Hey gang, Valkor here. While smartphones are becoming more sophisticated,
most haven’t changed much when it comes to storage. For the most
part, you’re stuck with what you’re given and in order to save
space, you’ll have to look into an external storage option; unless
you'll have to deal with managing your space. And stepping up
to the plate is Naztech, with something for the iPhone 8/X crowd
– the Xtra Drive Mini.
The Xtra Drive Mini is a MicroSD card reader (with 16GB included) with a thumb drive connector on one end and at the opposite end is a lightning connector. To use, you simply plug the lightning connector into your iPhone, where it will then prompt you to download the related app. Once installed, you can straight away begin to back-up the data on your phone’s hard drive to the mini storage by dragging the top circle to the bottom and letting the app take care of the rest. As you can see from the image below, we did a backup of 2.7GB, which took less than ten minutes to complete (your mileage may vary). Once finished, you can then move that data onto something heftier say on your laptop or another external drive.
While the Xtra Drive Mini comes with a 16GB card, it can handle a MicroSD with a capacity of 256GB. So if you’re someone who really likes to take a ton of photos (cam models, foodies, travelers, etc), you might want to look into the larger option (sold separately). However, for this review, I used a SanDisk 16GB card, which might be the reason for the speedy transfer. But there’s another reason why I used it and I’ll get into that a bit later. But for now, let’s see how well the Xtra Drive Mini truly fared in the TOV Breakdown!
The Bang:
iPhone 8/X users, eventually you’re gonna need an external storage to ensure that not only your media is backed up, but you’ll also want to maintain enough space so that you have room for more – more videos, more photos, more documents, whatever! And Naztech’s Xtra Drive Mini is there to answer that call! Sure, there are cloud options out there; but if you’re in a situation where you lack a connection, then it’s always good to keep some type of external storage handy. What’s perfect about the Xtra Drive Mini is that it’s small enough that you can take it anywhere and it doesn’t become obtrusive. So it can be used with the quickness so that you can back up your data and get back into the game. Use of the app is pretty simple and even those with limited tech skills can figure it out; it took me about a minute to understand what I needed to do, without instructions. So, I'm sure grandma Ethel, with her first iPhone, should have no problem! Finally, transfer speeds are pretty quick and this is not just with transferring data from the phone to the drive, but it’s also a smooth transition getting the data off the drive. In the end, if you’re in the market for an external storage to use with your shiny new I-device, then I’d recommend the Naztech Xtra Drive Mini for quick and easy transfer/storage of your favorite media.
The Slack:
When I first started testing the Xtra Drive Mini, I ran into a snag with it recognizing the MicroSD card. I’d get this message “external storage not found”, which I later learned that it was a glitch with the included MicroSD card. Thankfully, I have a handy source of MicroSDs, so I switch it out with a SanDisk. And now the drive works perfectly. So, if you happen to purchase the Xtra Drive Mini and come across this issue, then simply replacing the card will set you straight. And MicroSD cards are inexpensive, so replacing one shouldn’t put you out of pocket. I’d go for one that allows for high-speed transfers.
The Naztech Xtra Mini Drive is available now. And it’s perfect for those looking for external storage since the storage they may have is running mighty low. It’s simple enough to use and small enough to go with you no matter where you go. Even with its fault, I still highly recommend the drive. So, out of TOV 5 stars, I’m giving Naztech’s Xtra Drive Mini a 4.5.
