Today, Western Digital announced the iXpand Flash Drive Luxe, the latest member of its family of iPhone-compatible flash drives. The product comes from its SanDisk brand - which it acquired back in 2015 - and it's the most compatible of the lineup so far.
That's because it comes with both a Lightning connector and a USB Type-C port, while previous drives, even if they had a USB port, would usually be Type-A. Thanks to the Type-C connector, the iXpand Flash Drive Luxe can be used with iPhones as well as most Android phones and PCs, making it easy to move files from device to device without an internet connection. You can also use the iXpand Drive app to back up data to the drive automatically.
Of course, there are the usual requirements. Your iPhone will need to be recent enough to have a Lightning port, plus it will have to be running iOS 11 or newer to support SanDisk's iXpand Drive app to back up content to the flash drive. However, as of iOS 13, you should also be able to use the drive with the native iOS Files app to move files around. Meanwhile, your Android phone will need to support USB on-the-go (OTG) connections to use external flash drives.
The iXpand Flash Drive Luxe comes in three storage variants - 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB, which cost $44.99, $59.99, and $89.99, respectively. You can buy it directly from Western Digital's website.
