If you lose your smartphone, you definitely don't want to lose all the photos and other files stored on it. That's why it's so important to perform backups, and the PhotoCube PD+ offers a particularly simple means of doing so.
First of all, yes, smartphones can already be backed up to the cloud, or to flash drives.
Cloud storage requires internet access and the payment of monthly fees, however, plus there's the ever-present risk of data breaches. Additionally, people who aren't all that tech-savvy may not be sure when and if those backups have taken place.
Flash drives definitely offer a more hands-on, "Yes, I know it worked" alternative, but the backup process can still be a little involved for some folks, plus the memory capacity of the drive can't be increased.
That's where the PhotoCube PD+ comes in.
Made by Hong Kong electronics company PhotoFast, the compact device plugs directly into an iPhone or Android phone's USB-C port, automatically triggering an accompanying app to perform a backup of the phone's contacts, calendar, photos, videos, documents and music files.
The PhotoCube stores all of that data on a swappable user-supplied microSD card of up to 2TB in capacity. Multiple phones and/or tablets can be backed up to a single card, on which each device's contents will be stored in a separate folder.
As an added bonus, the phone can be charged while a backup is in progress. This is managed simply by plugging the PhotoCube into an electrical outlet, then plugging the phone into the PhotoCube via a cord. If the correct adapter cord is used, this setup allows the PhotoCube to perform backups on phones that don't have a USB-C port.
The PhotoCube PD+ is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign, where a pledge of US$55 will get you one if everything works out. The planned retail price is $99.
Source: Kickstarter