WD My Passport Wireless Review

WD has become the latest manufacturer to enter the burgeoning wireless-storage market with the launch of the My Passport Wireless.

Available in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities, the new addition to the popular My Passport line is effectively a wireless-enabled external hard drive designed to challenge existing solutions such as the Seagate Wireless Plus and Corsair Voyager Air.


The premise is simple enough: worried about the storage constraints of your various mobile devices? Then a wireless hard drive might be just the ticket. With a built-in battery and Wireless N connectivity, the My Passport Wireless can connect to up to eight devices simultaneously, giving users a means of storing, sharing and accessing content on smartphones, tablets and PCs.

WD's 1TB drive is under the spotlight and our first impressions are positive. The black-and-silver unit is reasonably light at 278g yet feels reassuringly well put together - despite the use of plastic materials, the chassis is rigid and exhibits no squeaks or rattles.

Dimensions of 86mm (W) x 24.4mm (H) x 127mm (D) ensure easy portability, though do be aware that there is a slight size discrepancy between capacities. The 500GB model is thinner at 21.8mm and the 2TB range-topper is the chunkiest of the lot, measuring 29.8mm around the midsection.

Four small rubber feet help keep the device planted to a table, and WD's presentation is neat and uncluttered throughout. The front face features just the two LEDs - one indicating power status, the other WiFi - and the battery indicator provides at-a-glance updates; it'll glow blue when full, then changes to green, orange, and finally red as the internal battery depletes.

The bulk of the activity takes place at the top of the device, where you'll find a USB 3.0 connector flanked by a power button and a WiFi connect button that can also be pressed to highlight battery status when the My Passport Wireless is powered off.

Simple enough so far, but WD's most important addition is arguably the SD card slot integrated along the side of the device. A real boon for photographers, the My Passport Wireless can be configured to automatically copy across the contents of an SD card, making it easy to back up your photos while on the go and keep shooting.

Configuration
My Passport Wireless can be charged from any USB interface (a mains adaptor is supplied) and is powered on with a single button press. The device takes toughly 30 seconds to boot to a usable state, and the first thing you'll want to do is connect to the device and configure it to your needs.

The easiest way, we feel, is to establish a direct wireless connection from a PC or laptop. The My Passport Wireless automatically broadcasts an unsecured network (SSID MyPassport) and once connected you can point your browser to http://mypassport (or http://mypassport.local on a Mac) to access the built-in dashboard.



WD's on-screen wizard starts by asking you to secure the preconfigured access point with a WPA2 password. That essentially is all most users will need to do in order to get up and running, as any device can at this point connect to the MyPassport network securely and access drive contents.

More advanced users will want to seek out the other available features. Choose the Wi-Fi tab and you can configure the My Passport Wireless to connect to a third-party network for Internet-passthrough, doing so converts the device into a hotspot and gives smartphones or tablets web access while connected to the drive.

WD is keen to point out that the My Passport Wireless makes use of a dual-stream (2x2) radio, resulting in good range, reliable connectivity and decent 802.11n speeds. Connecting to the web via Internet-passthrough will never be as quick as a direct connection to your router, mind you, yet while latency is higher, we didn't have any speed concerns and were able to stream HD content without problem.

WD My Passport Wireless Review

The Pros-The WD My Passport Wireless has a built-in SD card slot and supports faster Wi-Fi standard than competing devices. The device is versatile, easy to use, and provides up to 2TB of mobile storage space.
The Cons-The device's battery life is comparatively short. Its mobile app has limited file format support, can be confusing for new users, and takes a long time to load photos.
The Bottom Line Despite the rather short battery life and confusing apps, the WD My Passport Wireless is an excellent mobile media drive, especially for photographers.



The WD My Passport Wireless stands apart from other mobile wireless drives in two important ways. Its support for the dual-stream setup of 802.11n Wi-Fi gives it faster speeds than competitors, and the integrated SD card slot makes it a great accessory for photographers who want to quickly back up their shots. It did well in my testing, too, proving itself to be both a very fast portable drive and a capable mobile wireless media server.

On the downside, its battery lasted just about 5 and a half hours in my trials, which is shorter than some of its rivals. Also, it could deliver a better media streaming experience and the WD My Cloud mobile app needs a sharper interface. To make up for the former, though, the app supports all of the popular mobile platforms including Android, iOS and KindleFire.

Available in three capacities of 500GB, 1TB and 2TB, that costs $120, $180, and $220, respectively, the My Passport Wireless isn't the best deal on the MARKET at launch. All are also available in the UK for £113, £170, and £210. (While not available in Australia, respective pricing would convert to AU$130, AU$195, and AU$240.)

All things considered, if you're looking for a device that can carry a lot of media and works as a backup drive for laptops, digital cameras and mobile devices, I'd have no problem recommending the My Passport Wireless. (For more choices, check out this list of best mobile wireless drives on the market.)


Standard design
The My Passport Wireless is a bus-powered USB 3.0 portable drive that also has an embedded Wi-Fi network and a built-in battery. When connected to a computer, it works as a regular external hard drive, and when running on the battery, it becomes a wireless mobile media server. That means that your normal workflow would go something like this. First, load a lot of media content onto the My Passport. Then, take that content and wirelessly stream it to mobile clients, such as tablets or SMARTPHONES. The My Passport Wireless supports up to eight concurrent Wi-Fi clients for data sharing, or up to for clients for HD streaming.

The device is quite compact, measuring just 5 inches long and 3.4 inches wide. Its thickness, however, changes according to which capacity you choose (from about 0.9 inch on the 500GB model, to about 1.2 inches on the 2TB version). On the whole, it's about the same size as competing devices, such as the Seagate Wireless Plus or the Samsung Wireless.

Up top, the My Passport Wireless has a power indicator light and a light showing the status of its Wi-Fi network. The power light changes color according to the battery's charge level: blue is full, green is 75 percent, amber is 50 percent, and red is 15 percent or less.

On one side, there's a standard Micro-USB 3.0 port for both charging and data connections. You can charge the drive via a computer's USB port, a standard wall outlet, or in your car. Just note that a car adapter is not included.

Next to the USB port there are two buttons: the power switch and another control that has a few functions. Pressing it when the device is off, for example, will make the battery level indicator light up for few seconds. On the other hand, pressing it for a few seconds when the drive is on lets you quickly connect Wi-Fi clients.


SD card slot included, faster Wi-Fi support
Despite the standard design, the My Passport Wireless has a few unique features. On one side, the aforementioned SD card slot accommodates cards of any capacity. You can choose to automatically copy a card's contents to the drive as you insert it or you can control the process automatically with the mufti-function button that I discussed above.

Secondly, unlike competing devices that only support the single stream setup of 802.11n, the My Passport Wireless sports the dual-stream setup (2x2) of the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard. As I said earlier, that allows for faster Wi-Fi speeds,though with a TRADE off of shorter the battery life. Though the drive has a promised battery life of six hours battery life and 20 hours standby, you'll most likely get less juice in real-world use, especially when you use multiple devices with it at a time.

Out of the box, the My Passport Wireless is pre-formatted in the ExFAT file system, which lets it work interchangeably with both Windows and Mac OS without any restrictions. All you have to do is plug it in using the included USB cable. Note that the My Passport Wireless can't work as a portable drive or a mobile media server simultaneously. You'll need to turn it off and on again to switch between tasks.