USB/External hard drive compatibility

[nuszplrobi]

Hi!

I would like to get some information about Z2's capability wit USBs/external hard drives as I'm planning to use either of them (preferably the latter) with the Micro USB-to-female USB cable (used for coonecting controller). I used to have a Note 3 and used it with a 64GB USB/micro USB stick and there was no issues at all.

Anyone has any experience regarding this please?
Is it okay/safe to use a,for example, 1TB hard rive with the Z2?
Or are there any size restrictions?


Your help is much appreciated.

Rob

[Thommo]

Try contacting Xperia care who may have more detailed information regarding questions of this nature http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/support/contact-us/

[nuszplrobi]

Okay will do that, cheers Thommo.

[nuszplrobi]

"(...) unfortunately since the hardrives are third party we would be unable to say if it would be compatible or if it would work Robert, as we do not test these ourselves.
Me: Can I connect official sony product then?
Agent: We have no Sony Mobile products in which you are refereing too unfortunately, Sony and Sony Mobile are different, so we do not test the phones on Sony products."

Nothing,basically.
Better go aroumd and try it myself (before buying).

Still open for suggestions though.

[MVC]

The Z2 works with Fat32 and exFAT drives (read/write). 

Desktop drives 4tb work fine. If they're formatted exFAT then large files >4gb are supported.

Some bus powered drives (portable HDDs) pull too much current for the phone. A powered USB hub may be required.

Some users have reported inconsistent results with similar hard drives. This is almost certainly due to variations in the components used.

[nuszplrobi]

Thanjs for the valuable info mate.
What I was initially looking for is a (at least) 256GB USB stick but the price for a 500GB HDD (preferably portable) is pretty much the same or even less.
The problem is as you mentioned the power issue with these bus powered ones as they drain the phone's battery quick.
Regarding the "variations of components" what make (or even model) would you suggest please?

Many thanks.

[MVC]

That's the problem - three external hard drives (say LaCie for arguments sake) could have different internal components - the spinning drive could be Samsung or WD or two different WDs but with different power draw. I'd got with a 256gb USB stick to be honest.

[nuszplrobi]

Right, I think that's the closest I'm gonna get to te solution.
What I'm gonna do is to try different ones and let you guys know the outcome.

Appreciate your efforts.