Imagine you’ve just snapped a thousand photos on your digital camera — it isn’t one of those “smart” models with Wi-Fi like the Samsung Galaxy Camera — and now, back in your hotel room and equipped with free wired Internet, you’d like to share them with your friends and family right away, but you don’t have a computer, or an SD card reader. I’d be willing to bet good money that this has happened to some of you. If so, the devices I’m reviewing today would be right your alley.
Today, in a double review, I’ll be taking a look at the Apotop Wi-Reader and Wi-Reader Pro — two portable, wireless SD card and USB drive readers and routers. They’ll also be given away, so be sure to read through the entire review and join the competition.
Introducing the Apotop Wi-Reader and Wi-Reader Pro
Apotop’s Wi-Reader (DW09) and Wi-Reader Pro (DW17) are marketed to operate as wireless SD card readers and USB hubs. Basically, they help to connect external media with iOS and Android smartphones, tablets and computers by bridging the physical media gap. In addition to that, both devices can also be used as portable routers by acting as gateways or repeaters. As a plus, the Pro model can also be used to charge external devices through a 1A USB port. Both devices utilise internal, non-removable batteries to operate — the Pro’s more capacious 2,600 mAh battery allows it to operate for 7 continuous hours while the Wi-Reader only has 1,100 mAh to work with, which lasts around 3 hours.
The Wi-Reader is available on Amazon for about $43, while the Pro sells for $59.99. But they aren’t the only products the market has seen with these features.
For the same amount of money as the Wi-Reader, a similar device by EasyAcc is a good alternative — it also functions as a portable WiFi router/repeater, wireless SD card and USB drive reader, and it even has a 8,800 mAh built-in battery which can be used to charge external devices.
The $45 RAVPower RP-WD01 is a device (which we’ve reviewed) with a similar range of features — it acts as an external battery pack and wireless file hub. However, it doesn’t include any routing capabilities.
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