It’s obviously aimed most towards smartphones, but the size might be handy regardless. We haven’t tested this particular one yet, but I’m sure we will be at some point.
That being said previous Plugable docks have passed our certifications before, excelling in adherence to published specs (sad that I have to point that out, but it’s still the exception not the rule) though they tend to be middle pack in terms of things like USB speed.
Urrggh, this is so close. If only it had a second USB-C port just for data.
The Kingston Nucleum has all the same ports except for the 3.5mm socket. And the cable to the host is fixed. Unfortunately, I’ve had issues after about a year with two of them. One was working fine today, but the other appears to be dead.
The only other ones that have a detachable host cable are the Uni Union Pro and a Sabrant (apparently doesn’t provide much power), and a Satechi (which is expensive and I’ve had poor products from them before). Only the Satechi has teo USB-C ports.
Looks pretty good, I especially like that it has 3.5mm for audio. Plus it has a built-in stand, but also folds up for travel. Not bad!
Agreed with @Tams that it could use an additional USBC-data port, and personally I like having ethernet (like on this $80-100 Anker hub that I have at home) for when a solid connection is key.
The Uni looks more promising, is better priced, looks durable, and I’ve had only good experiences with their cables. They seem to have become quite popular here in Japan. Only one USB-C port though…
Satechi products can be ok, but they seem to multi-source their products from various OEMs and thus the quality can vary from sample to sample, even on the same individual item.
More broadly the biggest issue we’ve seen with their hubs is poor shielding especially compared to say Anker or Belkin. And the issue is that you likely won’t see any problems with one device connected, but when fully loaded you may get poor throughput, or intermittent bus resets.
Hey, it wasn’t… errr… that long ago that I had to connect a DE-15 connector for an air analyser for my dissertation. Luckily my laptop at the time had a port.
And I bet my old department not only still have that machine (wouldn’t be like them to throw anything working away), but still use it. Some poor undergrad has probably had to go looking for an adapter.
We haven’t had any experience with Union Pros products though I have seen them for sale at sometimes very low prices. Have you actually purchased and used any?
