Back in April I reviewed the Toshiba Canvio Connect II. It’s a portable storage device that you can plug into your smartphone to send, receive, organise, backup, restore and view files.
This, what we have here, builds on that. The Canvio for Smartphone is a charger and an external drive which will backup and restore your files without you having to think too much about it.
Initially I thought it was a wireless charging station, but sadly it isn’t. Instead, you open the box, slot the appropriate plug into the adaptor and then plug the adaptor into the top of the circular Canvio unit. A second cable then goes into your phone. There’s a microUSB and a USB-C cable here, so this is Android only folks.
Whack your phone in, download the Content Manager app and you’re good to go. The app lets you quickly (or automatically) backup your phone when it’s plugged in. You can also charge, restore and manage the data on your smartphone.
Choose what you’d like to backup here
Select photos to view off the phone or the Canvio
This screen lets you hop into the various categories on your phone or the Canvio, plus you can perhaps just decide to start charging or swap your phone for another
It’s really simple to use too. The app asks you what you’d like to backup (contacts, photos, videos, music, documents or everything) and then goes off and does it when you plug in to charge each night. Simple and something you don’t have to think about.
I’m imagining this sitting next to my bed at night, with me able to simply plug in my phone and forget about the clever backup functionality that’s happening in the background.
Although a lot of people do perform backups, there’s only a very small amount of people who backup regularly. Also, even if you do backup to a cloud service or similar, there’s never any guarantee that the service will continue to be there. Here, with a device you can physically touch and control, you can keep the data safe and you’ll never have to pay any monthly fee to keep it going.
The app and the device work together well, allowing multiple phones to backup plus it’s a great solution for moving data from an old phone to a new one. Also, if you have the right cable, you can plug your PC in and grab data off the device straight onto your laptop.
Perhaps the best bit though is a combination of factors. It’s simple, it’s sleek and it’ll charge your phone whilst doing the backup of your daily snaps and video footage.
Note the rubber feet to stop it sliding around
This particular unit is 500GB, which is more than enough for most smartphones. It looks good in your bedroom or office and works in the background to keep those videos and pictures safe and secure.
Here’s a video overview…
Get more details on this device from the product page or buy one from Amazon for £65.07. I’ve got to say, as a gift idea it’s great. No fuss, no complicated setup. Just plugin, charge and keep those memories backed up regularly.