** Update July 26, 2016: SanDisk support was able to resolve the issue with secure files on the Mac. The solution involved formatting the iXpand drive and downloading the latest version of their SecureAccess app. I've updated the rating from 3 to 4 stars. The original review follows...
With everything "in the cloud", flash drive storage sometimes seems like it is becoming extinct.
But this iXpand flash drive is really quite nice because of its unique ability to connect to iOS devices. It is the first flash drive I have ever used that has this feature. So, transferring a bunch of photos from my iPad to a friend's phone is effortless...provided both of us have the iXpand app on our devices (a free app that handles the file transfers).
One feature I really like: On my iPad, I can use this device to back up all my Instagram and Facebook photos (it also works with Picasa photos, but I don't use Picasa for photo storage). This feature works very very well, simply downloading all the photos from my account. What's nice is that each time I perform a backup, it skips the photos that are already backed up. That's good, since I have nearly 700 photos and don't want to download all of them each time. The 700 took about 5 minutes to back up.
HOWEVER...there are a few limitations and problems that may make you reconsider this drive...
* First, due to iOS limitations, you cannot simply transfer any files you want. The ones that work well are photos, music, videos, and contacts. That's about it. So, if you have other iOS items...for example, documents you created in Pages or Microsoft Word...you this drive will not work for backing them up. However, the reverse is different. You can take files from your Mac or PC, transfer them to this drive, and then open some of them in iOS. For example, when I create text files on my Mac, I can use iXpand to transfer and open them on my iPad.
* Second, the drive comes with an option to secure (encrypt) files. In order to transfer secured files from my iOS device to a PC or Mac computer, the computer needs to be running SanDisk's security software. I found that this software works fine on my Windows machine (Surface Pro 4), but NOT on my Mac (2015 Macbook Pro, running OS X El Capitan 10.11.5). The Mac app that needs to run fails to recognize that the drive is a SanDisk drive. I get an error message that says "This application only runs on a SanDisk flash drive." NOTE: If you do not need secure file encryption, then this drive works fine on a Mac and on Windows, allowing you to effortlessly transfer files to/from the device. The problem is happening only with secure files, and only on the Mac.
* Finally, although I like the design of the little drive, the little iOS connector on the drive does not get tucked away as cleanly as it should. After using the device on my iPad Mini (with a fairly thin case), the drive has "stretched" a bit, making the iOS connector always stick out.
Should you get this flash drive? Consider how you plan to use it: If you only need to transfer photos, videos, music, and contacts, and if secure files don't matter to you (or if they matter, but you are using Windows), then this is an excellent choice. Just know the limitations before you make your purchase.
Easy to use and effective way to free up space on the iPhone. The purpose this was purchased for was to download just over 3000 photos from my wife's phone and not have to purchase more space on the cloud. Very easy to use, just plug it in and it has you download the mobile app then it asks to set up auto back-up feature. Very quick download speed which was a surprise. I was able to then remove it from the phone and plug into my laptop and transfer the photos and place them where I want.
I went the cheap route and bought a 16 Gig IPhone 6. Big Mistake!!! Now it is clogged with well over 2,000 pictures. With only a few other apps I was already running out of storage. Enter the SanDisk iXpand. I downloaded the free ap from the Apple Store, plugged in this flash drive and downloaded all my pictures to it. I set it up to automatically transfer any new pictures I've taken each time I plug this flash drive into my iPhone. It is small enough to keep in my purse should I need to retrieve some photos. Easy-peasy.
I got this flash drive in the mail yesterday and so far, I am loving it!!! I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because there's no cover for the USB end which would be nice to keep dust and lint out of it while it tumbles around in my bag but besides that, it does what it advertises. I ordered a more expensive drive a few weeks ago and was disappointed because it wouldn't work while my iPhone case was on (it had specifically said it was made to work with cases on) This flash drive worked like a dream with my Otterbox case still on the phone! It downloaded the pics A LOT faster than my other wifi methods of backing up pics. It worked perfectly when I plugged into my computer and could see my files. The only thing that I didn't like but it's no big deal is that the pictures group by month so it's a bunch of subfolders by month instead of just one file of pics. No biggie, that's just a personal preference of mine. Some may like that. I bought this for myself but am seriously thinking this would make a great gift for my sister who's daily life causes her to use her phone camera all the time as well.
I was weary when I purchased the device because other reviewers said the software was not compatible with iPhone X and the lightning connector was not long enough to be used with cases. This may have been true at the time of their review and with the cases they were using, but as of this writing the iXpand software is working perfect on my X and the drive connects with no problem with my Spigen Liquid Crystal clear case completely on. The iXpand software is easy to use and copying photos from the X to the drive is lightning fast. I like that the app has an option to auto delete the photos off the X when the transfer is done to free up space. I included some photos of my X with the drive attached; felt very secure.
There is no such thing as perfect, but luckily for me the two gripes I have are negligible. First and most disappointing of the two is the included SecureAccess software does not work on my iMac running High Sierra so encrypting the drive is not possible right now. I bought it to use on a holiday cruise so hopefully I dont loose it :D The second gripe is the metal length has a slight bend in one spot like its damaged. The drive works just fine and you have to look carefully to see the bend so I won't bother to exchange it. At $50 the bend shouldn't be there and all the software should work since security its one of their selling points.. I'll wait to see if SanDisk releases an update thats High Sierra compatible.
Bottom line is if your in the market for a device to quickly offload photos and not worried about securing the drive.. this one is fast :D
Feature Product
- Designed with a flexible connector to fit through most iPhone cases
- Automatically back up photos and videos from your camera, contacts. Supported video formats-.MP4 and.Mov video formats as supported in iOS. Drm-protected content cannot be streamed. Operating temperature-0-35 °C functional
- The product is supported by iOS 8.2, Mac OS X v10.6+, Windows Vista , Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 . Password protection is supported by iOS 8 , Mac OS X v10.6+, Windows XP, Windows Vista , Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 . Supports iPhone 5 and newer, iPad Air, iPad with Retina display (4th generation) , iPad mini with Retina display , iPad mini and newer, iXpand Drive app and iOS 8.2 required . Available for download from the App Store. iOS 8.2 required. Setup automatic backup within app settings . Support for .MP4, .MOV video formats . DRM-protected content cannot be streamed. Check with the content provider for playback restrictions
- Easily manage your photos and videos with the iXpand drive app
- Connector: USB Type-A
Description
The perfect companion for your iPhone, the iXpand Flash Drive lets you free up space on your iPhone, back up your camera roll, and even watch videos straight from the drive4. The flexible Lightning connector works with most cases and the USB 3.0 connector plugs into your Mac computer or PC, making file transfers quick and easy. The drive also includes password-protection software to keep your sensitive files secure across your devices5. Take all the photos and videos you want-with the iXpand Flash Drive you're always ready to take more.
My sis and I visited my cousins in Cali, and she decided to vlog her trip. We both used our iPhones (6+ and X) to capture footage daily and our captures to the iXpand drives at the end of the day. One thing we realized (too late) was that you should create separate folders before importing videos to the same folder and deleting your videos from your iOS device. Once you delete the videos from your iOS device, the photo/video file naming convention will resume from the last picture in your photo library and if you import to the same folder from your previous import, it will overwrite whatever file has a similar name. Sis lost some footage this way.
So make sure to backup to different folders if you're not planning to keep the videos on your device.
This product is completely AMAZING!!. It does an automatic photo and video backup or do it manually. I currently use an iPad Pro for school for school and so to save space or to give a friend class work, I use this ixpand drive to save PowerPoint's and Word documents. That was the a big plus for me...
Bought it for my 13 year old daughter who has an iPhone 6. She was able to make it work in no time, with no problems. Simple and easy to use. Now she can backup and/or move data from her phone to an Apple or Windows PC, or just leave it on the Flash Drive.
If you have lots of pictures then this will take you awhile. I got the 200+ GB version of this cause I had lots of pictures. About 13,000+ MB worth of them. This didn't even fill out 5% of that which is awesome but it took me quite awhile to get it all on there. I had to figure out that you have to clear the cache or whatever to really do it all (cause I'm not super computer savvy for a 30 year old it took awhile) but the next morning I freed up all of my pictures so now I don't have to see the dreaded "Storage Almost Full" notification I get on my iPhone constantly. Like for real my phone hasn't been this free since I got it. So if you have the time and the patience then I suggest this for sure.
I have an iPad Pro. Microsoft Fanboys will tell you that the iPad Pro is not as functional as a Surface for work production. I think they are generally correct. However, this flash drive solves a lot of those problems. I use my iPad Pro for work. My employer does not want me to save confidential information about our clients on any type of cloud storage. I often have to save PDFs, MS Office documents, and video on this thing to transfer the information from my work PC to my iPad Pro. The way ScanDisk bent the lightning connector over the top of the USB connector is weird. I do not understand the point of that. Otherwise, no complaints. You should know that this has its own software program to make it work rather than FAT32.
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