a review by Tom Piper
Since their introduction in late 2000, I have collected a whole host of flash drives to use for a variety of purposes. The USB-A male connector was the original link to my computer, and it continues to be the anchor for most such devices. Many other changes have been added over the past 19 years, and this is a review of a great new version.
Developed as the ideal pairing for my iPhone or iPad, the iXflash from Piodata, a subsidiary of Vinpower Digital Inc., features one-touch photo and video back-up for iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touchs released over the last 5 years. This allows me to quickly and easily free up space on my iDevices, plus transfer files to and from my 15” MacBook Pro computer or to friends and family (including those with a PC).
Amazingly, the iXflash also allows me to take pictures and videos without using any of my iPhone or iPad’s internal memory. If my device has a Lightning or USB-A connection, I am in business. When I film with this unit, I can pause then resume, so that I don’t have to stitch sequential videos together that when stopped and restarted. This is particularly helpful if I need to restage or change vantage points, but don't want to stop the video continuity.
This connection duality allows this unit to work as a portable media library, storing my collection of music, movies, videos, and even data files like PDF, Word, Excel, and more. These can then be opened or played directly through all my devices (apparently, a USB-C version is also “in the works” so I can soon also use an updated storage unit on my latest 12.9” iPad Pro).
This tiny unit (only a third of an ounce, and 1.8” x 0.5” x 0.3” in size) is fast (USB 3.0) and versatile, with an attractive fold-over cover (including a hole for a lanyard) to protect either end, is exceptionally responsive. When I first plugged it into my iPhone XS Max, it asked for permission to connect to its iXflash app (which automatically downloads the first time of use). Then I am presented with a menu screen of options that allows me to go to Camera mode (photos or videos store on unit, not iPhone), or Backup & Restore (select any or all items in my Camera Roll, to copy from or place on my iPhone), Continue (view items stored on unit), Favorites (previously designated items for quick access), iXflash (view everything stored on the unit), iPhone X (view items the iXflash has stored on the iPhone), or Settings (reports of capacity, format, and protection). The upper left corner allows me to change from Writable to Read Only for unit content, and upper right corner informs me of history and use logs of the unit. This all allows for excellent defaults and a nice range of customizability for unit use.
Performance among devices is very convenient and pleasing. For example, I copied movies to the unit from my computer which played easily on the iPad (and resumed again at the same place when I stopped the movie, removed the unit, then returned everything later), then I was able to move this viewing on my iPhone by clicking on the Sync History feature of the Playback History controller. What’s more, I love the app’s ability to control the video placement using swipe commands for volume, advancement or continuing.
I have a friend who just purchased a iXflash (using offer below) and has used it on three iPads (2 minis and current standard iPad), and the unit worked flawlessly for her. She put music, podcasts, audio books (Game of Thrones and Wolf Hall) and movies (including her ripped copies of the entire The Wire series). She is now thinking of getting a second one because the units are so much smaller than what she usually uses (a square SanDisk media streamer that holds info on the unit but also accepts micro sd cards). The much smaller size makes travel much easier and more convenient.
It also came to my attention about the iXflash app’s ability to open virtually all forms of zip files, which is not usually native to Apple iDevices. If someone were to email or message a zip (or variation of a compressed) file to me, I could save it to the iXflash App, then open the zip file, and view or save the files inside to the app or the iDevice directly. I believe this would be important for business travelers that want to be able to view all their files when on the road, regardless of its format. The same is true for music lovers that listen to the flac lossless music files rather than mp3, for a more authentic sound. Although Apple iDevices cannot utilize those files directly, the iXflash App can open and play them immediately.
There are a few suggestions that I would make to improve the experience even more, such as having the menu screen show in horizontal mode, as well as vertical mode. In addition, when selecting items from the Camera Roll to backup, it would be nice to be able to tap on one item, click a button, then click on a second to have everything in between selected (the tap-hold-slide feature works well for a few photos, but is laborious for a lot). I suspect that these issues will be addressed in a future app version. I’m also looking forward to a new USB-C version, or (better yet) an adaptor to convert from Lightning to USB-C. For more information, an excellent description is available at https://www.piodata.com/products/ixf-064-sg.
All iXflash units are black with silver cover, available in 32GB, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB sizes. Apple user group members will receive a 20% added discount to the lowest price shown on the 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB iXflash (ranging from $34.95 to $149.99) exclusively through RunTechMedia.com. At checkout screen enter promo code: iXflash20. Time is limited since this worldwide offer is valid only through June 30, 2019.