SABRENT 10-Port 60W USB 3.0 Hub HB-BU10

Works fine but feels cheap. Would like metal construction instead of plastic.

I ordered the Sabrent 60W 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub + 3 Smart Charging Ports in order to try to solve my desktop rats nest situation. I really like the unit thus far as it is performing as advertised and easily and quickly handles any USB cord or device that I have thrown at it. I have had no problem with connectivity or performance issues, as I have read in some of the reviews, i.e. dismounts. There again, I am not using the unit for external hard drives either.
You do have to hook it up correctly and use a little common sense though. The issues that I am seeing with the 4 port hub, and using flash drives ….. c’mon people, open your eyes and brains. Sabrent has done a great job on spacing the plugs. It is, however, impossible for them to anticipate what a flash drive manufacturer is going to pile on top of the USB plug with regard to the shape of a casing, which may cause the drives not to stack well in the side-by-side configuration. Flash drive manufacturers are notorious for making their cases either too fat, or adding a case that curves towards the end such as the Sandisk Cruizer drives. That is Sabrent’s faule, so don’t give the hubs a bad rating for something that you could have anticipated if you would have just used your eyes and brains …. LOL
Flash drives have always had problems fitting into tight spaces because of these case issues, whether you are plugging them into a hub or simply into the back of your computer. If you think this may be an issue with flash drives that you own, then use your common sense and order the Sabrent 60W 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub. That unit stacks them vertically, not horizontally edge-to-edge and alleviates the issue.
I do have two suggestions for Sabrent which would make this a 5 star product.First, include a longer USB cable! Second, the blue lights that indicate that the plug is active, are much to hard to see. If you are viewing them from more than a 45 degree off angle, you can’t even really tell that they are lit because the light is slightly recessed.
Also, in low light conditions, it’s hard to see which plug you are plugging into, or you may easily hit the switch for the plug either above or below your intended target. This caused me minor problems at first so I just keep a mini maglight handy to see it clearly.
The perfect solution here would be ……….. illuminate both the socket and the perimeter of the switch, and then connect them with a blue illuminated line.
Having explained those minor issues, this is a great product which I would recommend. I have mounted the unit to the side of my hutch via double sided foam tape. In addition, I have purchased two of the Cable Management Cord Organizer ORICO 7 Channel Desk Cable Clips Wire Cord Holders, and mounted them to the side of my desk top, close to the hub. This serves two purposes. First, your cables are both nicely organized and easily identifiable and accessible. No more fishing around for what fell off the desk top. Also, this provides a great strain relief for your cables, which doesn’t tug on the cable plugs and sockets unnecessarily, causing wear and tear, and connection issues.

This is a very solid little unit, and works just as described, but it has shot up in price, and I would recommend looking for a less expensive alternative.

First, a caution which applies to ALL USB hubs: more USB sockets does not necessarily mean you can use more USB devices simultaneously. If you want more USB devices usable at the same time, do some reading online about the way a PC manages USB devices. And consider plugging this Sabrent hub into a USB-2 port rather than a USB-3 port. The overall speed may be slower but the number of simultaneous ports available will be larger. It seems you can have high speed or connectivity but not both simultaneously, at least in the Windows 10 world. You may want to keep a USB 3 port on the PC empty, so it’s available when you need high speed such as for a backup drive or DVD player.
I am very pleased with this device! It works as advertised and does what I need, namely provides additional USB ports so I can keep more USB devices plugged in than was possible with the ports on my Windows 10 laptop. The main benefit for me is that I can bundle up the various cables and keep them all plugged in, turning devices on and off as needed via the VERY HANDY on/off switch for each USB socket. So for example I can turn the external Bluetooth adapter off when not needed.
The three power-only ports are great for recharging devices that don’t need to connect to the PC but do need to be recharged. The power switch for each allows me to plug and unplug power cables without worrying about eventually ruining tiny electrical contacts due to connecting with power applied. Also I don’t need to find the wall-wart AC adapter for charging each device.
I checked all the voltage levels at the USB sockets and all were 5.15V with only about +/- 20mV variation. These were no-load tests but it appears that the power supply is more than capable of handling the rated load.
I’d prefer it if the power supply were smaller and lighter, but at least it’s efficient; I don’t notice any warmth. And the power cable from power supply to USB plug strip is thick and stiff, which makes it a bit of a nuisance for positioning the USB plug strip. The same can be said about the USB-B to USB-A cable that connects the USB plug strip to the PC. If these cables could be made thinner and more flexible while maintaining the required performance, I would find that helpful.
Overall I’m very pleased with this product. It does what I needed, does it well, and appears to be durable. I’ve been using it now for a couple months.