The Toshiba Canvio AeroCast is an ambitious attempt to marry convenience with functionality, combining wireless capability, a useful SD card reader, and built-in battery for on-the-go data swapping.
At its heart and most basic form, the Canvio is a 1TB portable HDD that is rather nondescript, save for the SD card slot on the side. It’s powered by USB-3 for really fast data transfers (limited by your computer; my MacBook transferred data significantly faster than my work desktop), and as a portable hard disk, it does its job really well. There are three LED lights on top: power, WiFi, and SD card status. It fits in your bag and has a pleasant matte finish with rounded corners. Again, rather nondescript, but a hard disk isn’t meant to be fashionable.
To be able to use the wireless features, you’ll first have to download the app on your android or iOS device. Setting up the Canvio proved to require a bit of work. Connecting directly to the Canvio on its wireless from your phone requires a password, so to save you the trouble of finding it, it defaults to 12345678.
Up to six devices can simultaneously connect, and given that the device provides its own WiFi, you don’t really need an internet connection to set it up. The Canvio can be configured to four different users, each reading and uploading their own set of images and videos.
Once you connect, you browse and view the contents of the drive. The app has a built-in player for videos, photos, and music, and watching videos has a helpful “resume” option that picks up from where you’ve left off previously. Photos load reasonably fast, but don’t expect extensive sessions of browsing; the app has on occasion hung up on me and booted me back to the iOS home screen.
The SD card slot does the job, and is probably the most useful feature in my opinion, especially for photographers. You can take the Canvio with you without the need for a laptop (it doesn’t need to be connected to a USB to be switched on; it can be powered through its internal batteries). This means you can swap in the SD card, copy the images to the HDD, and then resume shooting if you’re low on space (you need to format the card once you put it back into the camera; the Canvio doesn’t erase the contents after copying). You can then connect your phone or tablet through the wireless, and browse/share the photos as you see fit. The viewer doesn’t preview RAW files, though, so you’re out of luck in that aspect.
Final Thoughts
For on-the-go file sharing and swapping, the Canvio is very convenient, especially with the 5 hour built-in battery life (rechargeable when you’re connected on USB). The SD card slot is particularly useful as well and rids your need to carry a laptop with you if you are out taking pictures and need to store in your images to clear space on the SD card. Whether this justifies the AED 699 price tag for you largely depends on how frequently you need the wireless and SD card capabilities.
