How much do you pay for your iCloud+ or Google Drive storage to make sure your photos get backed up on the cloud? Imagine paying zero.
Remember a time when flagship phones came with memory card slots that let you expand storage and potentially even swap out old cards for new ones to get more storage? Sure, some phones still go as far as offering expandable storage, but for the most part, all companies have defaulted to the ‘cloud storage’ model where you pay a monthly subscription and your phone automatically backs data up without you needing to remember. It’s convenient, but it’s also costly, as you’re suddenly required to pay monthly cloud storage fees. It isn’t easy to ask phone makers to revert back to those good old MicroSD card days… but that’s where something as deviously simple as the PhotoCube PD+ comes in. Designed as a simple plug-and-play USB-C device, the PhotoCube automatically backs up your photos to an SD card for you, saving effort and money. A companion app makes the entire process as simple as clicking a button (instead of manually selecting all your images and copy-pasting them) and the PhotoCube does the rest, updating your old storage files with new ones so your photo backups are always up to date. It’ll also create separate file structures for multiple devices, letting you separately back up photos across different phones and even tablets. Your photos remain offline, so you don’t need the internet to access them – and as a result, they’re also hacker-resistant. Quite impressive for a device that just costs $55.
Designer: PhotoFast
Click Here to Buy Now: $55 $99 (45% off) Hurry! Only 14 left of 560.
The reason most people prefer cloud storage is because it’s designed to be the easiest option ever. The phone backs itself up without you needing to remember, the files get stored in a safe server somewhere else, and if you ever lose your device, you can easily restore your photos if you log into your cloud storage account. What users then ignore is the fact that they end up paying hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars each year to store their photos. The PhotoCube PD+ aims at breaking that dependency with a hardware solution that’s just as easy. Plug the PhotoCube in and it literally begins backing up your photos in an instant. Photos get stored on a MicroSD card, so you can choose how much storage you want (you get 2 terabyte MicroSD cards nowadays), and it all happens offline without eating data transfer fees.
The PhotoCube device can easily be configured using an app
The fact that your data gets stored on a MicroSD card allows the PhotoCube to be such a ridiculously compact device. It’s no bigger than an AirTag, albeit square in shape (hence its name). A card slot on one end lets you add a MicroSD card in, while a male USB-C pin on the other end lets you plug your PhotoCube into any Android phone/tablet, any iPad with USB-C, and the latest iPhone 15 series. There’s also a female USB-C port on the opposite end (right under the card slot) that allows you to charge your phone THROUGH the PhotoCube, so you can run long backups while juicing your battery – a feature so wildly convenient it deserves a special mention.
Measuring just 30mm wide and 38mm long, the PhotoCube is smaller than even an AirPods case, but it can store up to 2TB
The PhotoCube’s brilliance lies in the fact that it isn’t a one-trick pony. When it isn’t backing up photos from your phone, it works as a card reader with all your devices (especially with your laptop), allowing you to read photos from your phone, drone, or DSLR on any machine. With USB 3.2 Gen 1, the PhotoCube PD+ can transfer files as rapidly as 5Gb/s, letting you swiftly back up or even access media without waiting for stuff to load.
Speaking of swift, the tiny gadget does a remarkable job of power delivery too, allowing you to charge your phone at an impressive 60W for fast-charging. The PowerCube PD+ supports pass-through fast-charging which means your backups and your charging can happen simultaneously… and rapidly.
Photo transfers happen in tandem with the PhotoFast app, which has a few impressive features. You can do more than just backing up photos and videos – the app lets you back up contacts, calendars, documents, even music (if you still believe in listening to MP3 files)… and if you’ve already paid for cloud storage, the PhotoFast app lets you download your backups from the cloud server onto the PhotoCube so you can cancel that pesky subscription and keep your files safe locally, and access them without needing to connect to the internet. The app intelligently also allows the PhotoCube to create and maintain separate backups for separate devices, so one PhotoCube could potentially store your entire family’s data, getting you off that expensive family cloud storage plan.
This isn’t maker PhotoFast’s first rodeo. Last year’s PhotoCube PD had a similar design, but didn’t support OTG plug-and-play storage (it needed a separate power source), and it wasn’t configured to work with iPhones (because iPhones didn’t have USB-C ports until September last year). The new PD+ comes with all those improvements under the hood, and now with two color options too – a simple white and grey, and a slightly jazzed up white and sky blue. The PhotoCube PD+ starts at $55 for Kickstarter backers (the original price after the crowdfunding campaign goes up to $99) and ships starting June 2024. It doesn’t come with a MicroSD card, so you have the liberty of choosing what brand/capacity of storage card you want to pair with your gadget. That’s quite a lot of flexibility for a device that fits in your pocket and also saves you money every month!
Click Here to Buy Now: $55 $99 (45% off) Hurry! Only 4 left of 470.
Click Here to Buy Now: $55 $99 (45% off) Hurry! Only 14 left of 560.
