Probably those who read us will be among those who, once they have switched to a MacBook Pro with USB C or a recent iPad Pro or a phone with the same “universal” socket, will have found themselves traveling or at home having to read a key, a external disk or a small cell phone memory and that you have searched for the obligatory Hub left in the office or a few kilometers away.
The USB-C Hub tiny but comfortable
The Hub of this short test is certainly able to solve the problem for at least two reasons: on the one hand it is very light and compact and fits perfectly in your pocket or, as you can see from our photos, even in the “pocket” for Apple Pencil of an iPad Pro case; the second reason is the price: the price list on Gearbest costs only 7.38 euros with periodic discounts that bring it to less than 6 euros and this can lead you to the practical idea of putting one at home, one in the office and one in your backpack or to always keep one in your pocket.
Packaging and description
But let's get to the Hub: in its simplicity it has no pass-through Power Delivery ports or video output, network and more but simply 3 USB 3.0 ports (compatible with previous versions) and an SD port for reading cards. The three + 1 sockets are coated with aluminum for more efficient heat dissipation and the cable protruding from one end to the USB-C plug is 15cm long.
The connection is obviously simple and no instructions are needed. The interface is USB-C with USB 3.0 and it is not the fastest edition but here there are no big problems: it is an accessory to read keys and cards, keyboards on the fly without thinking of being able to permanently manage SSD disks at all. speed.
When connected-powered, a convenient red LED lights up on the side of the cable.
All tests
For our tests we made some simple compatibility checks with: – MacBook Pro with USB-C sockets only – Recent iPad Pro with USB-C sockets – Android phone with USB-C – USB-C lightning cable for iPhone – USB 2.0 sticks and 3.0 of various types, sizes and speeds – 256 GB Sandisk SD card – 2.5 ″ self-powered external drive – USB external keyboards and mice to connect to iPad Pro – Ethernet adapter over USB 2.0
With all these combinations, the system behaved without intercommunication problems between devices and accessories, all perfectly legible. The max transfer speed (but it depends on the memory) is 5GBPs typical of USB 3.0 gen 1 and there are no particular slowdowns to be attributed to the Hub. The heating of the device is normal and absolutely congruent with the size of the object.
We also used it to recycle an ethernet to USB 3 network adapter seamlessly on all 3 devices with USB-C and connect keyboards and mice (!) Thanks to iOS 13 on iPad.
The 15 cm cable allows you to move an external disk or a series of bulky keys even on the back of the computer or tablet.
Reverse charging between mobile phones
If it is normal that by connecting an iPhone to a Mac or to a USB-C power supply with an adapter the first is recharged, it seems strange to see the same thing with another phone: in this case with a Huawei P30 Pro as a “source” we succeeded to revive an iPhone 8 practically at the end of its batteries. The Huawei smartphone is capable of wireless reverse charging to iPhone but in this case it also works great through the cable and adapter.
Conclusions
At the end of this quick review there is only one observation: with the price so low of this small hub it is still convenient to buy one of those USB-C / USB 2 adapters to put in the head of a USB disk or a stick with the risk of losing it or forgetting it around? The hub in question is small enough to always carry with you and large enough not to lose it and is versatile enough in all emergency situations. Passed with full marks.
It is normally purchased at around 7.38 Euros on Gearbest with periodic offers. Right now you can find it at a discount at 5.35 Euros. Check the shipping costs for bulk purchases. It is available in both Dark Gray (the tested one) and Natural Aluminum versions.
