Meenova Card Reader – Review

I first heard about this device, when it was still on Kickstarter, and it had already destroyed their initial goal, and was gaining more traction with everyday. But looking at the device thats no wonder, they were developing a small unit to be plugged into the MicroUSB port of any Android device as long as it has USB On-The-Go support, to allow it to read MicroSD cards. It was a cheap, minimal solution to a problem a lot of people were having.

Due to surpassing their original goal, the Meenova could be delivered with several useful accessories. In the perfectly designed packing, the main card reader is joined by a keyring hook as well as a full USB adapter. Which transforms the Meenova from just a Micro USB card reader to a USB card reader for computers.

The guys behind the Meenova, have said that they had to go through several prototypes and moulds to find the perfect fit. The Meenova is a solid piece of kit, the device’s cap snaps on and off feeling very secure when its attached, and the MicroSD card fits perfectly in. I tested the matte black finish, it looks great and looks good with my HTC One.

The MicroUSB plug does stick out a little, but this is not a design fault. Its to allow the Meenova to fit correctly, even if you have a case on your device, and also because they integrated a blue light that notifies you when the unit is being used. Thanks to this design, it means it will plug into any device, with or without a case. The keyring and USB adapter are generic devices, they work but nothing to really write about.

You can go to Meenovas website to see a list of supported devices , but the general rule is, if your phone or tablet has USB OTG, it should be able to read the card through the Meenova, whether directly (most Samsung, HTC, Sony and LG devices) or through third-party software and rooting (some Nexus devices). I tested this on the HTC One and it worked great.

Though my experience with the Nexus 7 was slightly different. The device itself supports USB OTG, but the vanilla Android installed on it doesn’t. I took some advice from a previous post and used Nexus Media Importer to read and transfer some of my data. Though a better option would be to use a ROM that handles OTG better.

There aren’t many similar solutions. The closest I found was a USB stick and USB cable. But the Meenova is smaller, the storage can be upgraded simply by getting a new card, and thanks to the USB adapter it can be used n your phone or computer.

In a nutshell the Meenova can:

• Transfer data between your computer and Android device.
• Read and copy files from a MicroSD card (friend’s phone, camera, etc…) on your device.
• Carry additional files with you, without having them constantly stored on your phone or tablet.
• Read a MicroSD card on a computer, and transfer data between computers.
• Thanks to the full USB adapter, the Meenova transforms into a computer MicroSD reader and a make-do USB stick.

I am finding it difficult to find any issues with this cheap, and effective device. If I was pushed for a criticism, I would perhaps say the accessories are a bit generic and could do with some personalisation. Despite its tiny size, this device is a fantastic piece of kit.

Checkout their site – http://www.meenova.com/

Grab one from here – https://shopmeenova.appspot.com/st/p/m3r.html