Amber Backup System Review

Amber-Backup-System-Review (MSRP $549.99)

     At a recent technology press event in NYC I met Dr. Pantas Sutardja, the chief executive officer of LatticeWork; the company that was showcasing Amber. His description of what Amber could do was fascinating and after I performed some research into Dr. Sutardja’s credentials I agreed to do an independent review of their new product.
     Amber takes the concept of cloud storage in a new direction. The system uses artificial intelligence to combine home storage with unfettered remote access to your stored data; wherever you are in the world. With all the recent cloud storage breaches the idea of saving your own stuff to your own cloud sounds very intriguing. The Amber storage solution provides this world wide access to your data with end to end encryption to keep your files safe. It is a cloud based model in the sense that even though your files are stored in your home you can access them or backup new files wherever you are in the world; as long as you have Internet access.
     Each Amber unit has two 1TB Hard Drives to add double protection of your files. What is saved onto the first drive is mirrored (RAID 1) onto the second drive to provide you with double security of your saved files through file redundancy on two separate hard drives. You automatically have a backup of your backup to keep your files protected so if one of the two hard drives fails, all of your saved files will still be safe.

Smartphone Setup
     They recommend that you set up Amber using your smartphone and the first step was to download the Amberlife and the Amber Manager apps from the Apple app or Google Play store. Phone setup was easy and before I knew it Amber was automatically backing up my camera roll from my Samsung Note 8. Just like their advertisement indicates I could now delete the images in my camera roll and still see them on my smartphone using their Amberlife app on my smartphone.

Computer Setup
     You can also use the Amber backup system with your Apple or Microsoft computer. The setup on my Windows 7 Professional Dell computer did not go as well. The software kept crashing and to remedy the problem I contacted Amber Support. I did not inform them that I was writing a review to see what kind of help a standard customer would receive. For over a month and a half they worked diligently to solve their software problem and at the time that this review went to press the software still crashed too frequently to take advantage of many of the computer backup and sharing features Amber promises. I did not test Amber using Windows 10 or a Mac so I can’t indicate if the computer software works properly with these other computers. Their online help guide (<https://amberlife.typeform.com/to/WtRl1e>) can provide you with other insignts about this product.

Pro
     Amber allows you to back up your smartphone camera roll without using a cloud storage provider. This process takes place while Amber sits safely in your home or office. Wherever you have an internet connection, backup will automatically take place. Once your files are backed up you can remove them from your smartphone and still view them on your phone using the Amberlife app.

Con
     The Amber that I tested has two 1TB Hard Drives but its storage capacity is 1TB. They do sell larger capacity Amber units. That is a lot of storage but you will be surprised how quickly it could fill up if you don’t have the ability to remove images and videos, in your camera roll, that you no longer want. When this review went to press you could not erase backup files from Amber. You can now delete saved items from Amber.
Since the Amberlife app kept crashing on my computer all of its computer oriented features could not be tested properly. Months after this review went to press a software update did correct this problem. The most import thing you need to remember is you alone are tasked with the responsibility of making certain that you don’t infect Amber with a virus, it is not stolen from your home or office, or even destroyed in a fire or flood.