A NAS, or Network-Attached Storage, is a computer based system that stores large files across multiple hard drives that can be shared across a local network. If you are a computer enthusiast you may have a home NAS that stores your personal backups and/or files. You may have noticed that NASs only work well with either a desktop or laptop; when it comes to your smartphone, accessing your NAS may become quite difficult. Home NASs are also typically not portable since they can hold 2 – 4 full size hard drives.
So what if you’re a person who is always on the go, but needs storage that exceeds your phone’s capacity? A high storage NAS combined with portability was almost unheard of, but Kingston has now taken on the task of creating a portable NAS for your mobile devices.
The Kingston MobileLite Wireless Reader is a multifunctional mobile tool that is filled with features for heavy storage users. Today, I will be reviewing the device and covering the unboxing, design, features and my overall thoughts. I would like to thank Kingston for providing this unit for review.
Figure 1 – What’s included.
The Unboxing
On the outside of the box is a description of what the MobileLite does. Inside the box you will find the MobileLite unit itself, a USB charger, an SD Card adapter, and the user manual.
The packaging is acceptable as the items are well protected by an antistatic bubble wrapping and the items are a good fit inside the box.
As the mobile NAS is only powered by an 1810 mAh rechargeable battery you may need to fully charge your device before putting it to use. The unit does lack a wall charger, but I found using a PC to charge the MobileLite worked well and charged the unit in just a few hours. I would have liked to have seen an included 1A wall charger which would allow the NAS to operate 24/7.
Figure 2 – The MobileLite in full action.
Design
The design of the MobileLite is excellent as the top housing of the unit is a stainless steel construction with a black plastic cover over the wireless antennas I can certainly say that the MobileLite is designed to be traveled with as it is very sturdy. This design offers a premium feel to MobileLite.
On the front of the unit, is a full size USB port that can be used to charge your mobile device. Remember that the battery is only an 1810 mAh capacity battery that can be drained quickly, so take every opportunity to recharge it. The USB port also doubles as a flash storage for your NAS. Having a USB flash drive plugged into the port you can access all of the files on the drive via the MobileLite app, but more about that later.
To the right of the USB port is the micro USB charger for the MobileLite. Kingston also includes a Micro to USB charging cable, so a wall and/or car USB outlet would be a good investment and should have been supplied with the unit.
On the opposite side you find the full size SD Card socket that acts in the same way as the USB drive. With an SD card plugged in, you can access all of the content on that SD Card. You can also use Micro SD Cards as Kingston also included a SD Card adapter. Take care when using an SD card as there have been reports of the units destroying the FAT record. This may be a rare act of the device, but take caution.
Having dimensions at 124.8mm x 59.9mm x 17.3mm the MobileLite fits well in a suitcase or even a pocket. With its rectangular design, it’s nice to have it in a small, safe place.
Figure 3 – The MobileLite works everywhere!
Features
Moving on, we get to the main feature of the MobileLite. As I have mentioned a few of the features already, such as the phone charger, Kingston makes sure that you get the most for your money when you purchase their products.
To begin we have the main purpose of the device, the NAS capability. As flash drives and SD Cards grow in capacity your amount of storage is essentially unlimited. I decided to use my MobileLite with a Kingston 64GB DataTraveler Micro USB 2.0 drive, and music playback, as well as video playback, worked flawlessly. I could exit the room and enter another room without having any interruptions in what I was listening to or viewing. The NAS also allowed me to copy files to my device locally or keep them on the USB drive itself.
The application that runs the device is also acceptable as it has picture slideshow options, an easy to manage file manager, and an easy way to change the device’s settings. The application can help you use your device with easy to follow guides. You can download the application here:
To connect the unit to your smartphone you must first connect to the wireless SSID that the MobileLite provides. This does mean you will lose internet connectivity that I found to be a tad upsetting. Then launch the Kingston MobileLite app and you should be able to manage your files on any device that is plugged in.
The usage of the NAS is endless and can be shown by watching the following Kingston videos here.
Finally you can find all of the MobileLite specifications here:
Inputs for Storage USB and SD — reads SD, SDHC, SDXC and microSD (with included adapter)
Supported File Systems: FAT, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT
Dimensions: 124.8mm x 59.9mm x 17.3mm
Weight: 98g
Wireless Network Interface: Wi-Fi 802.11g/n with wireless security (WPA2)
Rechargeable Battery: up to 5 hours of continuous use
Battery Built-in rechargeable: Li-ion 1810 mAh 3.8v battery
Local Storage: wirelessly transfer files to and from the MobileLite Wireless app and the MobileLite Wireless hardware
Camera Roll: support allows users to move photos from their mobile device to MobileLite Wireless in order to free up space
Cable USB to micro USB: cable included
Operating Temperature: 0°C to 40°C
Storage Temperature: -10°C to 45°C
Guaranteed one-year warranty:, free technical support
Customizable Device Name: (SSID) User selectable Wi-Fi priority list when there are multiple APN/Key available
File Support: MobileLite Wireless can store any file type. Playback and viewing are based on the files supported by the mobile device
General file format support: – Audio: MP3, WAV – Video3: m4V, mp4 (H. 264 video codec) – Image: jpg, tif – Document: pdf
Figure 4 – Android Interface
My Final Thoughts
The device itself is a great item to have and sure does come in handy when wanting to watch movies without placing them on your mobile device. When it comes to video playback I like to watch movies on a bigger screen like my Windows 8.1 tablet. I feel that Kingston should expand the application to both Windows 8.1 devices and Windows Phones. I have heard, however, that Kingston is working on a Windows Phone application.
At $52.00 the MobileLite is not cheap and there will be an additional cost if you do not have an SD Card or USB drive to use with it. I recommend that you use the Kingston Micro with the MobileLite due to its very small size.
Whilst I have been using the MobileLite, it has yet to disappoint me in any way and I would recommend the device to any user with many files who is always on the go.
Buy it Now:
© 2014 techsupportforum.com
2 Comments
How is it compared with the RAVPower 5-in-1 filehub? The two come with the very similar features. I went through both product on Amazon, seem people are more likely to choose the RAVPower, there’re more decent reviews of the RAVPower.
As I have note reviewed the RAVPower, I cannot say whether or not which is better. I did see that they did make a unit. I do reviews for RAVPower here at TSF and I can see if it is something they would like to have reviewed. The Kingston unit above, however, was quite a joy to use and did have acceptable build quality.