MacRumors Giveaway: Win a SanDisk iXpand for iPhone Backups and File Transfers

[MacRumors]

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with SanDisk to give MacRumors readers a chance to win a Lightning-equipped 128GB SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive, which has enough capacity to double the storage space on most iPhones and iPads.

The pocket-sized iXpand can be used to offload photos, videos, music, and other files plus it can transfer content between an iOS device and a Mac or PC using USB 3.0 transfer speeds. Available in 16, 32, 64, and 128GB capacities, the iXpand can back up a full photo library and has storage for everything else you might need.

With the accompanying iXpand app, you can view all of your media content right on the iXpand drive without needing to transfer it back to your iPhone. It supports a wide range of file types, so you can watch videos, listen to music, and view all of your photos.

We reviewed the SanDisk iXpand earlier this year and were impressed with its small, portable design and its ability to support a wide range of file types, but we thought the app could use improvement. Since that time, SanDisk has updated the app and fixed many of the issues, making the usage experience much better. It's now optimized for the iPad, no longer crashes, and has better playback support and controls.

SanDisk's 128GB iXpand, the largest it makes, is normally priced at $129.99, but three MacRumors readers will win one for free. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner and send the prize. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

a Rafflecopter giveaway​

The contest will run from today (October 7) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on October 14. The winners will be chosen randomly on October 14 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen. Prizes will be shipped in mid to late October.

Article Link: MacRumors Giveaway: Win a SanDisk iXpand for iPhone Backups and File Transfers

 

[zorinlynx]

I wonder how good the apps are for this product?

I've seen many products like this that are potentially great, but ruined by craptacular apps. Since third party storage solutions for iOS require their own apps, a quality app for the product is a REQUIREMENT otherwise the whole thing will be a steaming cow turd.

Another problem is manufacturers not updating their apps for future versions of iOS, so the $129 gadget you bought only a year or two ago is now a paperweight.

 

[Avieshek]

I would rather win an iPhone 8 with 512GB of storage ;¬,

 

[ryanasimov]

The design seems needlessly elaborate; why have a flexible part which can be prone to fatigue? I think a better desing would be a simple rectangular shape with connectors at each end and an attached, sliding cover. It would be less expensive to manufacture, take up less space, and less prone to mechanical failure.

 

[s0nicpr0s]

The design seems needlessly elaborate; why have a flexible part which can be prone to fatigue? I think a better desing would be a simple rectangular shape with connectors at each end and an attached, sliding cover. It would be less expensive to manufacture, take up less space, and less prone to mechanical failure.

I believe this design is meant to keep a user from having a large usb thumb drive from hanging out of the bottom of the device. By folding it back over and heading back up towards the body of the device it will theoretically be kept safer.

All the same, I have a dual output flash drive (USB-C and USB-A) that is roughly 1.5", compared to the 2.25" here. They should have been able to make this a good deal smaller if it wasn't flexible.

 

[macs4nw]

A life saver for some of the 16 and 32GB iPhone and iPad owners out there with 'storage tier remorse'.

 

[Jimmy James]

Sell it as an adapter and let me plug in my own USB drives. Emphasis on plural.

 

[macs4nw]

Sell it as an adapter and let me plug in my own USB drives. Emphasis on plural.

And have us use our own 'non-Sandisk' flash drives? Good for us, not so much for them

 

[Shirasaki]

Seems that this thing can only free 20GB space on my iPhone, not 70gb.

 

[0947347]

3 readers will get one?
How does that work?
8 hours a day cycle?
1st reader can have it from midnight to 8AM, second 8AM to 4PM and 3rd 4PM to midnight?

 

[deific]

I couldn't help but think of a porn film with that music and video.

Interesting concept

 

[miketcool]

I own a couple of these (I use them for backing up my iPhones in the field for video and photography). I bought them AFTER I called SanDisk and confirmed that their app checksums data. This is a step above simple copying, resulting in extremely low incidences of errors. Moving an entire 128GB of media drops my battery life 4-5% and takes about 15-20 minutes. Springy piece keeps it clipped into the back of your phone securely so you don't have data issues.

 

[bladerunner2000]

I would rather win an iPhone 8 with 512GB of storage ;¬,

I'd rather win a Google Pixel C

 

[weckart]

Sell it as an adapter and let me plug in my own USB drives. Emphasis on plural.

I have a few of the first generation fat bodied iXpands and any adapter wouldn't necessarily be cheaper or smaller since the earlier generation at least contains a rechargeable battery. The reason is that Apple's lightning port only outputs about 100mW, enough to power a mouse or maybe a keyboard but not enough in itself to mount an external drive. Same reason Elgato iOS TV adapters need to be charged up before use, whereas its Android versions don't.

The Sandisk app is a bit slow and clunky tbh and you have to use it. Third party file browsers don't work. Sandisk does seem to support it, however. I have had a couple of firmware updates since I got mine.

 

[mdelvecchio]

The design seems needlessly elaborate; why have a flexible part which can be prone to fatigue? I think a better desing would be a simple rectangular shape with connectors at each end and an attached, sliding cover. It would be less expensive to manufacture, take up less space, and less prone to mechanical failure.

if you're worried about the fatigue of a barely moving plastic part then you're worried about the wrong things in life.

this design is fine. actual people who have actually seen an used the device say it works perfectly. funny they never mentioned "fatigue" as a concern. it will likely last longer on this earth than you will (albeit in a landfill, but still).