Although there are other companies that often give Seagate a run for its money, at the end of the day, when you want assured quality and reliable performance, you really can’t beat this highly regarded manufacturer of external storage devices.
This product is one of the latest devices Seagate has released, and in this instance, the company focused on wireless accessibility to significant storage space. This was not exactly rare in the marketplace but was sorely lacking when it came to Seagate’s product catalog.
[amazon box=”B00JSQV44S” template=”horizontal”]Perhaps the single biggest roadblock to external data drives with wireless access was range. This product came in with a bang, offering one of the best wireless range ever seen in this kind of technology. Seagate’s emphasis on data writing and reading speeds was not lost here either, as this product was made with the intention of providing as much convenience as possible without sacrificing the quality of data transfer that made this company great in the first place.
In spite of the numerous upgrades to product quality and features that have been offered here, this product still retains a lot of the old features that you would have gotten used to when it comes to Seagate products. Some interesting features include a robust battery life as well as the option to stream content from this device to multiple external media players at once. It should be noted that this product allows up to three devices using it simultaneously. While this is certainly useful, it is not quite as impressive when compared to recent releases by newer companies such as Corsair.
One important thing to note is that in releasing this product, Seagate has attempted to create a data storage solution specifically geared toward tablets and smartphones. These types of devices generally feature limited physical storage with basic cloud storage capabilities to supplement your data capacity. However, in order to get any real storage space that would allow you to save large blocks of data, you would have to pay exorbitant amounts of money in order to upgrade your cloud storage capacity. This product may be pricey, but since it can save you so much upgrade money in the long run, the price really does seem worth it.
Overall, this product is not quite a trailblazer because many of its features have been provided in devices offered by its competitors, but it definitely is a sign that Seagate is stepping up its game in order to cater to a market that has long been clamoring to be taken seriously. In the review provided below, you will discover the intricacies of this device and will be able to decide for yourself whether or not Seagate has managed to remain relevant in a technological landscape it was once a pioneer of but has recently fallen behind due to exciting new entries into the market.
Design
When you first get a glimpse of this product, your immediate reaction will be one of pleasant surprise. Seagate has frequently been criticized for the aesthetic shortcomings of its devices and for a long time, it remained obstinate in its dedication to performance above everything else. However, an increasingly competitive marketplace that it once dominated without question has forced it to listen to the masses, which is probably why this particular product looks far more high-end than Seagate’s other external storage drives you may have seen in the past.
At first glance, the product does seem to follow a lot of the aesthetic cues that Seagate has become known for, namely the black brick design that pretty much all previous devices it has released have conformed to. Once you get past the surface, though, you would see that in this case, this is just so much better done, and it is the subtle touches that make this so.
This product has a matte cover, a far cry from the sleek, fingerprint-prone products it has released in the past. The lack of smudging is going to be a plus point for people who like to keep their tech as clean as possible, which is an unusual complaint but not an uncommon one.
The design is rather lightweight but the product still seems to provide a sense of durability in spite of the lack of heft. The lightweight design would be highly beneficial for people who prefer portability above all else. The fact that this product is both lightweight and durable is a testament to Seagate’s traditional approach and is something that many companies fail to provide.
While this product may not be quite as innovative in its features as other similar items on the market, it wins major points in the practicality department by preferring reliability over flashiness, functional though that flashiness may be.
The button and LED layout is also quite simple. There are LED lights to indicate battery life on the top corner of this product and just beneath them, there is a USB socket that serves as both a charging port as well as a data transfer mechanism. There are no unnecessary buttons cluttering up the design here, which is great since a lot of people are sick of the way companies turn perfectly serviceable designs into a chaotic mess due to the numerous unnecessary buttons and lights.
Performance
While wireless transfer was not exactly an innovation that Seagate can be credited with since a lot of products have offered the same feature far before, it should be noted that, if nothing else, Seagate did it better than everyone else. There are two main reasons why this is the case.
The first reason is, as already mentioned before, the fact that this product offers an incredible amount of range. To be specific, this device can be accessed from up to a hundred and fifty feet away! This means that people living in big homes would be able to use the same device to access all of their content, and people working in an office would find this feature quite useful as well. This level of the range is truly unprecedented, and it has allowed Seagate to set itself apart in a market that had started to leave it behind in favor of newer and more ostensibly innovative companies.
The second reason that Seagate made wireless transfer better is the fact that the quality of data transfer is absolutely phenomenal. One of the biggest problems that a lot of companies faced was maintaining data transfer without any of the files being corrupted or any of the data being lost. Seagate managed to find a way around this, which means that even at a hundred and fifty feet away, your data would be safe and sound. You would be able to read off this disk without any kind of lag and write data to the drive-in extremely short periods of time.
One aspect where Seagate still left something to be desired is when multiple users are viewing files simultaneously. There are devices out there that offer even more simultaneous viewing slots, so this product’s ability to support up to three devices at the same time just ended up being flat out unimpressive.
That being said, simultaneous viewing is notorious for lowering data reading rates, thus resulting in content that is viewed at a much lower quality. Seagate has once again proven itself here because even if all three streams are being used at the same time, quality will remain just as high as it would if only one person were using it. Hence, while you may sacrifice on quantity, you would not be compromising on quality as is always the case when it comes to Seagate.
The performance of this product stands out as far as usability is concerned. The app you would be using to access this device is quite simple with very little potential for confusion. It can be argued that you miss out on a little bit of functionality due to this simplistic design. However, it should be noted that sometimes making things easier is the smarter thing to do, especially if you want to appeal to as wide a market share as possible.
Perhaps one criticism that can be given to this interface is the lack of app integration. In its attempt to make things as easy to use as possible, Seagate has alienated a lot of the apps that might have been essential to your overall experience with this product.
Basically, as far as performance is concerned, there are some gripes you might have, especially considering how pricey this product is, but you would be overall quite satisfied with how much you can trust this device to keep your data safe and secure. Many people would consider the negative aspects of this product’s performance to be deal-breakers, however.
[amazon box=”B00JSQV44S” template=”horizontal”]Pros
Durability: Since this is a product designed for high-value data storage, durability is obviously going to be key. You can trust that this product is not going to break anytime soon, even if you drop it a lot.
Wireless access: The range of the wireless access is truly something to behold, especially when you consider the high-quality performance it provides, even when it comes to long distance data transfer. The lack of wires is certainly something a lot of people would enjoy since it would help them keep everything as neat and tidy as possible.
Read/write speeds: Seagate is really the only company that you can rely on completely when it comes to this sort of thing. It has outdone itself this time, however, because both read and write speeds remain consistently high while you are multi-streaming as well as when you are far away from the device taking advantage of the wireless intranet you can create.
Battery life: While most of its competitors are offering around seven to eight hours of battery life, Seagate has managed to up the ante by providing ten hours’ worth of battery life. The extra three hours can prove to be monumentally useful to you in a variety of occasions, especially when you need to read or write data during an emergency where time is of the essence.
Ease of use: The lack of a learning curve really helps make this a stellar choice for people who do not know a lot about technology and might feel a little threatened by new devices that they don’t fully understand. The simple app design is so intuitive and intelligently designed that using it would be instinctive for most and easily learned by the rest. Hence, this product is perfect for family use.
Storage space: While the storage space being offered here is by no means revolutionary, it is on par with the industry standards and is another reason you should consider buying this product. When combined with the various other benefits this product offers, the 1 terabyte of storage space is pretty significant because it only adds value to your purchase if you buy this device.
Aesthetics: Surprisingly, aesthetics are listed in the pros section of this review of a Seagate product. This is perhaps indicative of how self-aware this company has become because it has put a concentrated effort into addressing concerns that consumers have about its products and has done so successfully and with no small amount of style.
Cons
Price: The price is going to be a point of contention for a lot of people who would be considering buying this product. On the one hand, this product is definitely one of the best out there in its category and offers old-school reliability with some new features. On the other hand, there are more innovative products out there available at a low price.
Inadequate app ecosystem: This further makes the case against the high price point this product is offered at. An app ecosystem like this does not leave much room to expand and, in many ways, can limit the overall experience you would get while using this product. The simple app format offers ease of use, but the cost might be too great for many to stomach.
Comparatively inferior multi-viewing system: There are products out there that offer more simultaneous viewing slots at a cheaper price. While it is true that they don’t offer the same wireless quality, the new storage drive by Corsair has an innovative Ethernet port that can allow users to enjoy up to five simultaneous streams at peak quality. This product fails to match up to that.
Conclusion
[amazon box=”B00JSQV44S” template=”horizontal”]Overall, it comes down to what you look for in a product. If you want all of the benefits of an advanced, portable storage drive with a high data capacity and wireless functionality in a traditionally durable package, this product is for you.
However, if you want the most cutting-edge and innovative product out there, then you should skip this device. However, bear in mind that whatever you get will be fragile and will offer lower quality read and write speeds. It is always a give and take when it comes to these things.
