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A nice new accessory is now available for those of you who have been looking for a microSD card reader for your Android phone for one reason or another. It’s the Leef Access, a $10 dongle that inserts itself into your device’s microUSB port. In trying digital times like these where lots of manufacturers are ditching microSD card slots, Leef Access can be a lifesaver.
Not only will it allow you to easily transfer files to and from your phone, it has a secondary integrated microSD card slot for expansion usage. Need more space to store your music? Add it to your microSD card using Leef Access, and hook it up whenever you want to listen to your tunes.
Something like this isn’t totally practical for everyday use, of course — the fact that it protrudes from the device is an off-putting factor for those who keep their phones in their pockets, for instance. But if you absolutely need physical, external storage and your phone doesn’t provide it, there aren’t many better options out there.
Leef has this thing up on Amazon for sale right now if you’re interested, though you’ll have to put up with an inexpensive $4.50 shipping expense as it is not offered under Amazon Prime. Be sure to check it out if you’re interested.
It would be cool if they made this dongle into some sort of case. My Nexus 4 would be happy.
Now THAT is more practical! What a wonderful idea for those who don’t have expandable storage built in.
That would be the first case I ever buy, and it would ease the pain of a phone without a microSD slot.
Does it require the device to support OTG USB?
Because Nexus devices don’t.
And/or does it require root?
If your phone doesn’t support USB OTG, it’s going to need a custom kernel (root).
Always. Unless you root.
Or Nexus Media Importer App….I use it with my Nexus 7.
I was able to use a USB OTG dongle and an ordinary computer mouse with my Nexus 7.
way too big, considering the Meenova exists.
http://phandroid.com/2013/10/21/meenova-micro-sd-card-reader-for-android-review/
http://www.meenova.com/
Way too big? Its about the same size.
The Meenova has the microsd card perpendicular to the usb plug which lets it be shorter. The Meenova WITH the cap is smaller than just the body of this thing.
http://phandroid.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/leef-access-4.jpg
http://phandroid.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Meenova-DSC01194.jpg
Same price too.
By the pics..the leef looks smaller. it just the position of the male input that makes the difference on how much sticks out…
The point I think he’s trying to make is that it doesn’t stick out as far as the Leef reader. The Meenova sticks out a little bit more than the width of a micro SD card, the Leef looks like it would stick out 2-2.5 times that. The further it sticks out, the better chance it gets hit or something and snaps off the connector inside the port.
It might be longer but it has a neck so it can plug in with a case on your phone. If you have a case, you’ll have to take it off to use meenova.
Splitting hairs with the size my friend.
Or, you know, phone manufactures could stop taking away basic features we’ve depended on for many, many years now. And users could stop being sheep and rewarding the manufacturers by buying such crippled phones, giving the manufactures encouragement to continue abusing consumers.
Who needs removable storage, when we have the cloud? After all, data DOES grow on trees :P /s
Ha!
People with data limits. People who travel long distances and like to watch movies to pass the time and don’t want to deal with being disconnected.
The cloud is a lie.
not everyone is being a sheep, some people generally never used sdcard slots in their phones even when they had them… so why would they not buy a device that didnt have one when they didnt care in the first place?
Umm, even if you don’t use it now, doesn’t mean you might not use it in the future. Why is everyone against having the option to expand their local storage? It’s not like it adds even $10 to the cost of the phone. I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
I’m not against expandable storage… i just don’t care either way… so why would I specifically not buy a phone if i like the design and the UI, in order to get a phone’s who’s design and UI i do not care for, just because it has an SD card that i will not use.
I understand why you might need one, im not arguing it’s usefulness. But i had a phone with an sd card slot for 3 years (Evo 4g and Evo LTE) and never bought a larger or spare card… If i was fine with 16gb of storage it’s safe to assume i’ll be fine with 32gb.
Again i understand your boycott, but its silly to expect and ridicule people for buying devices they feel has everything they need. That would be like me ridiculing you for buy a car that doesn’t have 4 wheel drive because i personally feel like every car should be 4 wheel drive. You might not give 2 craps about 4wd because you live LA and never go off road and it doesnt snow. How could i get mad at you for that?
A thousand times yes! It’s great that we have many choices for mobile devices but I can’t help but wonder how much more competitive certain ones would be if they’d also support Micro SD INSIDE them.
Well, it’s a good sign the HTC One 2014 has a slot when the 2013 didn’t. Maybe it’s the beginning of a reversal in trend.
Not needing additional storage makes you a sheep?
I thought I’d miss the option when I got my old GNex (32GB), but I never needed. I have the N5 (32GB) now, and I seriously doubt I’ll ever need more storage.
Tablets ought to have expandable storage, but phones with at least 32GB of internal storage don’t really need it. I’d like to see phones with 64GB or even 128GB internal. Phones with 16GB or less and no microSD slot should die out. Certainly there should continue to be some phones with microSD slots, but most people don’t need it (and that doesn’t make them “sheep”).
I have the Meenova and it’s awesome, especially on a device like the G2 that supports USB OTG natively out the box.
I’m eyeing the Meenova for when I upgrade toa ph one without a microSD slot. The Meenova looks a little smaller than this one.
Yes. Meenova is 21*23*8mm.
It’s a great device, I’d get the orange one just because it would be easier to find if you lose it or something.
wait so this thing has two micro SD slots?
Edit: never mind, it is a storage slot for a second memory card..that is still cool..I got an 8gb and a 16gb laying around…..
it sure beats my current set up….
My sympathies.
It’s the Franken-reader!
I don’t know if this is something new or not.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA51SD0
Does this work on devices that don’t support usb on the go?
An excellent question.
Technically, it would be possible. The device could emulate a Host with the phone being the peripheral device. Then an app on the phone could communicate with the ‘host’ computer (which is the tiny USB reader). But that would require a lot of engineering, and at least something like a small microprocessor within the device. I would doubt it would sell for $10.
But even my two year old phone supports USB OTG. So I suspect there is a very large potential market for this $10 device.
Doesn’t come close to an internal one though. That would probably break off in my pocket.