Samsung Wireless Streaming Hard Drive Review

1. Introduction2. Packaging and Bundle3. Design4. Using the Wireless5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

While many users these days may have several terabytes of PC storage space, mobile storage is yet to catch up. Many phones come with just 16GB of internal storage, while 128GB is just about as good as it gets. This means most users simply cannot fit their media collections on their mobile devices – which is far from ideal.

The Samsung Wireless provides a way around the issue of limited mobile storage by enabling individuals to store up to 1.5TB of photos, songs and videos on its disk space, and then stream it to up to 5 mobile devices. This makes having a smaller capacity mobile device less of a compromise as you can take your media collection around on a small and portable device. Retailing at £119.99 – we ask if it is worth the money.

Features

• 1.5TB capacity.
• 802.11 b/g/n WiFi.
• SuperSpeed USB 3.0 4.8Gb/s (max).
• Compatible with DLNA devices.
• Connect to up to 5 devices.
• Weights 275g.
• 19.9mm x 89mm x 126.5mm dimensions (HxWxD).
• Doubles as a portable charger.

The Samsung Wireless ships in a fairly standard white box. Some key features are immediately visible on the front, and the drive itself is visible through a cut-out hole.

Inside, Samsung have included an AC adapter with both UK and European plugs, as well as a microUSB 3.0 cable. Fairly standard stuff, nothing really out of the ordinary here.

The back of the box features more detailed specifications in different languages.

As the Wireless aims to make it easier to take your media collection on the go, obviously it needs to be a portable device. And it certainly is.

Weighing just 275g, it would be very easy to connect your smartphone or tablet to the Wireless, drop it in your bag, and then forget about it. It does not weigh much, and certainly not enough to warrant any serious criticism.

Product dimensions also make portability very easy. Coming in at 19.9mm x 89mm x 126.5mm (WxHxD), it is a small and compact drive. You could definitely fit it in a jacket pocket, and maybe even in the back pocket of your jeans.

Presumably to keep the Wireless light, though, Samsung have made the portable drive entirely from plastic. The top looks like brushed metal, but it is still plastic. This means it does not feel very premium, unlike the stylish TSST TB100PA portable charger we reviewed last month.

However, this is not a huge concern. It still looks fairly sleek, with a simple rectangular design. If you will take the Wireless out on the go, chances are it will be in a bag anyway, so the plastic build really does not matter too much.

In terms of the included connectivity ports, there is one USB port for charging your phone, a microUSB 3.0 port to charge and transfer data to the Wireless, and an on/off switch.Using the Wireless is a fairly straightforward operation. Putting files on the drive is the simple task of connecting via USB and copying them over. A short press of the power button then turns the Wireless on, and then a LED light – flashing blue – tells you its wireless capabilities are online.

To connect to the Wireless, there are official iOS and Android apps, but you can also connect through a browser – meaning your laptop can connect to the Wireless as well.

All you need to do is navigate to your WiFi settings and connect to the Samsung Wireless option that should appear. Then, you can either connect via the official app or your web browser.

As we used it, the files we copied over popped up straight away – the app is divided into ‘Video', ‘Photo' and ‘Music' categories. All our files were correctly sorted, and none were missing. The app itself is clean and easy to navigate. It has a few different settings you can choose between as well, allowing customisability. For instance, you can choose to download video and begin playback locally, which is more power efficient than streaming the entire video.

So, on to the streaming itself. Via the app, one tap of a file will open it, and if it is a song or a video, it will begin playing instantly. We had no problems at all when we had just 1 device connected – our test FHD video (20.025mbps bitrate) opened and started playing as expected. Music, too,  sounded just as it should – the audio quality was particularly impressive.

We then tried connecting a second device. Again, perfect performance. Both 1080p videos buffered instantly, and playback was as smooth as can be – so you can easily share a video with a friend.

With 3 devices connected, we began to run into problems. One video (playing back on a laptop) ran as expected, but the other two test videos fell behind. They took several minutes to buffer fully, and trying to play the videos before the buffering had completed was a fruitless task – for one device, the audio kept cutting in and out, and on the other, the video would freeze every few seconds.

It was the same for playback on 4, then 5 devices. One video would play through successfully – always the first video to be started, which suggests the Wireless chooses to prioritise the first video to be started – while the others froze, stuttered, and juddered their way through a painful few minutes. It is quite clear that if you are streaming HD video from the Wireless, it cannot do so to more than two devices.

However, Samsung do not claim the Wireless can stream HD video to 5 devices. Rather, they simply say the device can ‘connect' to up to 5 devices. Therefore, it would be unfair to slate the Wireless for being unable to stream 1080p video to 5 different devices. Standard definition video streams perfectly to 5 devices, though, so all is not lost.

When streaming photos to 5 devices, though, images took what felt like an age to open properly (as you can see above),  which is another downside, but another understandable one.

For an individual, the Wireless is very good. Taken on a commute, we connected a phone and put the Wireless away in a bag – and everything streamed perfectly. Sure, the Wireless struggles with HD streaming to more than 3 devices. But such a task is very stressful, and did not claim the Wireless was capable of streaming HD video to several devices. All our testing does is expose a limitation of the device itself.

So if you want an easy and portable way to take more of your media with you, the Wireless looks very good. It works seamlessly with one or two devices connected, but for a family all looking to stream different things at the same time, it may not be an ideal solution.The Samsung Wireless presents itself as a solution to the limited storage capabilities of modern phones and tablets. And in parts, it is very successful.

For one, the drive itself is very portable. It does not weigh much at 275g, and due to its dimensions of 19.9mm x 89mm x 126.5mm (WxHxD) – it can certainly fit in jacket and jean pockets to take on-the-go.

The Wireless is easy to setup and connect to, and files can be accessed through the official Samsung app for iOS and Android, which is clean and straightforward. You can also connect via a web browser on other devices.

Streaming itself is a smooth affair with 1 device connected. FHD video plays as expected, and songs play at a high quality. However, with 3 or more devices all streaming FHD video, the viewing experience goes downhill very quickly. This is not ideal, but just gives an indicator of what the Wireless is capable of.

Still, if you just want to be able to take more videos and music on the go with you, the Samsung Wireless device will do that very well. It is a fairly expensive solution costing £119.99 – but given that the difference between a 16GB iPhone 6 and a 128GB iPhone 6 is £160, it offers comparatively very good value.

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Pros

• Relatively large storage space.
• Streams perfectly to 1 device.
• Very portable.
• Simple app interface.

Cons

• Still quite expensive.
• HD streaming is terrible to more than 3 devices.

KitGuru says: For the individual with just not enough mobile storage space, the Samsung Wireless seems the perfect solution. For a family all looking to share videos and music, you would be best advised to look elsewhere, as the Wireless can't quite cope streaming HD video to more than 2 devices.

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