An earthquake-proof portable hard drive, this is the My Passport Wireless SSD
One of the great advantages of devices such as iPhone or iPad is that, in certain situations, they can be more comfortable to use than a conventional laptop. With accessories like Western Digital’s My Passport Wireless SSD, we find one of them, thanks to the ability to work remotely and without a Mac or PC in sight.
Perfect for taking our personal cloud anywhere and for photographers away from their core teams. We’ve been testing it for the last few weeks and here’s our analysis.
Technical Specifications
- Accessory type: wireless hard drive.
- Memory: 250GB SSD, 500GB (analyzed model), 1TB or 2TB.
- Dimensions: 135mm x 135mm x 30mm without cover.
- Weight: 440 grams.
- Ports: SD 3.0 slot, USB 2.0 for import and USB 3.0.
- Wireless connection: 802.11ac/n Wi-Fi.
Built-in battery: 6.700mAh, about 10 hours of use. - Price: from 240 USD.
Device setup and first steps
As soon as you open the My Passport SSD for the first time, it is advisable to connect it to the power so that it fully charges. This portable hard drive features a fairly large built-in battery that allows you to work wirelessly. Therefore, we will need you to have energy inside to be able to use it.
This battery can also be used to charge your iPhone or iPad using a USB 2.0 to Lightning cable. The autonomy itself is quite high. Western Digital states that the 6,700mAh allows it to be used for 10 hours, although in our initial use with a couple of hours 25% of its load has vanished due to testing.
-Although the My Passport is designed to work in mobility and away from a computer, it can also be used from the Mac Finder-
To start using it, you need to press the power button for a couple of seconds and wait for different LED lights to light up. With this done, you’ll have to go to your iPhone or iPad settings and search for a Wi-Fi network with My Passport in the name. We will enter by key the one that appears on the sticker of the device, which we can later modify.
At this point, you’ll have to download the My Cloud app from Western Digital with which you can manage your hard drive. Connected to your Wi-Fi network you can access the inside of the disc. We can also access your content from a Mac by connecting it to the Wi-Fi network and accessing it from the Finder as a shared computer.
The My Passport SSD has two ports that greatly increase its possibilities. It’s the SD card reader and the traditional (but extinct) USB. The first is perfect for connecting the memory card of a digital camera and the second can be used to connect a pendrive, in addition to charging the iPhone or iPad.
Use experiences
Without a doubt, the My Passport SSD is an imposing device. Its weight and size are large. Even more so when the protective cover is attached. It is not a carry-on in your pocket but in a travel backpack or suitcase.
Its construction is designed to work in mobility and withstand falls. Both the materials and the rubber protector that covers the My Pass go in that direction, in addition to having an SSD inside. These types of discs are more resistant to shocks and vibrations than mechanical hard drives.
That said, I find two differential uses with respect to other similar products. The first is for use in large photo shoots and away from a computer. With wireless ports and capabilities, you can remove the SD card from the camera and place it on the My Passport Wireless SSD. With automatic import, the disc will copy all photos and videos automatically.
-This accessory has two main use cases: huge photo shoots away from the computer and its playful use next to Plex-
Therefore, you enter the SD card, wait a few moments and you can place it in your camera to delete it and continue working. Then you can check the images from your iPhone to make sure they’re as you expected, and if you have an iPad Pro or iPad 2018, you can also edit it if you prefer. There are models of the My Passport with 2TB space, they are expensive but with this you can make sure you have space for many photos and videos in 4K format.
The second use is together with Plex, where we will save our multimedia content to the Western Digital disc to enjoy it on the road. However, as warned by Plex, the content must already be optimized to view it as the accessory does not support transcoding.
The Western Digital My Passport Wireless SSD is a great accessory if you’re in one of these two situations. The only drawbacks we found are that the cable currently included to connect it to your Mac is a UBS 3.0 and not one with Thunderbolt connector. In addition to the price, because if you choose the 2TB model with SSD you go dangerously close to 800 euros.
But if you value what it offers in a compact, shock-resistant package, it’s definitely an accessory to consider for your technology shopping list.
