Your iPad’s best friend

The idea behind the SanDisk iXpand Flash drive is simple. Essentially a USB thumb drive that’s equipped with a Lightning connector, it’s all you need for an excellent storage expansion for your iPad (or iPhone).

In my testing, the iXpand proved extremely easy to use and worked flawlessly as intended. I could plug it into my computer using the standard USB connector, transfer data to it, attach it to my iPad Mini, and transfer the data again.

It does have a few shortcomings. Storage is limited (up to 64GB), it lacks support for USB 3.0 and the FAT32 file system has limited file size support. But the iXpand is still an easy recommendation because it’s so cheap. In the US it costs just $60, $80 or $120 for 16GB, 32GB and 64GB, respectively, while in the UK the same sizes will set you back £40, £60 or £80. (SanDisk will announce the pricing for Australia at a later date.) It’s not only fun and convenient to use, but also makes a great gift these coming holidays.

For more storage expansion options for your mobile device, check out this list of best mobile drives on the market.

Simple yet affective design

In the world of storage expansion for the iPad, the iXpand is the first I’ve seen that uses the Lightning connector (the rest use Wi-Fi to transfer files). The Lightning connector brings a few advantages: it’s much faster than going wireless, it’s easier to use and much more reliable. There are a few trade-offs, however. Also, since you’re using the Lighting port, you can’t charge your iDevice at the same time.

Though the iXpand is conveniently small, keeping it that size means the amount of available storage won’t be gargantuan. In this case, though, simplicity trumps capacity. It’s preformatted in FAT32 so it will work right away with either a Windows or a Mac computer (just like any thumbdrive). On your iPad, you will need to download the iXpand Sync mobile app first. After that the app instantly recognizes the drive when you plug it in. Also in my testing, there was no connectivity lag at all and I could quickly find anything stored on the drive.

Al of those points give the iXpand a huge boost over Wi-Fi-based storage expanders that require you to connect the iPad to the specific Wi-Fi network and run the mobile app before it can retrieve information on the wireless drive.

The iXpand Sync app is a cinch to use, despite the fact it doesn’t automatically organize content into groups; it just displays the folder structure that you use on the drive. But since it’s so responsive, finding things isn’t a hassle at all. There’s also a helpful search function in case you need to quickly jump to a file. The app also lets you select multiple files or folders. You then can perform a few tasks such as backing up, deleting or locking files with a password.

Excellent content support and stellar playback capability