I tested this iPhone MagSafe SSD and it’s the simplest way to film ProRes video

SanDisk Creator Phone SSD: 30-second review

Portable SSDs that are compatible with your smartphone can be exceptionally useful, and being one of the leaders in this area, SanDisk has created an entire range aimed at the creator sector. The Creator Phone SSD is the MagSafe solution of the range and is primarily designed for iPhone, but with the MagSafe ring included in the box, you can also attach it to an Android phone.

As ever, the SSD utilises a standard USB Type-C port to connect directly to the base of your phone and uses the USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface. This choice of the USB 3.2 Gen 2 is spot on for Mac and iPhone users who will benefit from the full speed of the devices and also offers maximum compatibility.

The performance of the drive is exceptionally good, and for once, the MagSafe connection to the back of the phone is good and solid. It's one of the best that I've come across, and with those curved rubberised edges of the drive, it actually makes quite a nice holding experience. Even though it is a little bit more bulky than some of the SSDs of this design that I've seen, it just feels a lot more secure and, ultimately, better designed.

When it goes beyond the physical design to the aesthetics, I'll admit I'm not a great fan of the colour scheme that Sandisk have opted for — the gradient blue just looks a little bit too colourful and more like a kid's toy than a professional SSD. However, that's just the colour scheme, and the design itself is absolutely solid.

Overall, what Sandisk have done with the Creator Phone SSD is create one of the best portable SSDs for your iPhone or Android device, and it works exceptionally well. It integrates neatly with your smartphone so that you almost forget it's there, and that's rare for this style of SSD. Moreover, because it utilises the standard USB Type-C interface, it can be plugged into any laptop or other device that supports USB Type-C and used as a standard portable SSD. So, it really is extremely neat and a great option if you do need to expand your iPhone's storage for capturing ProRes video or other media or data files.

SanDisk Creator Phone SSD: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? From £156 / $156
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Directly from SanDisk or Amazon

SanDisk products are widely available and the SanDisk Creator Phone SSD in the 1 TB or 2 TB version can be purchased directly from SanDisk for $99 / £99 or $156 / £156 for the 2TB version. The drive is also widely available through most online retailers, including Amazon.

• Value: 5 / 5

SanDisk Creator Phone SSD: Specs

Form factor: External SSD
Available capacities¹: 2TB, 1TB
Interface: USB Type-C™ (USB 3.2 Gen 2)
Data transfer rates²: Up to 1000MB/s
Read speeds: Up to 950MB/s
Write speed: Up to 950MB/s
Product dimensions: 3.25 x 2.69 x 0.43 in | 82.5 x 68.4 x 11 mm
Product weight: 0.12 lb | 54 g
Operating temperature: 0°C to 45°C | 32°F to 113°F
Non-operating temperature: -20°C to 85°C | -4°F to 185°F
Compatibility: Compatible with a range of USB Type-C devices

SanDisk Creator Phone SSD: Design

The design of the Sandisk Creator Phone SSD is quite striking, and it looks more like an accessory for some type of aqua sports than a portable SSD for your iOS or Android device.

However, this is the styling that has been chosen for their entire Creator Series, and while I'm not a great fan of the aesthetics, when it comes to the physical design, with the curved rubberised edges, solid build quality, the lanyard hoop, and the USB Type-C interface, there's very little else to complain about. It does just seem a bit of a shame that they've gone to the lengths they have with a design that looks very robust and durable with an IP65 rating but hasn't made it waterproof.

When it comes to the size and design, it measures 82.5 x 68.4 x 11 mm and weighs just 54 g, so even when connected to the phone, it's only a minimal but notable addition.

Primarily, the Creator Phone SSD is designed for use with iPhone and utilises MagSafe to connect without any tools or mount directly to the back of your phone. What's good here is that the MagSafe connection is pretty decent, so once it's in place, it holds nicely. Also, with that rubbery style and slimline design, it actually fits in your hand nicely. This is one of the few portable SSDs that feels genuinely comfortable on the back of the phone.

As ever, there is a wired connection between the phone and the portable SSD, and once again, it's really nice to see that Sandisk has supplied a nice ribbon-style cable. This, again, is a really high-quality, although one of the unfortunate aspects is that the cable itself is quite long, obviously to accommodate Max as well as standard iPhones.

It would be nice if there were two different lengths of cable available in the box. They're also standard straight connectors and not ones with a right-angle connector. You would've thought a little more thought about the cable routing could have made something a little bit neater than the longest cable that sticks out from the base of your phone into the base of the SSD.

However, one nice touch is that there's a small Velcro strap wrapped around the cable, which can be hooked around both cables once they're in position to hold them tight. This ensures the flex of the cable doesn't remove the SSD from the back of the phone and actually helps keep everything a little bit more secure than just utilising the MagSafe connection alone. It's a very neat and simple idea.

So, when it comes to the design and handling, it all works very nicely. As soon as it's plugged into the base of your phone, it's recognised as an external drive and activates the ability to utilise ProRes video footage or be browsed and used by the phone through the file system or applications that require external storage.

One last note on the design, if you're using an Android phone, then there is a metal ring in the box that can be stuck onto the back of your mobile phone to enable that MagSafe connection, so it's compatible with both Apple and Android devices.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

SanDisk Creator Phone SSD: Features

Taking a quick look at some of the key features, the first thing that really stands out is the transfer rates. These are essential in order to capture that ProRes video footage, which is now being used for a lot of corporate videos, as it gives plenty of scope for the video editors afterwards to blend amateur-shot footage in with pro.

In order to capture the footage, the bit rate of the video is high, so you need these ultra-fast external portable SSDs in order to write those files down. The other issue with these high-resolution and high-bit rate video files is that the actual data file is also so large it will completely fill up your phone's internal storage in no time, I'll cover more on that in the performance section.

When it comes to those speeds, it utilises the USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface, which offers transfer rates of up to 1000 MB/s which is the interface used by iPhone and, actually, many Android phones by default.

Being designed with a focus on iPhone, it is, of course, MagSafe compatible, which means that you don't need any mounts or brackets to hold this SSD to the back of the phone. However, in order to ensure the ability to shoot Apple Pro 4K at up to 60 fps, it uses a USB Type-C ribbon cable that goes from the base of the iPhone directly into the base of the portable SSD. This is a ribbon-style cable, so it fits flat and neatly with the design.

The drive is available in two different capacities, and in this review, I've been looking at the 1TB version, but there is also a 2TB version available. Both have exactly the same design and aside from the capacity, all other specifications appear to be identical.

• Features: 4 / 5

SanDisk Creator Phone SSD: Performance

I like it when a product does exactly what it's intended to do. The SanDisk Creator Phone SSD has essentially been designed as a portable SSD that can be carried comfortably in a bag or pocket until it's needed. It's tough, though not certified as so, and it will stand up to far more than a knock. It's also extremely tactile with that rubberised design around the sides and back, with the MagSafe connector holding pretty well to the back of your phone.

When it comes to holding the phone, the connecting cables can always be a bit of an issue, especially when they're new, because of the flex, which can pull the SSD away from the phone. However, here, it's nice to see that the simple inclusion of a small Velcro strap essentially eliminates this issue and actually creates quite a nice additional bond, helping hold the cable in position.

When it comes to the performance of the drive, its USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface is absolutely spot-on. It's not offering something that is overkill, and when it came to the benchmarking tests, through almost all tests, it was either exceeding expectations or coming very close — which is extremely rare for this type of drive.

I also ran some of those tests over the period of an hour using AJA System Test Lite. Whilst the drive became warm, it seems there's enough heat dissipation within the design to avoid any serious thermal throttling.

Used to capture video footage, the drive really just kept up with everything that was thrown at it, and shooting 12 minutes and 44 seconds of ProRes video resulted in 158.28B of data proving the drive was more than capable of keeping up with the demands placed on it by Apple's professional-level video capture.

• Performance: 5 / 5

SanDisk Creator Phone SSD: Final verdict

I'm not a big fan of the colour scheme of this drive, with its light blue making it look like a kids toy or water sports accessory rather than a portable SSD, however I can't really argue with just how good the physical design is when it comes to functionality and use.

Firstly, the MagSafe adapter connects securely to the back of the phone, and while the USB Type-C ribbon cable is a bit lengthy, SanDisk included that little Velcro strap that just to helps make things a little bit neater.

Then there's the overall ergonomics, and when it's attached, it fits nice and comfortably. When you're handling the phone, the shape and the design of that drive just fit really nicely.

The one thing I would say is, if you are thinking of using this with a single-handed gimbal stabiliser, then I would look at another solution. This portable SSD is a great option if you're handholding the phone, but not so good if you're clamping it into an Insta360 Flow.

Overall, while I'm not overly concerned with the colour, I have to say, in every other respect, I'm really impressed with both the design and the performance. I do see this as one of the best portable SSDs that you can get for capturing ProRes video footage on your iPhone or for use as a simple storage expansion option for your iPhone or Android device.

Should I buy the SanDisk Creator Phone SSD?

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For more storage solutions, we've reviewed the best external hard drives, best external hard drives for Mac, and the best USB flash drives you can get right now.