If you’re regretting your decision to save a few hundred bucks on your iPhone or iPad by opting for the smaller 16GB model, there are ways to boost your smartphone’s storage capacity. But because swapping in a larger microSD card just isn’t an option in the Apple world, you’ll have to settle for an external storage solution. And while there are lots of Lightning-friendly flash drives already on the market, the iBridge from Leef features a clever curvy design that wraps around behind your device in an attempt to be less intrusive.
Does it succeed? Not entirely, you’ll always know the iBridge is connected to your device. But with the bulk of the drive tucked out of sight behind your iPhone or iPad thanks to its unique J-shaped form factor, it’s a fair compromise for an additional 256GB of storage capacity for your iOS device.
There are some other compromises and trade-offs you’ll need to be aware of, though. Thanks to the closed-off nature of iOS you’ll need to copy files to and from your iPhone or iPad using the accompanying Leef iBridge app, and it remains to be seen how robust of usable its UI is. The same goes for streaming multimedia content off the drive, but there’s at least the potential for the app to support more file formats than iOS does natively. And a starting price of $US60 for the 16GB model is a little on the pricey side as far as flash drives go these days. But with that Lightning port on one end the Apple tax is probably invoked here. [Leef]