Typically, you'd need several different pieces of gear in order to get USB connectivity, anSD card reader, a wireless networking hotspot, and a power bank for charging devices. But Adata's DashDrive Air AE400 combines all of those things in form factor measuring 8 x 5.9 x 2.1 cm and weighing 128 g.
The company claims that its DashDrive Air AE400 is a jack of all trades that comes in handy in a wide variety of situations. In addition to looking good in black with a nice honeycomb surface design, it enables wireless access to USB drives and SD cards, lets up to 10 devices share one Internet connection in bridge mode, and can even be used to charge your cell phone or tablet when you're away from a power outlet. Adata says the DashDrive Air AE400 power bank’s battery boasts 5000 mAh of capacity, which should be enough to charge most smartphones a couple of times.
The Adata DashDrive Air AE400 regularly sells for about $80, though we're currently seeing it at $55 on Newegg. That's no more expensive than buying all of that functionality separately. So, we'll have to see how well it all works together from a practical standpoint.
Adata DashDrive Air AE400 Technical Specifications
| Manufacturer | Adata |
|---|---|
| Model | DashDrive Air AE400 |
| Interfaces | Micro-B USB, USB 2.0 Host, SD Card Reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC) |
| Wi-Fi Standard | IEEE 802.11 b/g/n |
| Integrated Battery / Electrical Charge | Lithium-Polymer / 5000 mAh |
| Dimensions | 80 x 21 x 59 mm (W x H x D) |
| Weight | 128 g |
| Warranty | 12 Months |
The power bank’s current charge is indicated by another LED to the left of the three mode lights. It’s green between 100 and 50 percent, yellow between 50 and 25 percent, and red under 25 percent. It flashes when the Adata DashDrive Air AE400 is being charged via the Micro-USB port.
To turn the DashDrive back off, hold that button up top for a few seconds yet again. Powered down, the DashDrive Air AE400 acts just like a normal USB 2.0-based SD card reader. The corresponding LED lights up if you hook the DashDrive up to a PC with a USB cable.
Power Bank
The Adata DashDrive Air AE400 should be able to charge mobile devices like smartphones and tablets on the road using its 5000 mAh battery. Unfortunately, mobile device manufacturers haven’t agreed on a standard for charging their devices, instead sticking with proprietary standards. If they could just reach a consensus, a device like the DashDrive Air AE400 would work equally well with all mobile devices after negotiating how much juice each battery needs. As it is, this doesn’t work.
We tried Adata's DashDrive Air AE400 with Google's Nexus 4, and the configuration immediately demonstrated what we were just talking about. With its 3.8 V, 2100 mAh battery, the Nexus 4 takes longer to charge than if you used Google's bundled adapter. The phone took 40 minutes just to hit 26% charge.
Apple App Store or Google Play, respectively.
The DashDrive Air Elite app opens a Wi-Fi connection to the hardware device itself, enabling access to files on the SD card reader or a connected USB storage device, as well as the DashDrive’s system settings. We’ll talk about the former first, and cover the latter on the next page.
Streaming Over Wi-Fi
The DashDrive Air AE400 has to be in data transmission mode to send or receive files. This is the first of the three modes, and it's enabled by default when you power the storage reader/power bank on. After that, select the wireless network called “ADATA_AE400_XXX” in the connecting device's network settings. The “XXX” at the end is a placeholder for a combination of letters and numbers. This combination is unique for every DashDrive Air AE400. Lastly, enter the network key, which is “12345678” from the factory.
Once the connection is made, files from the DashDrive Air AE400 can be browsed using, for example, the DashDrive Air Elite app or Windows' File Explorer. Adata categorizes files into Photos, Videos, Music, Documents, and Others.
The DashDrive Air AE400 can play music and open images through integrated software tools. The same files can also be downloaded to a PC or mobile device. Information can go the other way as well. Using the DashDrive Air Elite app, simply push the upload button and choose the files to send. Data transmission is quick, and we didn’t encounter any problems when we tried it out. Naturally, larger files take a bit of time to transfer in spite of a fast wireless connection. Expect to wait two or three seconds for a 4 MB photo to pop up in the picture viewer.
Wired File Access Via USB 2.0
We were positively surprised by the Adata DashDrive Air AE400’s wired transfer rates. It offers first-rate performance when it’s used as a card reader via its Micro-USB port. We employed Patriot's EP Pro SD card to try it out. The DashDrive Air AE400 read at 45 MB/s and wrote at 38 MB/s. As you no doubt know, those are really good numbers for a USB 2.0 connection.
DashDrive Air AE400 through Adata's DashDrive Air Elite app and open the settings menu. Alternatively, you can reach the DashDrive’s fixed IP address (192.168.99.1) via Web browser. Either way, theDashDrive Air AE400 asks for an administrator username and password. The default for both is “admin.”
To actually establish an Internet connection, select “Internet Access” in the system settings and pick the hotspot you want to join. Again, we used Google's Nexus 4 to test drive this process. Adata claims that up to 10 devices can share the DashDrive's Internet connection.
Many smartphones and tablets make it impossible, or at least very difficult, to establish cellular data and tethered connections at the same time. The DashDrive Air AE400 is a practical alternative because it enables an Internet connection for multiple devices via Wi-Fi, allowing your cell phone to maintain its cellular connection. Adata doesn't incorporate any sort of mobile wireless module though, so it can't connect to a cell provider on its own.
The DashDrive Air AE400’s IP address cannot be changed. Fortunately, you are given access to the device's SSID, Wi-Fi password, and administrator account settings. There are also options to change the date and time. Finally, an energy-saving mode allows theDashDrive to automatically turn off after idling for 5, 10, or 30 minutes.
Adata's DashDrive Air AE400 is a Wi-Fi hotspot, a power bank with charger, and a USB port and SD card reader, all rolled into one compact package. That's a fairly diverse bag of tricks, and it comes in handy when you're on the go. We like hardware able to lighten our load, and the consolidation of these few capabilities is nice when you know upfront that you will put them all to good use.
To that end, the DashDrive Air AE400 is the little gadget that could. The Wi-Fi transfer speeds are as fast as we could expect from an 802.11n-based device, and the USB 2.0 wired performance is top notch. Getting the DashDrive up and running is a piece of cake, and it's easy enough to get multiple clients hooked up to the hotspot's Internet connection. Unfortunately, the DashDrive Air AE400 doesn’t have its own mobile Internet module and, consequently, can't establish its own connection. Finally, theDashDrive can charge mobile devices, even though it'll almost certainly do that show at a slower rate than the charger bundled with your phone or tablet.
There are a couple of critical points we need to mention. First, the DashDrive Air AE400 could use a more exact indicator of how much power is left in its battery. This information makes a big difference. You want to know if it's completely full or about to drop below 50%, especially before you unplug it to leave on a trip. Otherwise, in both cases, you get a green LED. Android users will find it strange that the DashDrive Air Elite app asks if you'd like to close the app every time you press the back button, which is normally used to jump to the previous menu. Fortunately, this isn't a problem for iOSusers.
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