One of the main issues plaguing newer iPhone users is the fact that storage is often limited, thanks to an OS that takes up a huge amount of space and Live Photos that are 3.5MB in size on average. Previously, the only way to remedy this was to opt for a larger capacity iPhone, or constantly transfer pictures and videos to a PC/Mac. With SanDisk iXpand flash drives, this has changed.
Design And Usage
To be honest, the iXpand drive looks like a scorpion, with the tail being a Lightning connector and the head being a USB 3.0 connector. The Lightning connector is somewhat flexible, and can be tucked in for easier transportation, while the USB 3.0 connector is rigid. It’s slightly larger than your average flash drive, but is still small enough to fit into pockets.
While it does look unique, the fact remains that both of its connectors are exposed, so you may want to take extra care to ensure that neither comes into contact with moisture and/or dust. To use it, you’ll firstly need to download and install the iXpand mobile app. Once that’s done, simply “untuck” the Lightning connector and plug it into your iPhone or iPad and you’re good to go.
The app not only allows you to better transfer files between your device and the iXpand drive, it lets you view any movies stored on the drive, and even contacts. Another plus point is that it’ll also let you backup content from social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram.
One of the small drawbacks of this app though, is that it while it supports most video codecs, it does not support audio codecs like DTS and AC3. It’s also important to note that the app only recognizes the iXpand drive if it’s in FAT32 format, limiting your file sizes to a maximum of 4GB per file. Fortunately, most Full HD movies don’t go above 4GB in size.
Performance

The interface is highly intuitive
We transferred a couple of files to and from the drive to see how fast the transfer speeds were, and we’re pretty happy with the results – it averaged about 48MB/s when writing, and a whopping 87MB/s when reading.
Next, we plugged the iXpand into an iPhone to see if there was any lag with the interface and how fast it would take to transfer pictures from the phone to the drive. We found that the interface was smooth, while transfer times depends on the amount of files being transferred.
Conclusion
Small, light and with speedy transfer speeds, the iXpand flash drive is definitely a recommended storage solution for those with iPhones or iPads. However, we had to knock off some points for the lack of audio codec support.
Specifications
Capacity: 16GB / 32GB (tested) / 64GB / 128GB
Price: RM179 (16GB) / RM239 (32GB) / RM339 (64GB) / RM529 (128GB)
Dimensions: 13 x 17 x 59 mm
Weight: 5.4g
Supported video formats: WMV, AVI, MP4, MOV