WD My Passport Wireless review: Store wireless but store alone

At a glance: 802.11n WiFi, USB 3.0, SD card reader, 2 TB storage space, Windows/Mac compatibility. 

In the Box: Storage device, USB universal power adaptor, quick install guide

Price: 2 TB - Rs 17,500
1 TB - Rs 13,000
500 GB - Rs 11,000

Western Digital's Passport is not your run-of-the-mill hard disk. It's a cloud storage external drive, one that uses WiFi to save your data online, from anywhere.  And with a very sleek, minimalistic design, as is typical of the brand, and at 5 inches long and under an inch thick, it’s definitely very easy to carry around. In the box was a “quick install” guide, basically the equivalent of 4 sticky notes with pictographic instructions. Simple enough to follow, but if you usually have a problem when computers don’t work exactly the way you want, you might want to grab a helper for this first install. Also, while the drive is forward compatible for Windows 7 and up, it seemed to work best with Windows 8. 
Requirement-wise, however, the install is simple enough. Just connect to the drive’s WiFi, open http://mypassport for Windows and http://mypassport.local for Mac and it opens up the drive’s dash for you. From here, you can set up a password, calibrate your settings, and even opt to switch the drive onto an existing WiFi. That means, if you’re using this drive at home, you can simply open the dash to piggyback the drive onto your home network with a single click. 

A built-in SD card reader helps you back up your photos on the go - DNA

Speaking of the WiFi, it provides much faster speeds than competitor brands, yet not up to the mark promised on the box. WD makes lofty promises of five devices connecting simultaneously to the passport, but I found it could handle a maximum of three connections before the speed drop made even using the device ridiculously painful. And if you need to stream a movie onto your device, don’t even think about connecting more than one device, or you’re going to be watching that flick frame by frame. 
But when it comes to the solo user, it’s actually quite thrilling to be able to watch a movie being streamed in real time from the passport to a laptop. With just the one device connected, there’s no noticeable frame skipping, and you can have something else copying in the background as well. 
Another handy feature available, is the built-in SD card reader. Particularly for a photographer, who needs to empty his camera storage quickly and retain the pictures elsewhere, this is a huge plus. 
However, I do hope you have a spare USB 3.0 cable lying around somewhere, because you need it to charge the drive's battery pack and WD doesn't provide one in the box. A strange choice I have to say, considering the product is useless once it runs out of juice at that five-hour mark. C'est la vie.

The box includes a universal charger but, sadly, no USB connector - DNA

Pros: 

Good WiFi speed; we had zero lag movie streaming and an 800 MB movie copy in just under four minutes.
Able to connect to an existing network.
Allows multiple device connectivity (but works best without them).
Real-time media streaming.
Built-in SD card reader.

Cons: 

Battery life is too short; approximately five hours with a mixed bag of streaming and copying data.
Multiple devices connected causes major lag and media streaming is impossible with more than one device connected.
Installation can be problematic for inexperienced users.

Do you need this?

 Photographers and videographers are probably the largest market for this little doodad. Combine the massive storage space on this 2 TB model with the ludicrously good WiFi capability and you have a great portable backup device. It also comes in a 1 TB and 500 GB version, if you think 2 TB is a little much. It may not live up to it’s reach-for-the-stars proclamations, but the Passport is still a solid long-term investment. The drive is scheduled to be available early December.