At a glance
Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Portable, rugged design
- Supports MagSafe for use with iPhone
- Good performance for shooting video
- Competitively priced
Cons
- No backup software included
- No Lightning support for older iPhones or iPads
Our Verdict
It’s hard to fault the Creator drive. Its lightweight, rugged design is ideal for shooting photos or video on an iPhone – including Apple ProRes video at 4K. MagSafe support helps to keep it safe when you’re travelling, and its USB-C interface makes it easy to transfer your files onto a Mac when you get home.
Price When Reviewed
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Best Pricing Today
Price When Reviewed
1TB: $109.99; 2TB: $169.99
Best Prices Today: SanDisk Creator Phone SSD
Since it parted ways with parent company Western Digital, SanDisk has launched a flurry of new SSD products, with a particular emphasis on drives designed for creative users. And, with its latest release, it’s homing right in on Apple users with the new Creator Phone SSD.
Available with either 1TB or 2TB storage, the Creator Phone SSD doesn’t look like a conventional solid-state drive, but that’s because it’s very much designed for use with smartphones – and the iPhone in particular. It’s still competitively priced though, costing just $109.99/£99.99 for a model with 1TB of storage, while 2TB costs $169.99/£156.99, which is comparable to many less versatile drives that are mainly designed for use with Macs and PCs.
The slimline drive is certainly eye-catching, with its sky-blue silicon casing, and it measures just 11mm thick, 82.5mm high and 68.4mm wide. It only weighs 54g, so you can easily slip it into your pocket or a bag when you’re on the move. However, the drive also supports Apple’s MagSafe technology, which allows you to attach it directly onto the back of your iPhone so that you can just pick up the phone knowing that the drive is safely attached when you’re ready to go.
SanDisk states that the drive will also work with iPhone cases that are MagSafe compatible, and it did attach firmly to my own iPhone which is wrapped in one of Apple’s own cases, with no trouble at all. And, for our Android friends, SanDisk provides a small metallic ring in the box, which has an adhesive backing. You can connect the metal ring to a non-Apple smartphone, and then use the ring to connect the Creator drive and hold it in place.
The Creator drive also boasts a sturdy IP65 rating for water and dust resistance. This means that the drive is completely sealed to prevent dust or other particles getting inside the casing, and it can also resist the pressure of intense jets of water for up to three minutes (but not complete immersion under water).
SanDisk also claims that the silicon case provides shock protection when dropped from a height of up to three metres, so it’s well suited for people who need to work outdoors and in harsh or wet environments.
The iPhone-friendly design will certainly appeal to many users, but the Creator drive can be used with Macs and other devices as well. The drive has a conventional USB-C interface, which supports USB 3.2 Gen 2, so you can use it with any Mac, PC or mobile device that has a USB-C port. SanDisk also includes a sturdy USB-C cable for outdoor use, with a Velcro strap to help keep it safe.
The only limitation, of course, is that the drive won’t work with iPhones or iPads that still have Lightning connectors. There’s no back-up software or other apps provided with the drive, but SanDisk’s website does provide useful Help files explaining the different formatting options that you can use, and how to use the Files app on an iPhone for transferring files between devices.
With iPhone users in mind, SanDisk states that the Creator drive supports speeds of up to 1000MB/s and 950MB/s for read and write performance respectively. This allows you to record Apple ProRes video with 4K resolution at 60 frames per second directly onto the drive itself, rather than recording the video onto your iPhone and then laboriously transferring individual files when your iPhone’s built-in storage is full.
The performance requirements for recording ProRes video are actually quite complex, but Apple provides detailed information for different iPhone models on its website, so it’s worth taking a look before buying any external drive for use with an iPhone.
Our performance tests using the BlackMagic disk test showed that the drive did consistently hit 950MB/s for write performance, which is crucial if you’re recording large video files. The drive’s read performance didn’t quite meet SanDisk’s claims, peaking at 875MB/s when using both Apple’s APFS format and the cross-platform ExFat format.
Even so, the performance of the Creator drive is similar to that of more specialised iPhone drives, such as the Lexar Professional Go, making it an excellent choice for iPhone users who need a fast, portable drive that they can use for photography or video work in outdoor locations.
Should You Buy The SanDisk Creator Phone SSD?
The rugged, compact and MagSafe-compatible design of the Creator Phone SSD will be ideal for film-makers or photographers who need extra storage for their iPhone when working outdoors. It’s competitively priced too, while its USB-C port ensures that you can quickly transfer your important files onto a Mac when you get back home – or even just use it as a back-up drive for your Mac too.