iPhones come with great options for storage; there aren’t many other 128GB phones around. The problem is, once you have your phone there’s little you can do to expand it. SanDisk has come up with a decent solution, that even lets you watch video file types that usually don’t work on iPads and iPhones.
It’s called the iXpand Flash Drive. It’s essentially a 32GB USB key that plugs in to your device. It’s a bit bulky, so you won’t want to leave it plugged in all the time, but it’s as convenient a way of carrying around extra media for your iPhone that anyone has come up with so far.
How it works
It’s easy, just plug it in and you’ll be prompted to download the app. Once you do, each time you plug it back in from then on will automatically launch the app, which is a file browser and media player.
The iXpand drive itself is battery powered. Its charge will run for about 8 hours before dying. This isn’t as silly as it sounds.
SanDisk says that it intentionally made the drive work under its own power so as to not drain your iOS device’s battery. It also apparently means that file transfer speeds can be much higher.
To charge the iXpand plug its full-sized USB connector in to a PC or other powered port. The LED on the side will be orange while charging and green when it’s done.
What it does
The ‘media player’ part of the app is very important. Usually the video file types that will work on iOS are limited. Many of the most popular multimedia containers like .avi, .wmv and .mkv, won’t play.
If they’re stored on your iXpand then they will. There’s no messing about or jailbreaking your phone. It’s not even against Apple policy. It’s just an easy way to watch all of that media you have stored on your PC, that you used to have to convert every time you wanted to transfer it to your iPhone or iPad.
Alex Angove-Plumb
Digital Content Editor
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