A once successful Kickstarter program, I finally had the opportunity to try out the Powerstick Mosaic Powerstream, and honestly, I have mixed reviews in regards to it.
Designed to be a tool to give you more storage, the Mosaic is essentially a wireless external hard drive that will get you through a long flight by allowing you to stream your media directly through the Mosaic. The model I received is the 16gb version which means I didn’t actually stream very much. My only issue with the Powerstick Mosaic is the fact they even have a 16gb version. Now granted, not everyone needs terabytes full of storage, however, with files like movies being typically 3-4gbs, and music files themselves being huge too, 32gb might be sufficient for some, but as I am a bit of a storage hog, I try to get the maximum capacity item possible in the event I do run out of storage, like I did with the 16gb version while using it at CES.
I did not try this myself, however I’m told that you can actually connect a hard drive with max 2 terabytes up to the Mosaic for extra storage, but that means of course, you’ll now be carrying an extra hard drive on your person. But it’s good to know that option is there. I have a LaCie Fuel 4TB hard drive now that I WISH I could use with the Mosaic but it’s over the capacity which is a bummer.
Yet, the Mosaic still is a promising item. It comes encased in a black zippered sleeve which will obviously protect it from the elements. And the Mosaic actually allows you to connect to multiple devices all at once, regardless if you have iOS or Android. Apparently CES loved it so much that in 2015 it received nine awards for innovation and outstanding design which it certainly does have. It comes with a USB 3.0 cable as well, which makes for quick charging when you need it.
Since the Mosaic comes with its own Wi-Fi Settings, the setup is simple. You use your device, go to settings and simply select your Mosaic settings. After this, you can essentially use your Mosaic in unison with your phone to stream your media wirelessly (by downloading the Mosaic app in the Google Play or App Store). There are two LED lights on the side of the Mosaic and beside that there’s a port for charging, and a port to charge your devices. The App itself is self-explanatory and honestly was faster than I thought it would be. Each icon is color coordinated from your photos to videos so you can easily figure out which you are looking for.
There’s a bonus with the Mosaic however, where you can actually charge your device WHILE you use it. With an internal battery of 7000mAH, you can actually get about eight hours of streaming according to Powerstation, but that number itself seems to be on devices such as the iPhone 6/6s. I have the larger iPhone and the battery life only lasted me about four and a half hours. I’m going to account that to the obviously bigger screen and the power it takes to actually run a feature film or television show on it through the Mosaic.
Overall, the Mosaic is a product for the person that wants wireless access to all of their favorite things. While you’re on a flight you might not want to pay that fee to be able to stream from Netflix or whichever site you decide to use. If you have movies and videos that you’d like to view, or even just a host of photos that you want to look at, the Mosaic allows you to do that from up to thirty feet away just using your phone and the companion app. The Mosaic comes in various sizes, the largest being 256gb. I know for a fact I’m going to get myself the 256gb now that I’ve used the smaller memory version and I’ve already maxed that out, but if you don’t require much, any size will do. Why wait until you get an alert about your storage being full on your device? Always have a little bit of room with the Mosaic by Powerstick.
Source: Manufacturer supplied review unit
What I Like: The overall look and the ability to expand to 2tb through external hard drive is nice; Ability to charge your phone as well; sharable across seven devices.
What Needs Improvement: 16gb/32gb version quite dated. Should honestly be 64gb and above.