SanDisk Connect Wireless Stick review: A nifty but overpriced storage solution

Increasingly smartphones and tablets are becoming the primary computing devices for both productivity and entertainment. But for all the simplicity and portability offered by mobile devices, storage or lack of of it remains an issue. There is no way you can fit all of your movies, music and documents on the puny amount of storage offered on these devices and transfering data from a desktop/laptop is still a tethered and an slow process.

Thumb drives, the convenient solutions simply don't work as you can't plug one in to your mobile device without the help of some janky converter cable.

Sandisk has seen a vacuum in the portable storage market that works both on mobile and desktop devices and has launched the Connect Wireless Stick hoping to fill that gap.

What is it?

The SanDisk Connect Wireless Stick is a slim USB dongle, about the size of a traditional flash drive, that can be plugged into a USB port to transfer and store files.

What sets the Connect Wireless Stick apart from other USB flash drives on the market is its built-in wireless capabilities. With the accompanying redesigned iOS and Android apps, smartphone users can connect to the ad-hoc wireless network created by the Connect Wireless Stick to playback music and video content, access stored files and transfer files from their mobile devices to the Connect Wireless Stick to save storage space on their phones.

Aesthetically, the Connect Wireless Stick looks just like a USB flash drive. There is a removable cap with a wireless logo to identify the drive's unique function, and the drive itself is constructed of a solid, black plastic. The top of the drive has a 3D cube pattern that makes it shimmer when it's angled under a source of light, giving it an artsy and modern feel.

What works?

Though the transfer speeds themselves aren't very fast, the actual process of moving files with the app is pretty painless. The app has a neat layout for navigating through the folders, which appear just as they would when plugged into a PC.

What doesn't?

The Connect Wireless Stick didn't particularly stand out in terms of file-transfer speed, especially because it's limited to a USB 2.0 interface. Its 9.84MBps write and 15.8MBps read speeds on our drag-and-drop file transfer tests are on the slow side. The most finicky aspect is getting your phone to connect to the drive's wireless network, which usually works in one try, but it will occasionally fail and revert back to your usual Wi-Fi network, making you try again.

Value

All that convenience doesn't come cheap the 200 GB stick which we tested is priced at ₹9990 in retail, but you can buy it for a 1000 bucks less if you shop online. The price to GB ratio is some way off here.

Wrapup

The SanDisk Connect Wireless Stick does exactly what it's advertised to: allow you to remotely access files from your computer or phone without much of a hassle. Transfers to and from your phone are easily the biggest reason to use the drive. It can still be useful on a PC, but it's a less streamlined process, and you're better off plugging it in, an option not available for your phone. he range is impressive, and the battery lasts long enough for daily work or home use. File transfer speeds aren't blistering, but the SanDisk Connect Wireless Stick is reliable and well made.

But the big stickler will be the price. At almost ₹10,000 its a fancy fetish gadget but something hard to recommend as an essential purchase.