INTRODUCTION

   Nowadays no matter where i look or what press release i read it seems that almost everything in the electronics industry revolves around the portable needs people have (the ones that don't will probably get pulled in regardless) and so daily we see all sorts of new devices emerge including smartphones, tablets, wireless speakers and headsets, battery packs, carrying/protection cases, 2.5" external HDDs, wireless access points, wireless media streamers/readers and much more. Personally i am not much into carrying multiple devices with me when i go away just to cover my portable needs but i do thing that there are some exceptions and so aside the usual battery packs which i think are a must and some wireless headsets/speakers lately I’ve also been using quite a few of the latest wireless media streamers/readers and one of those has been the ICY BOX IB-WRP201SD by RaidSonic which has come to take other similar solutions like the Kingston MobileLite Wireless head on with its quite interesting set of features.

   RaidSonic Technology GmbH was founded in Hamburg 1999. To realize our future visions and the rising requirements, RaidSonic moved to Ahrensburg (20 min. away from Hamburg) in May 2004.The capacity of our new warehouse, our permanent improving logistic and the expanded technical support lets us look into the future very optimistically. Our vision in a constantly growing IT market is to develop products, which will become your future dreams. Our extensive product portfolio, which we distribute Europe-wide, combines all internal and external solutions for the application of mass storage, for industrial and professional applications as well as for the private sphere, too. Through our all along increasing know-how, good results in research and development and our good cooperation with our long-time customers we could achieve a dynamic growth.

   Unlike most similar solutions RaidSonic has given multiple roles to the ICY BOX IB-WRP201SD so it's a device that can be used as a media streamer/reader (SD/SDHC/SDXC card reader) for your WiFi enabled devices, wireless access point (10/100 Ethernet LAN port) so you can extend the range of your network, external enclosure (USB 2.0) allowing you to access the contents of the cards via USB and as a portable battery pack (5000mAh Li-Polymer Battery) which can be used to charge certain devices such as smartphones, headsets and perhaps even small tablets. So although flexibility-wise this is the first time we've received a device like that we were quite curious to see just how well it performs and in the end as you will all see later on it didn't disappoint.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

A large image of the ICY BOX IB-WRP201SD is present at the front of the box along with its features, system requirements, color selection and connectors.

The features list is placed on both sides in English and German.

RaidSonic has placed the same list at the rear in 8 languages this time.

The device is placed inside a formed piece of cardboard for increased protection during shipping.

The box contains the ICY BOX IB-WRP201SD, USB to micro-USB cable, quick installation guide, warranty information paper and a software mini CD.

THE ICY BOX IB-WRP201SD

It may pack quite a few features but the rubber coated ICY BOX IB-WRP201SD is quite compact measuring just 78mm in width, 85mm in length and 25mm in height while weighing just 153g.

Showing just how large the IB-WRP201SD is in order to here we placed it right next to the Huawei Honor.

The rubber coating is a nice touch although as you can see it's a dust/fingerprint magnet.

Three activity LEDs (internet/WiFi/charging) are placed on the upper end.

The SD/SDHC/SDXC card reader along with the USB usage switch (USB read/USB charge) and the USB 2.0 port are placed on the right side.

At the rear of the IB-WRP201SD we find the reset and power buttons, the micro-USB charging port and the Ethernet (10/100) LAN port.

On a small sticker at the base of the unit you will find the barcode and serial number.

ICY BOX LINK APP

To turn on the IB-WRP201SD you just need to press the power button once and wait around 10-15s until the device starts to transmit the WiFi signal.

Once the boot screen is out of the way you will be presented with several selections regarding the file types you'd like to access the attached storage media for (Card/USB). You can also access the local files of your smartphone/tablet if you want.

Of course you can also upload files from your WiFi enabled device onto the attached SD/SDHC/SDXC card and/or the USB drive if you want.

Through the settings screen you can change the broadcast name, enable/disable password entry, enable/disable internet access point, set the time before the device shuts down (since by default the idle shut down period is set to 5 minutes i suggest increasing it a bit), adjust the date and time, set the administrator password, perform firmware updates and shut down the unit.

The LINK software creates quite a few directories onto the card and although i didn't like that much (confusing) i am certain that many people will find it convenient.

RaidSonic has given the ICY BOX IB-WRP201SD compatibility for several file types including MP4/3GP (H.263/264) encoded video files, WAV/AAC/MP3/WMA/OGG/MIDI/AIF/AAX audio files and JPG/GIF/TIFF/PNG/BMP image files.

CONCLUSION

   RaidSonic has always been amongst the very few manufacturers around the world that have such a wide range of products available in the market and although for the leading manufacturers like Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, Toshiba, Philips and others that's not a bad thing for a significantly smaller one that may end up being catastrophic. Luckily thanks to a very good level of quality paired with a good number of innovative products to date that hasn't happened to RaidSonic and i really think that the ICY BOX IB-WRP201SD is a clear reason as to why that is. How many times have you seen a compact device like the IB-WRP201SD that can be used as an WiFi media reader/streamer, USB flash drive, WiFi access point and as a portable battery pack? Of course it's not the perfect device since for example we would like to have support for MKV files but we can't have everything. Regarding the battery capacity we never really reached the 5000mAh mark (we did manage to squeeze around 4000-4200mAh) but to date we haven't found a battery pack that actually delivers on the advertised capacity so this is ok.

   No matter how good a product is in the end many consumers judge it mostly based on its price tag and that's yet another thing that I’ve always liked about RaidSonic since they follow a rather aggressive price policy and with a current price tag set at 60Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) the ICY BOX IB-WRP201SD 4 In 1 WLAN Storage Station offers a very good bang for your buck. Unfortunately RaidSonic products are not really available inside the USA (at least not with equally good price tags) and that's always been one of the things i hope they will get to change one day. Overall the ICY BOX IB-WRP201SD 4 In 1 WLAN Storage Station may not be perfect but it offers many features at a very good price point and that's why it receives our Golden Award.

PROS

- Good Build Quality
- Size
- Rubber Coated Exterior
- WiFi Streamer/Reader
- USB Flash Drive Use
- Internal 5000mAh Li-Polymer Battery (Can Also Be Used To Charge Other Devices)
- Simultaneous Connection To Up To 5 Devices
- WiFi Access Point
- Price (For Some) 

CONS

- Availability