Sometimes when you have a bunch of peripherals you are running out of USB ports in your PC and with the new notebooks that only offer you a few ports you might find yourself in need for extra plugs. There are a lot of USB ports extenders and adapters out there, but because modern plug in USB devices have extra features (like lighting, extra USB ports of their own) they need power to operate and turning 1 USB port into 3-4 or even 7 is not always a simple solution. Looking for something that will allow us to have uncompromised performance, we found the Sandberg USB 3.0 Hub 6+1 ports.
Sandberg USB 3.0 Hub enables you to attach more USB 3.0 peripherals to your computer. The hub features built-in overload protection of your computer’s USB 3.0 ports and the hub’s ports from peripherals which overload them.
The hub has 6 data ports and 1 USB charge port available, but, maybe the most important feature, it also has a AC power supplu included, which means it will not overload your PC/notebook power supply.
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Packaging and Specifications
Sandberg USB 3.0 Hub 6+1 ports comes packed in a 23×15.5×6.5 cm black and blue package with the Sandberg logo on top and the image of the USB hub in the middle.
Inside the box we have the Sandberg USB 3.0 Hub 7 ports, one 70 cm USB 3.0 connection cable and one 230V AC power supply compatible with EU and UK sockets.
The hub is made out of an aluminium body and it is compatible with virtually all modern operating system. You can use it without the AC adapter if you don’t have any high power consumption items attached to it. It is USB 3.0, USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 compliant and has 7 USB 3.0 A-female and 1 micro B-female.
Closer look
Sandberg USB 3.0 Hub 6+1 ports looks and feels robust from the first moment you touch it. The aluminium body makes it sturdier and more professional looking that most of the competitive devices out there. The hub has a triangular prism shape (like a Toblerone chocolate) and the USB ports are facing upwards. That being said, the cables coming out of it will be facing you, so when deciding to get the hub yourself consider this aspect. We plan of mounting it under the desk, incorporating it with the cable management we already have and we believe this is the best way to go about using it.
On the bottom it has rubber paddings that helps it stay put of the desk and not slip away in any direction.
On the front we have 7 USB 3.0 ports, 6 of them being able to provide up to 900mA of power(for normal day-to-day devices) and the 7th one is a charging port (designed for power hungry devices) that can provide up to 2.4A of power. Basically you can use any of the ports for your keyboards, mice, mics, webcams or USB memory sticks, but if you want to charge your phone you will need to use the 7th port. Of course, if you expect the hub to perform well you will have to plug it in the AC charger and to the PC/notebook.
The power connectors are located on the side of the hub and they are pretty straight forward. You have 1 round AC adapter plug and one USB plug. The AC adapter is EU+UK type 230V AC, output DC 12V / 3.0A. With the power adapter connected you also benefit from the built-in overload protection.
Performance
To test the Sandberg USB 3.0 Hub we will have to try out the features. To do this we will connect some power hungry peripherals to it and also do transfer tests over the USB ports.
For the first test we’ll plug in our keyboard, mouse, mousepad, microphone, and the headset stand, all being power hungry as they also have RGB illumination. They all work flawlessly when the USB Hub’s power adapter is connected, but they keep on disconnecting and the brightness of the RGB is somewhere around 30% when the power adapter it’s unplugged.
To test the hub we decided to use an external hdd drive so we won’t get any limitations in terms of speed. We took one test with the hdd drive plugged directly into the pc, and another one with the hdd drive plugged into the hub, and there was literally no difference at all. The maximum speed achieved was 3 GB/s, and the average speed was around 300 MB/s.
Conclusion
Sandberg USB 3.0 Hub 6+1 ports is a great tool to have next to your daily PC or laptop. You can never have enough USB ports and you will this way only when you need them. The best thing about this hub is the ability to charge your phone as well as use all your USB devices simultaneously. The build quality is great, the hub is made out of aluminium and not cheap plastic, so it is made to last (you also have 5 years warranty). The performance is also decent, matching the expected performances. The hub is available directly from the Sandberg online store for 62.99 € or you can grab it on Amazon for €65.19.
