Hands On Review: Sabrent 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub has individual power switches!
Sometimes the simplest gadgets are the most effective.
Take the Sabrent 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub for instance: simple and oh so useful.
We at Gadizmo picked up one of these for testing purposes, and to expand from one USB 3.0 port to four.
A few things are extremely appealing with the Sabrent 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub.
It is very affordable, just under ten bones on Amazon, and it also expands the USB 3.0 port with four fully capable USB 3.0 ports that hold up in terms of their speedy and reliable connection.
But what was most appealing to this reviewer was the prospect of the Sabrent 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub only connecting the ports when the individual power switches were enabled.
A bonus is the bad-ass-looking blue LED perimeter glowing as the individual buttons are pushed down.
There are upsides and downsides to the USB 3.0 unit.
It is very light and small, but the cord is kind of short, being close to two feet, making an iMac take up nearly all the wiggle room you might like to pull out the unit and push some buttons.
That said: it is far enough to be reached.
The biggest gripe that could be said, and this is after testing two different Sabrent 4-Port USB 3.0 Hubs, one at work and one at home, is that if you connect new objects to a port after another one is already in the hub and turned on, it may send your computer a disconnect notification.
I love to be able to keep my backup hard drives disconnected, saving both power and their lifespan, when not in use.
But when I have an external SSD or HDD running in the Sabrent 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub and I add another drive or running object after it often disconnects the first drive.
On the computer side, the drive is still listed as connected and power still goes to it, so no damage is done, but the alert is annoying nonetheless.
If you plug in all objects that you intend on using before switching any on, with that nifty neon blue light around the buttons (and man pushing buttons is still so much fun!) then I found there is no error.
This may be nitpicking, because for less than ten bones, the Sabrent 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub is still a force to be reckoned with!
I have yet to find an affordable USB 3.0 hub with individually powered elements that works close to as well or close to the price.
