I recently had the chance to review the Hagibis external solid state drive enclosure, a device that magnetically attaches to the back of an iPhone—or an Android phone with an adapter—allowing for video recording directly onto an external drive. You can see my full video review here.
The enclosure is designed to house a 2230 NVMe SSD which is not included. The choice of NVME SSD is important as the iPhone as very strict power requirements for externally attached drives. Hagibis put together a helpful video with a number of popular SSDs to see which ones work best. The enclosure itself is equipped with a sizable capacitor to mitigate potential power issues.
In my research, I learned that not all NVMe drives are created equal in terms of power consumption. A Kingston drive I initially considered was too power-hungry for the iPhone’s restrictions. But I did find a Lexar drive (compensated affiliate link) that, despite not advertising its power consumption, performed admirably within the setup.
The Hagibis enclosure also offers external power input through an additional USB-C port, a feature that ensures recording isn’t interrupted by power issues. This provides the option to mount additional accessories, like a battery pack, to provide the drive adequate power and charge the phone while recording.
But that power port doesn’t work for data transfer, so users looking to connect external microphones or other peripherals will need to explore alternative solutions like a USB-C hub.
Recording video directly to the SSD is an easy process now on compatible iPhones. Enabling Apple ProRes in the camera settings allows for external recording to automatically occur when the drive is attached, although the size of these files are enormous. During my tests, the Lexar drive and enclosure combo maintained its performance without any noticeable hiccups or frame drops, even during extended recording sessions.
Blackmagic’s awesome new (and free) camera app also supports recording externally with the drive. In addition to providing additional manual controls the Blackmagic app also allows for compressed video formats to be recorded vs. just ProRes on the native Apple app.
Testing the enclosure with Android devices revealed similar flexibility and functionality. Open Camera, an app I used on a Pixel 8 Pro, supported external video recording to the SSD. I’m sure there are other apps available too.
The Hagibis enclosure is a promising tool for video enthusiasts looking to expand their recording capabilities without being tethered to the limited storage of their smartphones. Its magnetic design, combined with the practicality of external SSD storage, brings a lot of convenience and efficiency to mobile video production.