from occasional storage to recurring shared storage activity.
Final Verdict
The ASUSTOR AS6604T is a four bay NAS for buyers who have moved beyond simple backup behavior and now expect centralized storage to participate in everyday computing. Its defining decision is not four bays alone. It is the combination of four drive capacity with a use pattern built around repeated access, transfers, media organization, and shared files.
Its main challenge is its position in an increasingly newer NAS market. Buyers seeking the longest possible product runway should compare newer ASUSTOR models before committing. Buyers with modest storage needs should also avoid paying for a four bay platform they will not use.
The unique failure case is a buyer who purchases the AS6604T for ordinary backup and never develops the active storage workload that justifies its positioning. In that situation, a simpler four bay model can be the more rational purchase. For users whose computers and media devices repeatedly depend on centralized storage, the AS6604T has a much clearer purpose.