SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive review

If you've already convinced yourself to buy this device, then you might want to ignore the next five paragraphs.

This thing is slow. When uploading 246 images and three videos from my phone to my computer using a standard issue Apple Lightning USB cord, it took me two minutes. When uploading the same 246 images and three videos from my phone to my iXpand, it took me 27 minutes.

That's not a typo. 27 minutes.

Because I was shocked by how slow this thing was, I decided to rerun the test. The second time I ran the test: Apple cord: 3 minutes, iXpand: 28 minutes. That's a wholly unreasonable speed for a device SanDisk is billing as the fastest mobile-to-desktop flash drive it offers. If you have your laptop around, I highly recommend you just transfer files the old-fashioned way.

There's one other thing that might turn you off: because the iXpand features a Lightning-based connector, it's highly possible the next generation of iPhones won't even be compatible. If you're like me, and you're using an iPhone 5S, you're probably due for an upgrade right around the time the iPhone 6S (or whatever it's called) comes to market. Do you really want to gamble $69.99, $79.99, or $119.99 on Apple using the same Lightning connector format for its next generation of iPhones?

We liked

The SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive is a great tool with a lot of awesome use cases. Bring it with you when you're going to be moving around a lot and you have spotty internet access. It's fantastic for securing basic files and it can serve as a pretty handy media player if you don't want to cram your phone with music and video files. iPhone photographers will love having the iXpand around when they're going to be snapping away at everything that catches their eye and they don't want to worry about where to store it all. The iXpand is a tiny device that fits into your pocket and it's lightweight enough that you'll hardly even know it's there.

We disliked

Boy, is this thing slow. Two separate tests prove that the iXpand gets trounced when competing with a standard issue Apple Lightning USB cable. At $69.99, $79.99 or $119.99 I expect my images to upload much quicker than they do on the iXpand. I'm also not willing to spend this kind of money for what amounts to a luxury accessory when I'm not even sure the device will be compatible with my next iPhone.

Verdict

If you're looking for quick, high volume data transfer, go elsewhere. If you're looking for a tiny drive that can sync a few photos quickly, then this is the right tool for you, but you might not want to pay such a hefty price for portability.