Kingston’s MobileLite Wireless Review – The Perfect Travel Companion

Gear Diary is independently owned and operated. We receive compensation through advertising and from the companies whose products we review, usually in the form of the reviewed product. We test the products supplied to us, and the opinions expressed are our own.

Gear Diary is also reader-supported. When you buy through links posted on our site, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. You can learn more by clicking here.

Kingston MobileLite WirelessThe Kingston MobileLite Wireless is a very interesting and handy gadget.  With it, you’re able to read and write files to an SD card as well as a USB thumb drive, right from your phone with Kingston’s companion app.  You can also use the MobileLite Wireless as a backup battery to charge your phone.  Kingston’s MobileLite Wireless retails for $49.99.

The MobileLite with my USB stick attached.

The MobileLite with my USB stick attached.

When you turn on the MobileLite Wireless, it creates a WiFi network that shows up on your wireless device.  After you connect to the MobileLite’s network, you’re able to use Kingston’s app to wirelessly share files from an SD card, or USB stick, or both.  What’s really neat is that you’re also able to connect to the Internet through the MobileLite so that you can still be connected to the Internet while sharing files wirelessly.  You’re also able to connect three people to the MobileLite at the same time, so you can all share the same files all at once.

The underside of the MobileLite with USB charging cable attached.

The underside of the MobileLite with USB charging cable attached.

One of the more exciting features I discovered while playing with the MobileLite is that you can wirelessly stream any media, whether it be photos, music, or videos to your phone straight from an SD or USB thumb drive.  This makes the MobileLite Wireless a great traveling companion for me.  In order to load a movie up to my iPad, I would need to delete a ton of apps.  But now that I have the MobileLite, I can just boot it up while in an airplane, connect my iPad to it’s wireless network, and stream away!  I streamed a 720p quality movie from a USB thumb drive over the MobileLite’s wireless network and there were absolutely no stutters, it played perfectly.  You can even stream three different movies to three different devices at the same time, since up to three people can be connected at once.

Screenshot of the MobileLight app on iPhone 5. Here you can browse all the files on your USB stick or SD card.

Screenshot of the MobileLight app on iPhone 5. Here you can browse all the files on your USB stick or SD card.

Another travel-friendly feature of the MobileLite is the fact that it doubles as a backup battery that can charge your device via it’s USB port.  The MobileLite’s battery is rated to last up to 5 hours of continuous use.  The built-in 1810mAh lithium-ion battery is larger than that of the iPhone 5, so you’ll be able to more than double your battery life if you choose to use the MobileLite as an external battery pack.  If you’re wondering, the iPhone 5 has a battery capacity of 1,440mAh.

Streaming The Help in 720p wirelessly from my USB stick to my iPhone.

Streaming The Help in 720p wirelessly from my USB stick to my iPhone.

The beautiful thing about the Kingston MobileLite is that it’s compatible with all sorts of gadgets and gizmos, including iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches, Kindles, as well as Android devices.  The MobileLight can handle audio files in MP3 and WAV formats, video files in M4V or MP4 formats, images in JPG or TIF formats, and documents in PDF format.  Another nice feature of the MobileLite is that you can password protect the WiFi signal, so that passersby cannot connect to your MobileLight network and view your files.  The MobileLight is a little larger than your average iPhone but weighs only 98 grams, which makes it very good to travel with.

The Kingston MobileLite can be purchased from Amazon for $49.99.

MSRP:  $49.99

What I Like:  Great features, including file sharing and external battery pack; Small and light; Great for traveling.

What Needs Improvement:  A larger battery would make it great for long plane trips.

Source:  Manufacturer supplied review sample

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for your support!

About the Author

Perry Brauner
I'm an architect by trade, but the overarching theme of my life has always been trying to keep up with the newest, coolest technology. Ever since I picked up an NES controller, I've been hooked on the latest and greatest gadgets, gizmos, and toys. Whether it's gaming, mobile phones, and accessories, or PCs and Apple products, I'm interested. I use many Apple products in my daily life, such as the iPhone, iPad, and my MacBook Pro. I've also built a few PCs in my day, so I'd like to say that I'm a pretty well-rounded techie.

4 Comments on "Kingston’s MobileLite Wireless Review – The Perfect Travel Companion"

  1. >What’s really neat is that you’re also able to connect to the Internet through the MobileLite so that you can still be connected to the Internet while sharing files wirelessly. You’re also able to connect three people to the MobileLite at the same time, so you can all share the same files all at once.

    That’s a pretty neat trick. How does it do that? I don’t see a SIM card slot or Ethernet jack.

    >The built-in 1810mAh lithium-ion battery is more than double that of the iPhone 5, so you’ll be able to double your battery life if you choose to use the MobileLite as an external battery pack. If you’re wondering, the iPhone 5 has a battery capacity of 1,440mAh.

    Something seems wrong with the math here…

    • 1. The MobileLite connects to the internet via WiFi. For instance, my phone was connected to the MobileLite WiFi network, while the MobileLite was connected to my home’s WiFi network. So, as an example of the use, you could upload photos from a USB drive to Facebook without ever putting them on your phone or tablet.

      2. You’re right. What I meant to say was that it more than doubles the iPhone’s battery life, since you’ll have the iPhone’s internal battery plus the MobileLite’s battery. I’ll edit that now, thanks for the catch.

      • Ok, I get it now. So you wouldn’t be able to upload to Facebook from the MobileLite off of your cellular connection. Like normal, but slightly disappointing.

        I don’t suppose the MobileLite works with captive portals? Like at Starbucks, where they have access points without security keys and instead make you click/tap on a button to use?

        • Correct, it requires an open WiFi signal, there’s no cell radio. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to test whether it works in a public WiFi like that, but it’s a good question. I suspect it could work if you connect to the WiFi signal through the MobileLite and then go to the browser on your phone and click whatever you need to. Technically, you can connect to those WiFi access points before clicking the “accept” button, but you just can’t access the open internet until you do.

Comments are closed.