SanDisk Connect SDWS2 16 GB Wireless Flash Drive Review

Bohs Hansen / 10 years ago

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The drive cost quite a bit more than a normal thumb sized flash drive with 16GB of capacity. But it also has a lot more to offer. At the time of writing the drive can be had in the U.K. for £34.19 at Amazon and in the U.S. it costs $56.74 at Newegg and $49.99 at Amazon. German readers can find the drive starting starting from €36.79 through Geizhals.

With a cost of £2,13 per GB this is one of the most expensive drives on the market. But one has to remember that it also offers some functions you don’t get in other drives. The ability to switch the SD card coupled with the hotspot function is unique.

SanDisk_Connect Wireless_Flash Drive-graph_price

Overview

This is a great drive and one that I can see many useful situations for. For example youngsters who still go to school or college. The drive allows for easy sharing of media among multiple users at once, and it does it on it’s own. The fact that you don’t need to have a wireless router or internet connection to use it is a big bonus. The hotspot function works great and I had no trouble with it at any point. Commuting in public transportation is another place it would come in handy, no need to share one set of ear-buds or use the speakers and disturb the other travellers. Vacation and other travel arrangements in groups is yet another place this drive comes in handy.

Even if you’re just a single person, this drive has many uses. It is extra wireless storage for any device you might need it on. Apple users have another benefit from this drive, as it allows them to share files without the need of iTunes. I don’t have any Apple devices myself, but I’ve been told this is a major bonus for the phones without SD card slot and need for special software like iTunes to connect to a PC.

The outer design is something SanDisk could work a little bit more on. It looks great, but it isn’t the most practical approach for a thumb drive. You will most likely be carrying in your pants pockets most of the time, and it has a lot of groves and edges to collect dirt. It would also have been great if the USB connector would have been fully covered in the closed state, again for the same reason. Neither of those things affect the drives function in any way, it’s purely an aesthetics aspect.

It would be great to see the Android APK file added as manual download to SanDisk’s site for those who don’t have access to it from the Play Store, or those like me who run Android apps in a virtual environment. I’d also loved it to appear in windows in some form, as media or network device for wireless file transfers.

Pros:

Convenient
As easy to use as a normal thumb drive
Better than average USB 2.0 speeds
Doubles as a card reader
Stand alone function, no need for router or wires

Cons:

Design has a lot of edges where dirt can settle.
USB connector not covered when cap is closed.

Neutral:

Wireless App for Windows and downloadable Android file would be great.

“This Drive is a little universal wonder. It’s a flash drive, it’s a wireless drive, it’s a card reader, it’s a backup location – or in less words, it’s a Sandisk Wireless Flash Drive.”