Storage


Gnarbox: Rugged, On-the-Go Storage & Editing for 4K Video

July 21, 2015

By Theano Nikitas

Some Kickstarter projects fade away while others, like Gnarbox, kick ass. This rugged and portable storage device raised $110,000 in pledges within the first 36 hours and last we checked has more than doubled its original $100,000 goal.

This storage unit, possibly named for the gnarly activities of some of its GoPro-using Beta testers, is more than just a portable hard drive. While it fulfills the need to offload and store video footage and still images while you’re in the field, the Gnarbox works off a 2.2GHz CPU and 4GB DDR3 RAM, so you can use the company’s app to actually edit 4K footage on a smartphone or tablet.

Impossible, you say? Nope. According to Gnarbox, the smartphone maintains a proxy of the footage, while the full resolution version is housed on the Gnarbox. The device, which measures a highly portable 2.5 x 4 x 0.8 inches, is equipped with two USB 3.0 ports and can accommodate SD and MicroSD cards. CompactFlash users can simply plug in a card reader to transfer footage and images to the Gnarbox. And, with dual USB ports, you can add a couple of external hard drives as well to push or pull files.

However, the editing app—available for iOS and Android—can only edit images on the box, which serves as its own hotspot so you don’t need a Wi-Fi connection unless or until you want to share images from within the app. Estimated battery life is 6-8 hours, with mini USB charging. Better yet, its iP67 rating protects it from dust, dirt, cold, heat and water (up to 1 meter), so it can handle all kinds of conditions.

The Gnarbox is available in a 128GB capacity and handles up to 4K video and .MP4 (h.264), .MOV and .AVI files, along with JPG, PNG, RAW (including CR2, NEF, ARW, RAF and ORF, which covers most camera RAW formats). There’s a mini USB charger and you can connect up to four devices to the box’s hot spot.

If you’re interested (and you should be, especially if you’re shooting video, even on a DSLR), a Kickstarter pledge of $149 saves you $100 on the $249 retail price. The Gnarbox is slated to ship to Beta testers this August and September, with early delivery to everyone else starting in March 2016.