At first glance, the Asustor Lockerstor 2 Gen2+ AS6702T v2 looks like a rather outdated NAS, at least from a hardware perspective, but considering the rampocalypse, getting a NAS based on slightly older hardware might not be such a bad thing after all, as getting extra RAM won't cost you nearly as much, even if DDR4 still has gone up in price. As such, we have to put DDR4 RAM as something positive here, which wasn't the case when we reviewed the AS5404T, when DDR5 was still reasonably priced. How times change. There's also a spare SO-DIMM slot for a second module, so you don't have to waste the pre-installed 4 GB module if you want to get more RAM. At this price point, we would've expected 8 GB of RAM though, even considering the current memory pricing, especially as this is a more premium model from Asustor. A memory upgrade might also be the first thing you'd want to invest in, as only about 1.5 GB is free once you remove whatever is allocated to the Intel GPU and what the OS is using, especially as 1.3 GB is used for caching alone.

Performance wise, we ran into some issues with SMB multichannel, which we're not quite sure if it was due to changes within Windows or changes to ADM. We simply didn't see the expected performance improvements we'd seen when we tested the Nimbustor 4 Gen2 AS5404T, but it's also possible that some of it might be down to the hardware not being powerful enough to being able to deliver in more taxing situations, but we should still have seen some more benefits than in CrystalDiskMark. Otherwise we can't really complain too much about the performance, at least not if we just look at the single 5 Gbps Ethernet numbers. In many of our tests the AS6702T v2 was neck and neck with the TerraMaster F4-425 Plus, even beating it in some, but also losing out in others. In general, the AS6702T v2 offered better read performance, but slower write performance, even when an SSD was being used.

We're still not sold on ADM 5.1, although it's a functional NAS OS, it lacks some of the usability aspects of many modern NAS operating systems. There's nothing really wrong with ADM 5.1, but it just feels like an older NAS OS, but at the end of the day, most of the features are there and then some. In fact, Asustor outclasses both TerraMaster and Ugreen when it comes to supported software, although it seems like Asustor is relying more and more on Docker images rather than native apps for some things, but we don't really have a problem with this, as it often means you get updates quicker. However, thanks to Asustor having native installers for a wide range of Docker based software, they install without a fuss, and you don't need to mess around with config files and the like, which can be a big help for those that aren't that familiar with installing software using Docker. At least we didn't have any of the issues we experienced with the AS5404T and ADM, so things have improved since then. We also decided to give the Asustor Portal another quick try—as it was barely usable on the AS5404T—and it seems like Asustor has made some improvements here, but we're still not sure it's something you'd want to use. For starters, it wouldn't detect our monitor properly and the interface still looks quite pixelated and jaggy, but at least video played back smoothly this time around, even though the entire experience isn't what we'd call buttery smooth.

The biggest issue with the Lockerstor 2 Gen2+ AS6702T v2 is the MSRP pricing, since at US$570, it's $70 more than the MSRP of TerraMaster's F2-425 Plus, which ships 8 GB of DDR5 memory as standard and has a more modern Intel Processor N150, while still accommodating three M.2 NVMe SSDs, although it has a year's shorter warranty. There's also a SKU with an Intel Processor N95 for $100 less than the Asustor, which just makes the AS6702T v2 too expensive. Even if we look at the retail pricing, the AS6702T v2 can be had for $517, with the cheapest SKU of the F2-425 Plus going for $399, which is a gap of $118 that could be put towards drives.

To sum things up, the Lockerstor 2 Gen2+ AS6702T v2 is a professional looking NAS, built around somewhat older hardware but with updated 5 Gbps Ethernet connectivity. It mostly delivers in terms of performance, it has space for up to four NVMe drives in addition to two mechanical hard drives, and it offers a ton of software features that many of its competitors can't keep up with. That said, it's priced too high to be a product that we can recommend, despite the fact upgrading the RAM will be a lot cheaper than on a NAS that ships with DDR5 memory. It's good to see that Asustor has managed to work out a lot of the kinks with ADM that we saw with the AS5404T, so there's a plus there. As it stands, the AS6702T v2 isn't a product we can outright recommend, but if you can find it at a lower price point it could be a good purchase.