The Plugable 7 port USB data and charge hub allows you to charge and route data as if your PC or laptop had seven USB 3.0 type A or C ports (with an adapter). What’s more, it is stackable to extend the number of ports.
Most USB hubs are primarily for charging. This one does that too, but also supports keyboards, mice, external backup, and more. It has a 12V/5A/60W power supply that guarantees all seven ports can sustain 5V/1.5A/7.5W downstream power, meeting the BC 1.2 standard charging. Connection to the host PC/Mac device is via USB-A or USB-C 3.0 5Gbps. It is fully backwards compatible with USB 1.1 and 2.0 – data transfer speeds are slower but the voltage/amperage is stable..
Plugable USB 7 port USB data and charge hub
Website | here |
Price | US$49 (we will update with the Amazon AU price later) |
Warranty | 2 years (US warranty but Plugable is a reliable company) |
Country of manufacture | China |
About | US company Plugable make a range of Thunderbolt and USB docks, devices and adapters. It is one of the more reliable US suppliers |
More | You can read GadgetGuy Plugable news and reviews here |
Uses
Perfect for expanding any laptop as its power supply means that it does not suck your battery dry. The bonus is that the ports are fully functional USB 3.0, although they share the 5Gbps download/upload speed.
Great for ‘community’ charging as each port will charge an iPhone or Android phone and most tablets. And you can move data around or back up to an external disk as long as the phones support OTG. Because it is stackable, you can expand ports to the number you need.
At 12.7 x 7.62 x 25.4cm, it is small and portable with a 1-metre connection cable.
Tests
We loaded the seven ports with a variety of different devices – keyboard, mouse, 1TB external SSD, and several smartphones. Each device draws just the amperage it needed and the phones draw 5V/1.5/7.5W.
We tested on a Surface Pro 7 (USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 10Gbps) and an Android OPPO Find X3 Pro (USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 5Gbps). Take care because the Plugable requires at least a USB 3.0 port to operate.
Data transfer speeds to a 1TB SSD were 42/33MBps sequential read and write on both devices. This is as expected as this device is USB 3.0 5Gbps (625MBps – half-duplex) and needs to share bandwidth.
GadgetGuy’s take
Unless you use a dock, you are limited to the ports on your PC or laptop. Here one USB cable to the Plugable USB 7 port gives you heaps of expansion space with guaranteed 5V/1.5A/7.5W BC 1.2 charging and 5Gbpps (625MBps half-duplex) of shared data.
Rating
It is relatively unique – a power and data hub that works with any USB 3.0 or higher device. My only complaint is the 12V/5A/60W power brick is almost as large as the hub itself and I ordered an AU plug but got the US version. Never mind it uses a standard 240V, 2 pin connector. It has the RCM C-tick meaning it is certified for Australia.